I went to the library today to check out a book by the President of the Sierra Club, Michael Bruce, titled Coming Clean: Breaking America's Addiction to Oil and Coal. As I pulled the book off the shelf I noticed the title of the book sitting directly next to it. Gusher of Lies: The Dangerous Delusions of "Energy Independence" by Robert Bryce.
Some of you may know that I have advocated plans by people like Boone Pickens who stress energy independence as Americas most obvious solution to the economy, terrorism, and global warming. I'm interested to understand this mans argument that says those energy independence plans are "hog wash".
p.s. If you listen closely to the video when he starts naming cities around the world where you can find the price of a barrel of oil you'll notice he mentions Cushing... He's talking about Cushing, Oklahoma! Cushing is a major hub in oil supply connecting the Gulf Coast suppliers with northern consumers. Cushing is famous as a price settlement point for West Texas Intermediate on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) and has been cited as the most significant trading hub for crude oil in North America. I pulled that from Wikipedia but it was something I actually learned in school.
-Trey
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Day Three Unemployment
The beginning of the week has been full of a lot of adult business. Bank, post office, doctor visit, car mechanics, Fed Ex, and the grocery store. Now that I'm on day three of unemployment, I can start the real job search. This job search is the best kind because there are no resumes, no interviews, and no suit and tie. My goal here is to go into One Cup (where I hope to be hired) and just spend time reading and drinking coffee. I've already had two encounters with the owner and he now knows my name. This is crucial, people rarely hire you in this town if they don't know you. Here is their myspace page where you can check out some photos.
In other news, my best friend Clint Pitcock just booked at flight home from Oregon. Why does he have a one way ticket from Oregon to Oklahoma you ask? Well, When Mallory and I visit in May he is going to ride the train with us back to Oregon. The dude is a champion, I gave him some dates and that same day he booked a flight. Sounds like true freedom to me. Clint has been living a servants life for the past nine months at Teen Challenge, being an example to young men who need direction. He's not doing it for the money (I don't think he gets paid), not for fame (most of his old friends don't even know where he is), and not for success (at least not by the world's standards). He's there serving because God would have him doing nothing less.
Here is an off-the-subject excerpt from The Knowledge of the Holy by A.W. Tozar
Science observes how the power of God operate, discovers a regular pattern somewhere and fixes it as a "law." The uniformity of God's activities in His creation enables the scientist to to predict the course of natural phenomena. The trustworthiness of God's behavior in His world is the foundation of all scientific truth. Upon it the scientists rests his faith and from there he goes on to achieve great and useful things in such fields as those of navigation, chemistry, agriculture, and the medical arts.
Religion, on the other hand, goes back of nature to God. It is concerned not with the footprints of God along the paths of creation, but with the One who treads those paths. Religion is interested primarily in the One who is the source of all things, the master of every phenomenon.
-Trey
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Story of Bottled Water
I've been waiting for a few months for the new "Story of Stuff" video to come out. It's call the Story of Bottled Water and while it's not quite as powerful as the Story of Stuff it's just as fascinating. I'll post the a few other videos as well.
The Story of Cap & Trade
and in case you haven't see then Story of Stuff in a while
-Trey
The Story of Cap & Trade
and in case you haven't see then Story of Stuff in a while
-Trey
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Spring Butterflies
Mallory spent her day off yesterday cutting out sixty five little butterflies. It was time well spent because she pasted them to the living room wall and it looks like a photo right out of a magazine.
Happy Wednesday,
- Trey
Monday, March 22, 2010
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Health Reform Perspective
Whatever your opinion is on Health Care Reform - let's not forget how blessed we are in this country. So many others are not nearly as fortunate and while the new legislation may have a negative impact on you in monetary form, at least we can all rest easy that if disaster struck and you or a loved one was injured, you wouldn't be making decisions about having to amputate a broken leg or an arm for lack of medical infrastructure.
-Trey
Saturday, March 20, 2010
And God saw that it was good
When man turns his back on the creator's plan, he provokes a disorder which has inevitable repercussions on the rest of the created order. If man is not at peace with God, then the earth itself cannot be at peace: "Therefore the land mourns and all who dwell in it languish, and also the beasts of the field and the birds of the air and even the fish of the sea are taken away" (Hos 4:3)
The profound sense that the earth is "suffering" is also shared by those who do not profess our faith in God. Indeed, the increasing devastation of the world of nature is apparent to all. It results from the behavior of people who show a callous disregard for the hidden, yet perceivable requirements of the order and harmony which govern nature itself.
