Re: [Biofuel] Made in China? - Final Thoughts (long), Happy New Year, Over and Out.
Hi Keith ; --- Keith Addison [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Peter, you've misunderstood me. I didn't say and didn't mean that you were angry. Ok Keith, never mind this very minor thing. No problem at all. Dealing with the forces that interfere with and manipulate human nature for their own ends is a much less daunting challenge, more possible, more achievable, than trying to change perceived inherent inadequacies in human nature itself. Yes true, but the forces are formidable, well organized, and clearly extend through multiple generations. Huge. They can bring down the towers in front of our eyes, kill 3,000 people, and get away with it. Sobering. Whatever happened there, they can and have done a lot worse. I don't think there's any Yes, but... Peter. Of course they're formidable and extend through multiple generations (thousands?), nothing new there. Well organised? Less so than I'd thought, it seems. They've been making more and more errors of judgment in the last few years, including some grave ones, and I've never seen that before. WE are getting stronger all the time, growing, spreading, consolidating, THEY are getting weaker, their grip is weakening, their vision and scope is not broad or deep enough to perceive the true nature of the new (yes!) threat they're facing, nor to meet it and counter it, let alone forestall it. They're dinosaurs, I've often said so. It's only a matter of time. We have plenty of parallels and examples of this blindness. For a start their arrogance and overconfidence make them blind. Why is it that, for instance, we here on this list and a few others, people with no power at all, in no way a formidable force, by all appearances without significance, the much derided and sneered at grass-roots sector, if you can even call it a sector, of the biodiesel industry, which includes some mighty names, can do these three things? 1. We consistently make better fuel than the big guys do. NOT a myth - the myth is that they make good fuel and we can't. Look what Rob Del Bueno said about it a few days ago: Funny thing about the commercially manufactured biodiesel... One of the big arguments against backyard biodiesel (from industry folks) is quality, yet every batch that I have made, and every batch I have seen by a homebrew biodiesel maker has been much better than the fuel I am reselling. http://wwia.org/pipermail/biofuel/Week-of-Mon-20041227/004126.html [Biofuel] New Car That is widely corroborated, from other sources and by events on both sides of the Atlantic (and in Japan). See, for instance: http://wwia.org/pipermail/biofuel/Week-of-Mon-20041213/003725.html [Biofuel] Newbie Question: TDI and homemade fuel Do they take it in, learn anything, improve their practices, try to develop a different relationship with us instead of slagging us all the time, try to adapt in any way? No. They continue in denial. 2. Without any resources or megabuck PR budgets, fancy agencies in Madison Avenue, Rolexes, Armanis or long lunches, we consistently do a better and more effective job than they do of promoting biodiesel and educating the public about it. They've admitted this and it's demonstrably true. They succeed somewhat in promoting it at the business and industry level - on the Business pages - while we get feature stories on front pages. And much besides. 3. The world over, in many countries, in the last five years, we've made and used MILLIONS of gallons of biodiesel and failed to put MILLIONS of dollars in the coffers of governments and the petroleum corporations. We sail right under their radar, and they still haven't figured it out. It's too late to stop us now, even though they'll no doubt get round to trying, sooner or later. They've got about as much chance as the Prohibition did. Just a drop in the ocean, our millions of gallons? Yes, if you want to compare it with overall consumption and incomes, which is what they'll do, and thus fail to see until it's too late that it's not just a drop in the ocean, it's a rapidly widening crack in their concrete. Another picture - how is it that most any schoolkid can make a better and more effective, more influential, website on green issues, say, than a massive auto manufacturer can? (What?? No Flash banner page??? Bad design, hmphh - he's got absolutely no excuse for getting 10 times more hits than we do.) How is it that sinister and sleazy tactics like those of Monsanto via the Bivings group to insinuate corporate trolls into Internet discussion groups get rumbled and backfire on them? Yes, they have a strategy for this, and huge budgets to back it, they hold business seminars on it, but it doesn't work. (Do an achive search for Bivings.) I could go on and on. Okay okay, so I DO go on and on, right? LOL! Nor will you find me labelling people as negative when they have the courage to admit the existence of dark realities rather than pretend about
Re: [Biofuel] Made in China? - Final Thoughts (long), Happy New Year, Over and Out.
