Charlie Sheen was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. He never had to worry about anything or want for anything. He was given free reign at birth to do whatever he pleased. Today, he blames his father (who basically gave him that silver spoon and freedom) for his wreck of a life. Is that wrong? In some ways, not so much. If you have lived your entire life doing as you please, no matter how bad it may be, and not suffered any real consequences then why not? Sure, this path of destruction began with the freedom of being a rich, spoiled, Hollywood son but in his adult life is his father really still to blame? Well, being so spoiled in his youth was the groundwork for not having to mature and deal with reality but how has he evaded reality in his adult life? He has done things many common men would still be sitting in a jail cell over, yet Charlie Sheen has never had to do so. Our legal system has continued to polish the silver spoon forever planted in his mouth by continuing to allow him to avoid the consequences of his actions simply because he’s a rich celebrity who can afford to buy his way out of any situation he may find himself in. His only real consequences have been that he is under the media microscope. Is he crazy? Maybe not. If I had such a silver spoon in my mouth and a microscope over my actions, perhaps I too would be beyond obnoxious. It only seems logical. Why are we so shocked? I’m not. I love it. I think he’s spitting in the faces of all the fools who enabled him. He really is winning… at least for now. Even though there are no legal consequences for his actions that we’ve really seen, I do believe there will be some health issues in his future. There probably already are and we just don’t know it yet. But, while we all sit back and enjoy the showing of Charlie’s melt down there are bigger questions left unanswered.
For instance, why is this man’s moronic behavior headline news when so many other things are going on in this world that are far more worthy of our attention? Is this part of the media’s game as they work closely with our favorite Uncle Sam to distract us from real news? Is Charlie Sheen’s decline really more important to our daily lives than the unraveling of the middle east, the raping of the middle class American or the push to continually feed racism? Is Charlie Sheen an optimal candidate for the destruction of his name because he was once on the front lines fighting against our government with his support of the 911 conspiracy? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyKR2-A0KPU
Granted, the government didn’t drive him to the ultimate insanity that we are eating up daily but in all seriousness, he’s 1 in a million… a million egotistical addicts who think they are winning. He’s really not that different than anyone else. He got paid over a million per episode of “Two & ½ Men”. Nearly 200 episodes have aired in 7 years. That’s a butt load of cash. Do you really think you’d be the same person you are today if you had that kind of cash? Seriously? Ok, well you can lie to me if you want but don’t lie to yourself. Personally, I have a bit of a demanding nature and if I was worth over 200 million I think I’d be a raging bitch. I probably wouldn’t do any of the hard drugs but I’d try like hell to keep up with my new friends in the Hollywood scene. I guess I’d be drinking a lot of Starbucks Double Shots to stay up, maybe shooting up some B12 and such. I’d be the healthy freak. I can’t deny that if I got interviewed I wouldn’t go out on a limb and say some crazy shit like “I’m high on Susan Monti” because…well, frankly I would be. I always like to joke and be sarcastic though, and having the world as my audience would probably fuel my fire beyond description. Being obnoxious is fun, but us regular folks can’t get away with it the way a celebrity can. Money really is a God. With money comes freedom, power, immediate gratification, and so many things us regular folks can’t acquire. I’m sure having millions upon millions of dollars is quite the high in itself and spending it any way you like is probably pretty addictive.
I’m only human. I’m enjoying the Charlie Sheen show just as much as everyone else. I’m in no position to judge anyone, especially if I’ve never been ‘in their shoes’. I can say, in my current pair of shoes, what I’d do if I were worth millions and it would be sharing with everyone I love, traveling, raising awareness on the causes that matter most to me and donating to them, and more of that kind of stuff. And, of course, having a good time all the time. I can also honestly say, I’ve never wanted to be a celebrity. Truly. Now, of course I’d like to be rich but there’s only so much money you can spend in a lifetime and even though it can buy a lot of fabulous stuff, it can never buy true love. I would be happy if I was in a financial position where I and those I love would never have to do without anything we needed. My dream has always been to write a best seller and be known for that. When that happens, then I will be winning.
Anyway, in all of my recent viewings of Charlie’s chattering I have to say my favorite quote is “People misinterpret my passion for anger”. Oh come on, who hasn’t felt that way?