People are asking anxiously if it is still possible to remedy the damage which has been done. Clearly, an adequate solution cannot be found merely in a better management or a more rational use of the earth's resources, as important as these may be. Rather, we must go to the source of the problem and face in its entirety that profound moral crisis of which the destruction of the environment is only one troubling aspect.
Certain elements of today's ecological crisis reveal its moral character. First among these is the indiscriminate application of advances in science and technology. many recent discoveries have brought undeniable benefits to humanity. Indeed, they demonstrate the nobility of the human vocation to participate responsibility in God's creative action in the world. Unfortunately, it is now clear that the application of these discoveries in the fields of industry and agriculture have produced harmful long-term effects. This has led to the painful realization that we cannot interfere in one area of the ecosystem without paying due attention both to the consequences of such interference in other areas and to the well being of future generations.
The gradual depletion of the ozone layer and the related "greenhouse effect" has now reached crisis proportions as a consequence of industrial growth, massive urban concentrations and, vastly increased energy needs. Industrial waste, the burning of fossil fuels, unrestricted deforestation, the use of certain types of herbicides, coolants and propellants: all of these are known to harm the atmosphere and environment. The resulting meteorological and atmospheric changes range from damage to health to the possible future submersion of low-lying lands.
While in some cases the damage already done may well be irreversible, in many other cases it can still be halted. It is necessary, however, that the entire human community - individuals, States and international bodies - take seriously the responsibilities that is theirs.
The most profound and serious indication of the moral implication underlying the ecological problem is the lack of respect for life evident in many of the patterns of environmental pollution. Often, the interests of production prevail over concern for the dignity of workers, while economic interests take priority over the good of individuals and even entire peoples. In these cases, pollution or environments destruction is the result of an unnatural and reductionist vision which at times leads to a genuine contempt for man.
On another level, delicate ecological balances are upset by the uncontrolled destruction of animal and plant life or by a reckless exploitation of natural resources. It should be pointed out that all of this, even if carried out in the name of progress and well being, is ultimately to mankind's disadvantage.
Respect for life, and above all for the dignity of the human person, is the ultimate guiding norm for any sound economic, industrial, or scientific progress.
-Pope John Paul II
January 1, 1990, Vatican City
It's hard to believe that speech was given when I was only 5 years old and the story is unchanged today. I guess you could take the positions that we have been warned about the consequences of human interference with the environment for the last several decades and nothing has happened yet, so why believe a word these "liberal scientists" say now. But that would make you like the person who says, "I've smoked my whole life and I haven' t had a single major health issue ever." The science is proven that cigarette smoke is unhealthy and the science is also proven that man made carbon emissions have done irreversible damage to the atmosphere and overall stability of the planet. Just because the climate change issue has been morphed into a partisan issue (which it's not) doesn't mean you must challenge the science behind it (without doing your own real research) because the majority of the those who backup the climate change science may not share your faith in God.
I find it interesting when snow falls in the mid-west during the early spring months that climate change deniers come out of the woodwork with their Facebook posts like, "global warming huh? That must explain all this snow we're getting in March" I get it, snow and the phrase global warming don't fit inside some peoples simple mind so they use it as an excuse to use as many resources as they want because it's their right and so on. But let's not ignore all the (un)natural disasters that are happening all around the world every month.
I'll simply suggest that we all consider our individual impact on God's creation. Let's examine what we consume everyday out of sheer habit and see if there is anywhere we can simply consume less. I think you'll find it freeing. Every dollar we spend is like casting a vote, change happens a lot quicker when we vote with our money then when we watch the "talking heads" on the television tell us how to live and think.
I know this fight isn't for everyone but please don't write it off for the wrong reasons. I promise, when you start to take a real look at the issue you'll find there are a lot more "right" reasons to care for the creation.
"Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it."
-Mathew 7:13
We (Christians) don't do things differently from the world because it's cool or fun to be different, but because we're called to. I read somewhere that during Jesus' ministry he never used a mode of transportation other than walking except for once.... the day he road a donkey into Jerusalem while the crowds shouted, "Hosanna in the highest!" A far cry from how a typical king in that day would have rolled into town.