Hello Keith and All ; Keith wrote : You really should check this out, IMHO, there's no need to be so pessimistic, and I don't think it's your nature. I wouldn't say I was pessimistic, but I agree it may appear that way. I've been there, I was angry for years, angry about all the callous injustice in the world. Indeed I had so much to be angry about, I was encountering it face to face all the time in my work. Angry is not a word that I would use to describe myself, but I agree in a short post, it may seem that way. Sadly frustrated is more like it. My faith gives me an unusual perspective on this. An analogy for you. I was always good in school without trying too hard. I view adversity in life as like a school test. A good student likes hard tests. It is the only way to differentiate the class after all. Only a poor student likes easy tests. If the test is easy, everyone passes and looks the same. A statistically relevant test must be hard enough that some students fail, and it gives the opportunity for the bright students to shine. Without hard tests there would be no bright students. I always liked the hard tests. Jesus came bearing the staggering gift of eternal life to give to the people of Israel and they beat Him, hung Him on a cross, and killed Him. Talk about being wronged, and hanging there has GOT to hurt, but Jesus did not complain in the face of the most overwhelming wrong anyone could ever imagine right to the end. So I don't look at callous injustice or anything else as causes for anger or revenge. Instead, I view adversity and callous injustice as opportunities to demonstrate how close I can follow the infinitely high standard that Jesus set. When adversity comes my way, I thank Jesus for the opportunity to practise this. The more adversity the more it give me an opportunity. It is not easy and I am not successful many times. But, it's the wrong approach. I stopped being angry about 15 years ago. The sources of the anger remain, or in many (but not all) cases have increased, I don't pretend about it, I do confront it, I don't have any time for rose-tinted specs, and, truth to tell, I still do get angry sometimes, but it's short-lived, and it doesn't colour my vision. You are making some very good points, but I think I have come to terms in my own way, so I feel I need to explain my motivation a little more thoroughly. I think it is significantly different that you expect. There was a movie I saw once, possibly the name was The Dead Zone. I can't remember. It was about this guy who could see your future by touching your hand. He touches the hand of a politician elect, and in a vision he sees that in the future this politician will become president and launch nuclear missiles. So he ponders this difficult question and determines to assinate the politician and spend the rest of his life in jail rather than let the world fall into nuclear war. Someone out there may remember this movie. Anyway, in the movie he touched the hand his young son and he saw that his son would go ice skating later in the day, but the ice would break and he would fall into the icy water and drown. So of course he didn't let his son go ice skating. Now a nice, well meaning neighbor came over with her son and they were going ice skating. He touched the hand of the neighbor's son and once again he saw the ice breaking. He tried to convince this very nice bubbly neighbor that the ice would break, but the neighbor told him every reason why it wouldn't break, ie. it is too early in the spring season for thaw, the ice is thick, everyone is skating, etc. No matter what he said the neighbor was not convinced that the ice would break. Finally he smashed his cane on the table and screamed at the top of his lungs THE ICE IS GONNA BREAK!!. (You're being so negative!) That's a lot like how I feel. The ice is gonna break. Keith wrote : Washington and Beijing (and the WTO) notwithstanding, there's much more common cause between the *people* of the US and the *people* of China than there's cause for distrust, rivalry and enmity. Yes, agreed, but the question remains whether this common cause is enough. It hasn't been in the past. The powers sometimes self inflict damage to get everybody riled up. Once everyone is riled up and the war drums beating, anything is possible. Therefore as humans we must ignore what someone appears to have done to someone else or even us if we want to defeat this strategy. It will not be easy to make this change. Keith wrote : We ordinary people, Gustl's common people, will win this age-old game in the end, it's our destiny. Absolutely, ABSOLUTELY correct, but its going to be one heck of a roller coaster ride until then. Keith wrote : As for trouble being inevitable, I don't agree with that either, regardless of what the intentions might be (on both sides). An article titled Slowly but steadily, India will overtake
Re: [Biofuel] Made in China? - Final Thoughts (long), Happy New Year, Over and Out.