I get dozens upon dozens of emails daily that have subject lines such as “an old classmate has been searching for you”, “3 people have searched for you today”, and today I even got one that said “an old fling has been searching for you” … yikes! Really? I hope he doesn’t find me! These subject lines don’t entice me, the freak me out! Why are people searching for me? I’ve been in the same exact small, boring, lame ass town my entire life. Am I really that hard to find? I look the exact same as I ever did (minus a bit of hairspray and eyeliner), my name hasn’t changed, my family still lives on the same corner downtown, I’m still here … so why the big search? I picture people frantically sweating over their keyboard, pounding in the letters to my name and clicking search. “I must find her,” they gasp aloud desperately. They lurk in the darkness, holding large flaming sticks calling out “Susan, Susan… I must find you…” Meanwhile, I’m sitting in the dark banging away another blog on my crappy Dell notebook … to put on blog where my name and photo shine brightly and openly available to all who are “Desperately Seeking Susan”.
I figured I would desperately seek myself and see how hard I was to find, so I googled my name. Bam! I was all over the place. I really am somebody. My whole life story was there, right on google … you didn’t even have to click anything. I saw my birthday, my picture, my interests, my history … etc… and then if you click on one of the many links to me (I feel so famous, so many links … so little time) you can learn even more about ME! I learned things about me that I didn’t even know. It was pretty amazing. Did you know I lived in Louisiana and Florida before? I didn’t know that … maybe because I never actually did, but google says I did … and it’s definitely me they are talking about because there are pictures of my smiling face with my previous LA & FL addresses. Interesting. I want to go to these places. I want to know what I was doing there. This prompted me to check my credit and make sure my identity was never stolen … I mean with hundreds of people searching for me daily and this whole address thing, I couldn’t help but become a bit paranoid that maybe some of them actually wanted to BE me! Whew, I was relieved to find that my identity has never been stolen. (By the way, the movie “Identity” is one of my favorites … I know because google told me so.).
This made me think about the movie “The Jerk” (a slapstick comedy starring Steve Martin). In “The Jerk”, the main character is a simple man, Navin R. Johnson, on a desperate journey to find himself and stand on his own two feet. After he somewhat establishes himself, he is thrilled to see his name “in print” in the latest edition of the phone book. (Remember I said he was simple, and this movie was released in 1979). Anyway, what seemed such good news for Navin turns out to be rather bad when a serial killer randomly chooses Navin out of the phone book as his next victim. Someone was searching for Navin R. Johnson. Some crazed killer. Ok, so it was a comedy … but still, as I keep saying … hundreds of people are searching for me on a daily basis.
Anyway, I have also discovered another girl with the same name as me. She has done a whole lot more with her life. She’s rather successful. So successful in fact, that I am considering stealing her identity. She has a college degree and a much better looking resume than my own. Interesting. Very interesting. The other Susan I speak of has a fresh, new degree in business. That’s just what I want to pretend I have a degree in. Coincidence? I think not! There are no pictures of this other with my name. Her interests are not posted. She lives in Australia. It would be oh so easy to say I graduated from the University of Technology in Sydney in 2005. Why not? Did you know you can buy fake degrees on line? I can buy one to match my fake story. I wonder if people are searching for her too? She should be nice and at least allow them a picture of herself like me. With a great name like that, she must be hot too … right?
I guess it is kind of unsettling that people are searching for me, although between you and me I really don’t believe it … I honestly think they are catchy titled emails to entice me to open it and catch some hideous computer virus to crash my computer or steal my identity or what have you. All I can say is, I hope that Old Fling Stalker guy who’s desperately seeking Susan that they just emailed me about doesn’t find me.
But the brilliant advertising ploys in cyber space aren’t confined strictly to email, as most of you know… I mean, seriously, Do you know where your boyfriend is? Well, according to a recent ad I saw in cyberspace you can track him down. Simply click the ad, provide his cell phone number and hunt his sorry ass down. How brilliant is this??? Let that stupid concept of trust be a thing of the past … I mean, seriously, who needs it? Just hunt him down and see for yourself what a lying dirt bag he really is. Wal-mart my ass, the tracking system clearly shows he’s actually at Taco Bell … that no good bastard! Him: Honey, I brought you some…
Her: You no good son-of-a-bitch!
Him: nachos… wh… what?
Her: You heard me, you lying no good son-of-a-bitch!
Him: Um, what’s the…
Her: Wal-mart my ass, you weren’t really at Wal-mart were you?
Him: Yes, I ran in to pick up a…
Her: LIAR! You were at Taco Bell!
Him: Um, yeah I guess I did stop at Taco Bell to get you a…
Her: Oh, don’t put it on me, asshole. I know you like that bitch in the drive thru!