- Trey
The profound sense that the earth is "suffering" is also shared by those who do not profess our faith in God. Indeed, the increasing devastation of the world of nature is apparent to all. It results from the behavior of people who show a callous disregard for the hidden, yet perceivable requirements of the order and harmony which govern nature itself.
People are asking anxiously if it is still possible to remedy the damage which has been done. Clearly, an adequate solution cannot be found merely in a better management or a more rational use of the earth's resources, as important as these may be. Rather, we must go to the source of the problem and face in its entirety that profound moral crisis of which the destruction of the environment is only one troubling aspect.
Certain elements of today's ecological crisis reveal its moral character. First among these is the indiscriminate application of advances in science and technology. many recent discoveries have brought undeniable benefits to humanity. Indeed, they demonstrate the nobility of the human vocation to participate responsibility in God's creative action in the world. Unfortunately, it is now clear that the application of these discoveries in the fields of industry and agriculture have produced harmful long-term effects. This has led to the painful realization that we cannot interfere in one area of the ecosystem without paying due attention both to the consequences of such interference in other areas and to the well being of future generations.
The gradual depletion of the ozone layer and the related "greenhouse effect" has now reached crisis proportions as a consequence of industrial growth, massive urban concentrations and, vastly increased energy needs. Industrial waste, the burning of fossil fuels, unrestricted deforestation, the use of certain types of herbicides, coolants and propellants: all of these are known to harm the atmosphere and environment. The resulting meteorological and atmospheric changes range from damage to health to the possible future submersion of low-lying lands.
While in some cases the damage already done may well be irreversible, in many other cases it can still be halted. It is necessary, however, that the entire human community - individuals, States and international bodies - take seriously the responsibilities that is theirs.
The most profound and serious indication of the moral implication underlying the ecological problem is the lack of respect for life evident in many of the patterns of environmental pollution. Often, the interests of production prevail over concern for the dignity of workers, while economic interests take priority over the good of individuals and even entire peoples. In these cases, pollution or environments destruction is the result of an unnatural and reductionist vision which at times leads to a genuine contempt for man.
On another level, delicate ecological balances are upset by the uncontrolled destruction of animal and plant life or by a reckless exploitation of natural resources. It should be pointed out that all of this, even if carried out in the name of progress and well being, is ultimately to mankind's disadvantage.
Respect for life, and above all for the dignity of the human person, is the ultimate guiding norm for any sound economic, industrial, or scientific progress.
-Pope John Paul II
January 1, 1990, Vatican City
It's hard to believe that speech was given when I was only 5 years old and the story is unchanged today. I guess you could take the positions that we have been warned about the consequences of human interference with the environment for the last several decades and nothing has happened yet, so why believe a word these "liberal scientists" say now. But that would make you like the person who says, "I've smoked my whole life and I haven' t had a single major health issue ever." The science is proven that cigarette smoke is unhealthy and the science is also proven that man made carbon emissions have done irreversible damage to the atmosphere and overall stability of the planet. Just because the climate change issue has been morphed into a partisan issue (which it's not) doesn't mean you must challenge the science behind it (without doing your own real research) because the majority of the those who backup the climate change science may not share your faith in God.
I find it interesting when snow falls in the mid-west during the early spring months that climate change deniers come out of the woodwork with their Facebook posts like, "global warming huh? That must explain all this snow we're getting in March" I get it, snow and the phrase global warming don't fit inside some peoples simple mind so they use it as an excuse to use as many resources as they want because it's their right and so on. But let's not ignore all the (un)natural disasters that are happening all around the world every month.
I'll simply suggest that we all consider our individual impact on God's creation. Let's examine what we consume everyday out of sheer habit and see if there is anywhere we can simply consume less. I think you'll find it freeing. Every dollar we spend is like casting a vote, change happens a lot quicker when we vote with our money then when we watch the "talking heads" on the television tell us how to live and think.
I know this fight isn't for everyone but please don't write it off for the wrong reasons. I promise, when you start to take a real look at the issue you'll find there are a lot more "right" reasons to care for the creation.
"Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it."
