On Wed, 26 Jan 2011 11:57:13 -0800, Mark wrote in message <046701cbbd93$3fc5c940$bf515bc0$@com>:
> Hi Jim, > > It is a nasty claim. But we shouldn't be shocked or in disbelief. In > recent history we have the Iraq war as a paradigm, where the > Blackwaters and Halliburtons hauled money by the C-5-load out of > taxpayer's pockets. How many deals had side channels? A little > experience in D.C. politics would erase any remnant of flag-waving > innocence. > > When our President started talking about massive infrastructure > investments last night and put the feel-good marketing phrase "Clean > Energy" high on his list of infrastructure investments that the > government would make.I cringed! Saying that the "US is open for > business" sounds a lot like saying that Washington's K-Street is open > for business. Most of the seminal advances in technological and > industrial America have not been spurred by government largess. > Without the catalyst of the "sink-or-swim" requirement that private > investment implies, all of these government initiatives are bound to > fail or at best, provide scant value for the money invested. > > In the 19th Century, sociologist Max Weber had it figured out: Once in > place, a bureaucracy's main function is to maintain and grow its > power and structure. The same goes for congressional committee > chairman and staffers and the lobbyists who feed them and golf with > them. (Our new Speaker of the House played golf 113-times last year; > not with his parish priest, you may be assured.) > > Let the EXXONs of the world pay for "clean energy" development. They > will be the ultimate benefactors in any case. I still remember the > energy crunch of the 1970s and how rapidly the Energy Giants moved in > to stamp-out the sparks of innovation. > > Reality is often depressing. > > Mark ..aye, and yelling at the messenger, is how you earn it. ;o) -- ..med vennlig hilsen = with Kind Regards from Arnt Karlsen ...with a number of polar bear hunters in his ancestry... Scenarios always come in sets of three: best case, worst case, and just in case. _______________________________________________ Gasification mailing list to Send a Message to the list, use the email address [email protected] to UNSUBSCRIBE or Change your List Settings use the web page http://lists.bioenergylists.org/mailman/listinfo/gasification_lists.bioenergylists.org for more Gasifiers, News and Information see our web site: http://gasifiers.bioenergylists.org/