Him: Um, what? I got you some…
Her: Keep your fucking nachos, I know the truth now!
Seriously??? Who comes up with these brilliant ideas, such as tracking your boyfriend. Is it just me, or does anyone else find this concept rather creepy?
Or what about, the find out when you will die ad? The one you just click on and mysteriously the date and time of your death can be calculated. Again, does anyone else think this is a bad idea? Does anyone else find this concept rather creepy too? Do you imagine the grim reaper is walking the Earth with a lap top, looking for a wi-fi net source to stop and answer your burning question while he has a latte? If you were actually given a date, a time of your death … would you believe it? What would you do with it? I think I’d use it to throw a party. I’m having a huge party on February 11, 2037 … I hope you can get there before 10:13 pm because that’s my expiration time, okay? RSVP. BYOB. Thanks.
Who will you marry? Hmmm… how can they possibly know? And… Who are they anyway??? I’m sure, once you fill out their detailed questionnaire they will tell you exactly want you want to know … for a fee. Yes, there is a hefty fee with all of these, But, do you what you must if you feel the powers of the great internets have all the answers … Personally, I think the kind of people who feed into this crap are just hoping that they get an answer back at all. Some sad, lonely, poor ol’ sap sitting in front of his computer just hoping that the magical interwebs spew out a female’s name for him so he can at least know he’s not destined to be alone…
So, I decided to try the “Mobile Spy”ad. This is an ad to see if someone has searched for you online … online, mind you, but you must enter your mobile phone number to find out … hmmm, why is that? Anyway, let’s play along…
First, you have to select your gender… female
Next, enter your first name… Anne
Then you select your age… 18
and your cell phone carrier (“to establish if you can receive our report”)… AT&T
followed, of course, by the addition of your cell phone number… 555-555-5555…
Press continue…
Aww, damn… the pin number to find out my destiny was texted to a fake number… and I need it to see what’s up… holy hell.
But, alas, good news that I lied because in reading the fine print I see that once I accept that pin # I get a $9.99 per month charge added to my phone. By using any of Mobile Spy LLC’s websites via entering your phone information or interacting with any links you agree to be bound by these terms and condition which include: services are provided on a “as is” and “as available” basis and all warranties are disclaimed to the fullest extent permissible…etc… Mobilespy.com makes no warranty that the site or products and services provided will meet your requirements and that the service will run uninterrupted, timely, secure or error free. Results obtained are not guaranteed to be accurate, reliable or error free. The site may contain bugs, errors or other limitations that Mobilespy.com is not responsible for. Blah blah blah… give us your money and get screwed!
But damn it’s tempting, cuz those are some hot bitches they keep saying are searching for me! Who would’ve thought hot bitches were searching for me? I’m betting they have traced their boyfriends to my house … Taco Bell my ass!!!
Well, it’s been real … it’s been fun … but it hasn’t been real fun. So, I’m off to get my free psychic reading now … I need to know if crazed hot bitches are coming over to kick my ass. Wait! What’s this? I need to enter my credit card number? That doesn’t sound free … curses! Foiled again!
It’s impossible to condense the Hurricane Katrina experience in a few short blogs let alone the 5 years that have followed. I have tried, but came to the realization that it would be several more blogs to truly give the full spectrum. In the first 3 blogs of this series I have given you a taste of my personal experience during the storm and the days that (immediately) followed along with a few bits of other survivor’s stories and some interesting facts about the storm. This has been my best effort to share it all with those of you who don’t know what it’s like first hand. Each year, I try to write something for you that helps put a face on this reality. The eye of Hurricane Katrina made landfall in my hometown. My life was forever changed. History washed away and starting over in a place that felt comparable to the aftermath of a nuclear explosion. Each year I take this journey again, but I learn a little more and I reflect a little more and I am reminded of how truly blessed I am to be here today and with little struggle compared to so many. It is also a huge part of my healing process to do these projects.-Suz 8/29/10
I re-read my closing from the series I wrote last year, and want to share it here with you today:
From “Coming out of the dark” by Suz (post date 8/30/2009): I have spent this week focusing on facts about Hurricane Katrina in order to raise awareness for a few reasons. #1 most people were led to believe by the media that Katrina struck New Orleans, LA but that is not all together true. The media favored New Orleans because it is a famous city, but the media failed the MS Gulf Coast where Katrina truly made landfall and did far more devastation than was done in New Orleans. The actual eye of the storm landed in the very town where I live, Waveland, MS. #2 Four years have passed since Katrina made landfall and people are beginning to forget. We are still struggling to rebuild and I’m sad to report that, for the most part, things here are not much different than they were 4 years ago. Don’t get me wrong, the debris and garbage have been cleared… but the land is still barren and remains an empty shell of a town (actually a few towns) that once was great. But, I do not want to be negative here. I want to generate understanding. It is not completely illogical that the rebuilding process is moving so slowly. It is very hard to comprehend complete devastation and where to begin to rebuild an entire city (cities actually). Not only that, but how do you rebuild a city so that it’s better equipped in the event that is should ever face another disaster like this? It’s not easy. It takes time. I admit, I complain constantly about the stagnant recovery and I shouldn’t. Being a resident and eye witness I should be understanding of the very statement I just made about how hard it really is to rebuild after complete devastation, but living in the stagnation and harboring memories of what once was is not an easy task. If you want to say I have courage, then say it is for just that… living here among this when so many others have moved away. But don’t misunderstand me. I completely understand why so many (more than not) people moved away afterward… they were homeless, they were jobless, they had families to care for and they needed to proceed faster than the conditions would allow. I was more fortunate in the fact that I wasn’t rendered homeless or jobless and didn’t have a family to care for, so I stayed. I’m not a hero, I’m just a person.