Hi All ; Opps. Sorry if I forgot anybody (Walt). Happy New Year to you all!! Peter G. __ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail - now with 250MB free storage. Learn more. http://info.mail.yahoo.com/mail_250 ___ Biofuel mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://wwia.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/biofuel Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuel archives at Infoarchive.net (searchable): http://infoarchive.net/sgroup/biofuel/
Re: [Biofuel] Made in China? - Final Thoughts (long), Happy New Year, Over and Out.
were angry. I was angry, I said you were pessimistic, and that indeed you have been, or sadly frustrated, if you prefer. Check the quotes I included. You despair of human goodwill and of the human capacity to learn much-needed lessons, yet in another post you include in this the critical factor of mass-manipulation - if you'd added that to your original sum it would have come out different, less pessimistic about human nature and abilities or not at all pessimistic. Dealing with the forces that interfere with and manipulate human nature for their own ends is a much less daunting challenge, more possible, more achievable, than trying to change perceived inherent inadequacies in human nature itself. Rather than a need to change people beyond their capacities, maybe all that's needed is to leave them alone and let them get on with it without interference. I compared your pessimism to the anger I'd felt for many years, because it seems to me the two are comparable in their contexts. I could find a resolution of that, and you can resolve this. There's no contradiction between realism and optimism. Nor will you find me labelling people as negative when they have the courage to admit the existence of dark realities rather than pretend about it - I said that. But there are better ways of dealing with it, denial NOT included! (I think we mentioned the Titanic previously, didn't we? We certainly agreed about that.) Also, in both there being trouble ahead and in the changes needed for betterment,there absolutely have to be many unforeseen factors that you're not calculating for, nor can you calculate for them. But they're not likely to be significant because the major factors at play are so clearcut and decisive, the die is cast? But with complexities such as these with their infinities of variables, it's quite impossible to predict which factors, whether massive or imperceptible, will initiate change. Social change doesn't need critical threshold levels of people to act before it can happen, maybe it only needs one person to plant the right seed in the right place at the right time and in the right way, perhaps even by accident, without any knowledge of what they're doing nor any such intention, and nobody will ever know what caused it, least of all that person. Needed change happens via a creative minority, not by agreement of the majority. Creative acts do not necessarily follow a logical progression that can easily be predicted. Meanwhile we can all do what we can do and keep trying to do it better. Keith wrote : Washington and Beijing (and the WTO) notwithstanding, there's much more common cause between the *people* of the US and the *people* of China than there's cause for distrust, rivalry and enmity. Yes, agreed, but the question remains whether this common cause is enough. It hasn't been in the past. It was so easy to smash it, if you just happened to control all the resources and all the power. That has almost certainly changed, as Gustl hinted. Now we have a situation where five ordinary folks with a couple of computers and a telephone could bring the mighty Monsanto to its knees. There's something new under the sun, for a change. Just one battle, it's true (and they warned of that), but not the only one, and instead of being nullified and swept aside as before, there's a powerful multiplier effect at work - it spreads like a fire, and there's no way of stopping it. Even the mainstream US press has referred to the Other Superpower: There may still be two superpowers on the planet: the United States and world public opinion. - The New York Times http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20030414s=schell The Nation | Article | The Other Superpower | Jonathan Schell March 27, 2003 Keith wrote : We ordinary people, Gustl's common people, will win this age-old game in the end, it's our destiny. Absolutely, ABSOLUTELY correct, but its going to be one heck of a roller coaster ride until then. It's seldom been anything else. There've been worse times, and better. After all, this is what our history is all about, the problem of power. No progress? A HUGE amount of progress, it's a story of progress, always overcoming the constant setbacks that beset us at every turn. We lose all the battles yet we never stop advancing and gaining ground, and we will most definitely win the war. Did you ever read this? http://infoarchive.net/sgroup/BIOFUEL/32840/ Re: [biofuel] The Oil we eat (Harper's) The original article is here: http://infoarchive.net/sgroup/biofuel/31846/1/ Keith, of the list participants you are the first time zone for the new year, so I would like to say HAPPY NEW YEAR to you and Midori first, Thankyou Peter! But is that right? How does Bob rate? Is it tomorrow yet Bob? Anyway Peter you're not far behind. and then to all list particpants as the earth spins around its axis at around 1,000 mph and hurtles through space
Re: [Biofuel] Made in China? - Final Thoughts (long), Happy New Year, Over and Out.