-Mathew 7:13
We (Christians) don't do things differently from the world because it's cool or fun to be different, but because we're called to. I read somewhere that during Jesus' ministry he never used a mode of transportation other than walking except for once.... the day he road a donkey into Jerusalem while the crowds shouted, "Hosanna in the highest!" A far cry from how a typical king in that day would have rolled into town.
- Trey
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Monday, March 15, 2010
Every man lives by faith, the nonbeliever as well as the saint
Every man lives by faith, the nonbeliever as well as the saint; the one by faith in natural laws and the other by faith in God. Every man throughout his entire life constantly accepts without understanding, The most learned sage can be reduced to silence with one simple question, "What?" The answer to that question lies forever in the abyss of unknowing beyond any man's ability to discover. "God understandeth the way thereof, and he knoweth the place thereof ," but mortal man never.
Thomas Carlyle, following Plato, pictures a man, a deep pagan thinker, who had grown to maturity in some hidden cave and is brought out suddenly to see the sun rise. "What would his wonder be," exclaims Carlyle, "his rapt astonishment at the sight we daily witness with indifference! With the free, open sense of a child, yet with the ripe faculty of a man, his whole heart would be kindled by that sight... This green flowery rock built earth, the tress, the mountains, rivers, many-sounding seas; that great deep sea of azure that swims overhead; the winds sweeping through it; the black cloud fashioning itself together, now pouring out fire, now hail and rain; what is it? Ay, what? At bottom we do not yet know; we can never know at all."
How different are we who have grown used to it, who have become jaded with a satiety of wonder. "It is not by our superior insight that we escape the difficulty," says Carlyle, "it is by our superior levity, our inattention, our want of insight. It is by not thinking that we cease to wonder at it... We call that fire of the black thundercloud 'electricity,' and lecture learnedly about it, Whence comes it? Whither goes it? Science has done much for us; but it is a poor science that would hide from us the great deep sacred infinitude of Nescience, whither we can never penetrate, on which all science and sciences, is still a miracle; wonderful, inscrutable, magical and more, to whosoever will think of it."
These penetrating, almost prophetic, words were written more than a century ago (a century and a half now), but not all the breath-taking advances of science and technology since that time have invalidated one word or rendered obsolete as much as one period or comma. Still we do not know. We save face by repeating frivolously the proper jargon of science. We harness the mighty energy that rushes through our world ; we subject it to fingertip control in our cars and our kitchens; we make it work for us like Aladdin's jinn, but still we do not know what it is. Secularism, materialism, and the intrusive presence of things have put out the light in our souls, and turned us into a generation of zombies. We cover our deep ignorance with words, but we are ashamed to wonder, we are afraid to whisper "mystery"
-A.W. Tozar
I'm putting my two weeks notice in at work today. I don't have any jobs lined out but Mallory and I can get by on one income until something comes up. I may have the opportunity to volunteer at a local coffee house that roasts their own beans, it would be such an awsome experience! I will also be able to give more of my time in other ways to people in need. Pray that we walk in faith in this situation. We didn't take much time over analyzing the whole thing, we just felt peace about it.
-Trey
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Monroe Steet Cafe
Mallory and I went to an "open mic night" at a neighborhood cafe last night. It was quite the experience. It's a tiny place, it was packed, and people just kept coming in. We saw some great acts; spoken word, poetry by guys and gals, old men, middle aged women, we heard a song that sounded strait out of a bar in Ireland, songs from people who look too shy to talk but brought the house down, and one guy played a hand made drum from Switzerland called a hang drum (pronounced hung). It was one of our coolest and most unique experiences in Oregon so far.I leave you with a paragraph from The Forgotten God:
No matter where you live and what your days look like, you have the choice each day to depend on yourself, to live safely, and to try to control your life. Or you can live as you were created to live - as a temple of the Holy Spirit of God, as a person dependent on Him, desperate for God the Spirit to show up and make a difference. When you begin living a life characterized by walking with the Spirit, that is when people will begin to look not to you but to our Father in heaven and give him the praise. - Chan
-Trey
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Mat's first shirt
Mat (my sisters b/f) started a T-shirt company out of his house and this is the first shirt they put together for a paying customer.
If you have any t-shirt needs get in touch with me and I'll set you up with Mat.
-Trey
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