I’m a person forever changed after this devastation. But a person changed for the better in ways I cannot begin to describe in a blog or a letter or in any words that even I could understand. You see, I was blessed with the ability to give to others. I was able to house others for up to two years after the storm and I was able to feed and care for others in ways that so many could not. This was humbling for me. This was awesome for me. From the moment the storm ended and the years that followed, I was able to help and it was wonderful. I guess my only mistake in that period was not taking a moment to consider my own feelings of pain because I continuously convinced myself that I didn’t deserve to feel pain since I was so much better off than the average person. The losses that I suffered were not so much material though. My friends moved away, almost all of them. My two best friends, one who lived up the road from me that I spent much time with and one I’d spent my whole life with and shared time with daily. That was a tremendous loss for me. The places that I liked to go for fun, the places that I attended school, the landmark of my first kiss, the physical locations of many milestones in my life… gone forever… that was a tremendous loss for me. But I became so absorbed in helping others in moving forward that I didn’t mourn my losses for quite some time, at least 2 years after the storm. And helping others healed me and made me a better person.
But another thing that changed my outlook was seeing the good in others. In these modern times I had come to see people as selfish and uncaring. I had grown bitter as the media continued to show horrible crimes and selfish actions of people day in and day out. Each day that passed made it harder for me to believe there was any good left in the world. Each day it seemed my heart grew colder … until Katrina. Immediately following that storm, I saw people reaching out to help one and other. I saw people from all walks of life, standing in long lines waiting for supplies… holding each other as they cried. Race did not matter. Age did not matter. Financial status did not matter. We were all one … for once. It was amazing and beautiful. Even though the circumstances were so hard, we were one. If was fantastic. People were helping each other without even asking. If one saw another struggling, they immediately helped. It was simply amazing. It was great. And then came the others. Before the government stepped in, the Christians came … from everywhere. Whether or not you are Christian, you have to respect these people who came as quickly as possible from all over the world to aid us … Living in tents just like the residents … Working round the clock to feed and clothe the people of the area and eventually working toward building homes for the homeless. The kindness and giving that poured in was another thing that truly changed my heart. As time passed, it wasn’t just Christians but several organizations of people with good hearts who came to help. Groups of people who were part of no organization at all, but just wanted to help came too. Groups of people who formed organizations just to be able to help, they came too. Again, I find myself in a position where I could write a novel just about the change of heart that occurred within me … about the kindness I saw daily … about the good that surrounded us here. But this is my last blog in the series, so I need to make some other points too.
Many of you have asked about my status today. As you have read, when Katrina struck I had just purchased a new home and still owned the old one I was in the process of moving out of/renting to a couple. I had a brand new mortgage that was costing a rather large sum on top of an old mortgage that was supposed to be paid with rent I was obviously no longer to collect (that home was completely destroyed). After struggling for 2 years as I supported the bills of 2 households (including one that no longer existed) and the financial needs of myself and anywhere from 7-4 additional residents in my home (depending on the time frame) I found myself on the brink of bankruptcy. I could not receive government aid or any favor due to the fact that on record I appeared to be financially better off than most so I was not eligible for any form of government aid. My vehicle, though it was paid for, was falling apart. I was in a bad financial state. I had to sell my only good home in order to make ends meet and just as I thought I would have to start all over again, like everyone else, God had saved one more blessing just for me. My employer had a program to rebuild the homes of all employees devastated by the storm. I had originally refused to be a part of the program due to the fact that I was so much better off than any of my fellow employees, but when my boss learned of my struggle he insisted I join the program and rebuild on my original piece of property. Today, I am in a new home thanks to that blessing. Today, I am on my feet again thanks to that blessing. I didn’t come out ahead, but I broke even … still better off than the average person here. And, I admit, I still feel somewhat guilty about that but I shudder to think where I would be today without it.