Hi Keith ; --- Keith Addison [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Peter, you've misunderstood me. I didn't say and didn't mean that you were angry. Ok Keith, never mind this very minor thing. No problem at all. Dealing with the forces that interfere with and manipulate human nature for their own ends is a much less daunting challenge, more possible, more achievable, than trying to change perceived inherent inadequacies in human nature itself. Yes true, but the forces are formidable, well organized, and clearly extend through multiple generations. Huge. They can bring down the towers in front of our eyes, kill 3,000 people, and get away with it. Sobering. Nor will you find me labelling people as negative when they have the courage to admit the existence of dark realities rather than pretend about it - I said that. But there are better ways of dealing with it, denial NOT included! (I think we mentioned the Titanic previously, didn't we? We certainly agreed about that.) I didn't mean to direct this at you at all. I joke like this with my friend many times when they raise legitimate concerns about my high flying plans. No problem at all again. LOL. Also, in both there being trouble ahead and in the changes needed for betterment,there absolutely have to be many unforeseen factors that you're not calculating for, nor can you calculate for them. Yes true. It was so easy to smash it, if you just happened to control all the resources and all the power. That has almost certainly changed, as Gustl hinted. Now we have a situation where five ordinary folks with a couple of computers and a telephone could bring the mighty Monsanto to its knees. There's something new under the sun, for a change. Just one battle, it's true (and they warned of that), but not the only one, and instead of being nullified and swept aside as before, there's a powerful multiplier effect at work - it spreads like a fire, and there's no way of stopping it. Even the mainstream US press has referred to the Other Superpower: Yes this effort to rein in Monsanto is outstanding and commendable. But I think we need to just agree to differ on this point. My humble opinion on this is that our opponents are not stupid, in fact they are brilliant strategists, the best there ever was or ever will be, and some small victories for our cause can be expected. But GM crops are still flooding the market and it is only the beginning. Eventually the patent enforcement that you see now will become widespread. Their plan is not static and they will act quickly to eliminate the internet threat. Internet censorship is already a reality and I expect it to get a lot worse. How? The great game of Thesis, antithesis, synthesis. One example. Right now there are criminals in jail on death row who have fan club followings over the internet where they describe their murders in great detail. This is understandably painful for the victims families so they are clamoring to have prisoners barred from internet access. Many convicts, particularly internet fraud cases, are already barred from using the internet. Don't people realize that this power will eventually be used against you and me? It surely will. My strategy is work diligently and never miss a chance to make change for the better, hope for the best, and plan for the worst. This is not suitable for everyone. Did you ever read this? http://infoarchive.net/sgroup/BIOFUEL/32840/ Re: [biofuel] The Oil we eat (Harper's) Yes I am quite very enthusiastic about integrated agriculture for my project. I visited with Dr. Preston of UTA a few years ago in Cambodia about attending some training classes and hiring some of his graduates. I still plan on doing this. Hey I forgot Gustl and Peggy - Happy New Year to you both!! Best Regards, Peter G. Thailand __ Do you Yahoo!? Dress up your holiday email, Hollywood style. Learn more. http://celebrity.mail.yahoo.com ___ Biofuel mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://wwia.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/biofuel Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuel archives at Infoarchive.net (searchable): http://infoarchive.net/sgroup/biofuel/