Bridge Restores a lifeline to a battered town (NY Post original date: May 29, 2007)
Sometimes a bridge is more than just a bridge. The new span across the copper-colored St. Louis Bay connects today’s diminished reality to memories of a more generous past, a hopeful link to the return of better days. And it has ended the isolation, physical and mental, of a place that once considered itself a jewel of the Gulf Coast, a sun-baked collection of picturesque old frame houses that Hurricane Katrina smashed, then severed from its brethren to the east. The surge from the storm wiped out the concrete bridge carrying U.S. Highway 90 that had stood for a half-century. The recovery is creeping along. Wind off the bay is still the loudest noise in the empty-seeming downtown, whistling through ruined buildings and banging loose siding. Before the storm Bay St. Louis was a favored seaside retreat for New Orleanians — the historian Stephen E. Ambrose had lived and written here before his death in 2002 — and, coming from the east, a genteel respite from the garishness of Biloxi’s casinos.“It’s major, psychologically,” said Alicein Chambers, who opened the Mockingbird Cafe a year after the storm. “It just feels like we’re moving, we’re making progress, we’re going forward.” Before, “we were all just on this little cut-off island,” she said; now, “we’re happy to be part of the coast again.|
The partly illusory feeling of isolation — the east-west Interstate 10, just 10 miles to the north, has been available throughout — was nonetheless pervasive. The old way of communicating with the neighbors in Pass Christian and Biloxi, first by way of the wooden bridge of the 1920s, then the concrete one of the 1950s, had been wiped out. And a seven-minute dash across the bay had turned into a 45-minute commute.“After the storm, we were an island unto ourselves,” said Brian Rushing, a minister at the First Baptist Church. “We truly have been isolated from the rest of the Gulf Coast community.”Bay St. Louis Mayor, Eddie Favre, is still living in a trailer, and the old City Hall downtown is still empty. He has moved municipal functions to a former utility company building on the highway. Downtown, on a deserted street, an injunction scrawled on a vacant frame house — “Please respect our loss. Do not enter” — seems superfluous, as there is nobody around to read it.
Mayor Favre calls the bridge a tremendous psychological and emotional boost.“For 626 days, we felt that isolation,” he said. “The bridge, in so many ways, whether it was walking or fishing, it was just so much a part of our daily life.”
Taken from “Bridging the gap” By Suz (5/17/2007):
Yesterday it finally felt better. Yesterday it finally felt like home. The Bay bridge was finally opened. I rode through my home town and felt happy for the first time since Katrina. I guess, because for the first time, I was able to see progress on our beach front. The best part of our wonderful town remained a ghost town, separated as if a deserted island without a bridge to cross the water. To get to the other half of the Gulf Coast, you would have to drive around to take the interstate, adding about 30 minutes to your ride and a good $5-$10 in additional gas!! We were severed from what we knew. Having lived here all my life, it just felt so wrong to be severed this way. I seldom even drove to the barren beach front any more that used to be my favorite place to go.
Today, for the first time, I took the bridge home from work. “Sweet Emotion” cranked on my stereo, windows down, and a smile across my face. It was a gorgeous day. The bridge, now constructed so differently, made me feel as though I was traveling to a whole new place. It felt strange … but good! Some readers’ comments: Neil-I know exactly how you feel Susan. When I went over the bridge on Thursday it felt like I was free again! .. These past two years have made me feel like I have been trapped on a blown up island. Although there is really nothing on the other side of the bridge till Gulfport, it gives a sense of freedom that is hard to quantify, or explain to someone that has not been living in Bay St. Louis since Katrina. The bridge does give some hope that the coast will come back. Drew-I LOVE this blog! I will keep going back to people have NO IDEA, but seriously, people have no idea how much milestones in improvement can make such a HUGE difference. Like I remember when they put the two trailers and a deck where the yacht club used to be, and I joined all the locals there for a party and it was so nice to have some semblance of progress. So nice. Hell like the celebration of electricity. Just getting f’n electricity was a reason to be excited and have a party. ;-)Friends have a house on the bluff that survived the storm. I will never forget the first party I attended at their house. To see lights at night that were not run by a generator and a working bathroom was something most people can never understand how gratifying it can be. We grilled and drank and I sat back and quietly listened to all the stories. It was a magical night that is imprinted in my memory forever. The new bridge is so glorious. It is a tribute in a way to making things better. The effort put in by so many that have come to help the Bay rebuild is so heart warming. When I drove around early after the storm. Every time I saw a Georgia Power truck, I would roll down the window and thank them. I was so blown away by their commitment and effort to get the job done not even being from there. It is people like that that reinforce my belief in humanity. They came to a place where they were not even going to have basic human services and comforts, and stayed for months until the job was done.
Do not forget us. We are the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
Remember our name. We will make history again…
as the people who fought
to revive
the greatest place we’ve ever known… Our home!-Suz 8/28/2009
Will South Mississippi be recovered in five more years?
By KAREN NELSON – klnelson@sunherald.com State Sen. Debbie Dawkins, D-Pass Christian, and Ocean Springs architect Bruce Tolar both said progress has been slowed by a holdup in recovery money. It hasn’t flowed where it was needed, they said. Both said they might consider the Coast recovered closer to 20 years after the storm, not 10.
“Five years feels like we’ve been in quicksand,” Tolar said. “I think we’re just now starting to see things happen that we thought we would see three years ago.”
Scott King, director of policy and research at the Gulf Coast Business Council, predicts in the next few years, as the recession fades, the Coast will see an acceleration in construction, leisure and hospitality jobs that will exceed those of the nation.
“We’ve made progress in the midst of a recession and prohibitive insurance rates,” King said. “The recession will take care of itself, and when the insurance rates start to come down, there will be a real stimulus to the economy.”
He said Katrina forced the Coast to work together and gave some cities a chance to look at how they want to grow. But what the Coast will actually look like is hard to speculate, he said.
AFTERMATH – Hurricane Katrina: Five Years Later By J.R. WELSH of The Sea Coast Echo Aug 28, 2010 Five years later, Katrina has become a bookmark in the lives of thousands. Stand in line at any store, and you’ll hear it over and over: Time is marked by the prelude “before the storm,” or “after the storm.”
Historic homes were left in rubble, businesses were ruined, dreams were shattered. And in the ensuing five years, crime has risen, people who managed to survive the storm have died from Katrina-induced stress or illness, marriages have come apart at the seams.
Jim Thriffiley, a retired educator who served 30-plus years on the Bay St. Louis City Council, has been quietly keeping tabs on Katrina recovery. While the area has sparkling new government buildings and roads rebuilt with federal money, he thinks the progress glimmers on the surface but hasn’t really improved things for ordinary people. Five years later, he said, Katrina’s largest legacy is a lack of prosperity.
“A lot of the people who are under 45 – maybe 50 to 75 percent of those people – don’t have a permanent job where they can work 40 hours a week,” he said. “I see a lot of people who are discouraged.”
With city revenues falling, the loss of the vacation home economy, and a precipitous decrease in population since the storm, Thriffiley fears the area is returning to the low economic tides that flowed here in 1965, when Hurricane Betsy struck Louisiana.
Homesick in my home town
gazing out the window
I pull the blinds down
I mourn for you
more with each day that passes
I wish I could see you through rose colored glasses
I took you for granted
your beauty, your history, your imagery
vanished
I’m lost without you
though I seem to find my way
your landmarks and milestones have all washed away
I’m homesick and broken hearted
ever since the day we parted-Suz 7-29-10
With all this chatter about global warming, being green, energy sources and the spewing oil nightmare that is rocking the nation I thought I’d give myself a little assignment. I thought not only would I educate myself, but some of you too. In all seriousness, when you are fueling up your gas tank do you ever consider the life history of where that fuel came from? Was it really once a dinosaur? What is fossil fuel?
Fuel that was formed through anaerobic digestion of microorganisms in the earth from prehistoric times which break down into biodegradable material in the absence of oxygen from remains of living-cell organisms. Some commonly known fossil fuels are oil, coal and natural gas or their by-products (such as petroleum). The age of the organisms and their resulting fossil fuels is typically millions of years, and sometimes exceeds 650 million years. Fossil fuels range from volatile materials with low carbon:hydrogen ratios like methane, to liquid petroleum to nonvolatile materials composed of almost pure carbon like coal. Because they take millions of years to form, fossil fuels are a non-renewable energy source and are being depleted much faster than new ones are being formed. Fossil fuels are of great importance because they can be burned, producing significant amounts of energy. (To read a more detailed explanation of fossil fuel, go here: http://www.umich.edu/~gs265/society/fossilfuels.htm ) When did man begin to use it as an energy source?
Fossil fuels have been used since cavemen discovered how to burn peat (decayed plant materials that have not reached the coal stage) or coal for heat. Plutarch, a Greek historian, wrote about the “external fires” in the area of present day Iraq. These fires were probably caused by natural gas that was seeping through cracks in the ground and ignited by lightning. Alexander the Great burned petroleum to scare the war elephants of his enemies. The Egyptians used asphalt, a derivative of petroleum, to preserve human remains. Coal was discovered by explorers in 1673, but it was not mined commercially until the 1740’s in Virginia. Before then, coal had been used by the Hopi Indians in the 1300’s for heating and cooking. However, prior to the latter half of the eighteenth century, windmills or watermills provided the energy needed for industry such as milling flour, sawing wood in mills, or pumping water. Burning wood provided domestic heat. The wide-scale use of fossil fuels (coal at first and petroleum later) to fire steam engines (to perform mechanical work using steam as it’s working fluid) enabled the Industrial Revolution[1]. Also during this time, sources for light were using natural gas or coal gas derived from fossil fuels. Natural gas was first sought commercially in 1821, when William A. Hart[2] drilled a 27 foot deep well in Fredonia, NY, to get a larger flow of gas from a naturally occurring surface seepage. This natural gas was sent through wooden pipes to nearby homes for lighting. The wooden pipes allowed some gas to escape and was not an effective way to send natural gas long distances. It was more than 100 years before an efficient distribution system allowed natural gas to be sent long distances to homes, factories, and businesses. In 1859, Edwin L. Drake[3] began the modern day petroleum industry in Titusville, Pennsylvania, when he drilled a 69 foot deep well and discovered crude oil. The crude oil that was obtained from this well was used to form kerosene to use in lamps for illumination and to form grease for machinery. The invention of the internal combustion engine, also during the mid 1850’s, greatly increased the demand for gasoline and diesel (both fossil fuels) thus creating a huge demand for such fossil fuels in the transportation industry for automobiles, trains and aircrafts. Major use for fossil fuels became the use of generating electricity and, of course, the petrochemical industry. Also tar, a leftover of petroleum extraction, is used in road construction. “The capital fact to note is that petroleum was born in the depths of the Earth, and it is only there that we must seek its origin.”-Dmitri Mendeleev, 1877[4] What are the pros of using fossil fuels?
The main reason behind the immense popularity of fossil fuels is that combustion of fossil fuels generates a large amount of usable energy and they are considered high efficiency fuels.
The pros of using fossils fuels begin with the benefit of increased income for our country’s economy. The sale of fossil fuels involves much more than simply providing a finished fuel product to a buyer. A long list of businesses exists along the supply chain employing millions of people. Mining fossil fuels here in the U.S. also helps our country in avoiding dependency on foreign energy supplies. Another pro is that it is really is easy to transport fossil fuels in liquid, gas or solid form. The cheap cost of fossil fuels tops the list of pros. In addition, technology currently exists to use fossil fuels, which makes their use immediate. The cost of obtaining and using fossil fuels may become an issue in the future, however, currently large deposits of oil, natural gas and coal are available. What are the cons?
Some studies show that with combustion of fossil fuels, large amount of carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere. In the atmosphere, it absorbs heat and contributes towards the green house effect. However, other studies disagree with this concept. Cons include both the limited supplies of fossil fuels and the fact that no fossil fuel can be recycled. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, fossil fuel use accounts for 85 percent of total energy use. To continue at our current rate of consumption, suppliers must tap existing and new reserves of fossil fuels. Excavating and oil drilling are dangerous and expensive endeavors requiring long-term planning and research. The biggest disadvantage lies in the fact fossil fuels are only housed deep within the earth’s surface, making acquisition a difficult task. Cons can also include the cost of advancing technology to use fossil fuels more efficiently as well as reduce the acquisition impact on the environment. Both require extensive research to develop new techniques for extraction of fossil fuels. Extraction is expected to become even more dangerous as mining gets deeper and farther out in the ocean. Also, extraction of fossil fuels is harmful to the environment in numerous ways ecologically as well as some of the gasses produced in the burning of these fuels creating pollution. What are the alternatives?
The renewed interest in alternative energy sources is steadily gaining popularity as people become more aware of the globally damaging effects of the extraction and use of fossil fuels. Though it would be nearly impossible for mankind to completely stop the use of fossil fuels, we can use other renewable energy sources and work toward preserving the longevity of fossil fuels for more necessary uses. In doing so, we can also help to better the environment and possibly save lives of plants, animals and human beings too!
Solar powered energy is a great idea and one of the most resourceful sources of renewable energy available today. Solar energy, radiant heat and light from the sun, has been harnessed by humans since ancient times. Unfortunately, today only a small fraction of solar energy available is actually used. The ways for people to obtain solar power in most cases is unaffordable or not very easily obtained. Now is the time for our government to step up to the plate and make this resource easily available to the people. There comes a time when greed and the desire for capital gain must be put aside in order to ultimately save the planet before there is nothing left to fight for or fight over any more, right? Why are we ignoring a free, natural and renewable energy sources? The creation and maintenance of solar panels would generate employment in place of the employment lost as well as income. Of course, solar power would depend on the weather which may cause complications. In my opinion it could be used as a primary source in a household for powering appliances with fossil fuels as a secondary source or back up should the solar energy fail for some reason. Wind is another natural and renewable source of energy which also relies on the weather (more than solar powered energy), but through the use of windmills producing energy we can avoid damaging the environment using this as an energy source for some smaller necessities. The fins of a windmill rotate in a vertical plane which is kept perpendicular to the wind by means of a tail fin. On average, the power that can be produced when an wind mill is facing the wind of about 10mph is around 50 watts.
As we know, in the past water was often used as an energy source. It’s a relatively simple concept, but can be slightly expensive to achieve today in order to meet modern energy needs/standards. Hydroelectricity comes from the damming of rivers using the potential energy stored in the water. As the stored water is released at a high pressure, it’s kinetic energy is transferred onto turbine blades and used to generate electricity. While this system does have enormous costs up front, it is relatively low maintenance and provides power quite cheaply. Again, this would provide employment and income in the construction and maintenance of the dams and turbines. Once again, I am made aware of the greed involved in the industry of power production when I learn that in the U.S. an estimated 180,000 MW of hydroelectric power potential is available but only about 1/3 of that is being harnessed. (Learn more about renewable energy resources here: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/home )
The alternatives are plentiful and the desire to use them should be too! Cars fueled by renewable sources such as lard or water have been in existence for decades, but not approved for market sales. Why? Geothermal energy uses the heat of the earth and while it does require excavation, the process is much simpler and safer than the extraction of fossil fuels. Why are these alternatives not being used? What will it take to activate the use of renewable energy? A disaster?
Charlie Sheen was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. He never had to worry about anything or want for anything. He was given free reign at birth to do whatever he pleased. Today, he blames his father (who basically gave him that silver spoon and freedom) for his wreck of a life. Is that wrong? In some ways, not so much. If you have lived your entire life doing as you please, no matter how bad it may be, and not suffered any real consequences then why not? Sure, this path of destruction began with the freedom of being a rich, spoiled, Hollywood son but in his adult life is his father really still to blame? Well, being so spoiled in his youth was the groundwork for not having to mature and deal with reality but how has he evaded reality in his adult life? He has done things many common men would still be sitting in a jail cell over, yet Charlie Sheen has never had to do so. Our legal system has continued to polish the silver spoon forever planted in his mouth by continuing to allow him to avoid the consequences of his actions simply because he’s a rich celebrity who can afford to buy his way out of any situation he may find himself in. His only real consequences have been that he is under the media microscope. Is he crazy? Maybe not. If I had such a silver spoon in my mouth and a microscope over my actions, perhaps I too would be beyond obnoxious. It only seems logical. Why are we so shocked? I’m not. I love it. I think he’s spitting in the faces of all the fools who enabled him. He really is winning… at least for now. Even though there are no legal consequences for his actions that we’ve really seen, I do believe there will be some health issues in his future. There probably already are and we just don’t know it yet. But, while we all sit back and enjoy the showing of Charlie’s melt down there are bigger questions left unanswered.
decline really more important to our daily lives than the unraveling of the middle east, the raping of the middle class American or the push to continually feed racism? Is Charlie Sheen an optimal candidate for the destruction of his name because he was once on the front lines fighting against our government with his support of the 911 conspiracy? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyKR2-A0KPU
Waiting on karma to pay back that debt... 