Tuesday

Renewable Energy in Texas

So gas prices keep going up. Please don't despair. I have always believed there is blessing behind all this turmoil. I chose not to drive anywhere this weekend. It was my way of protesting what is happening. We all want to blame SOMEONE, ANYONE..CAN YOU HEAR ME? Well, I have news for you. The best way I can handle this is blaming myself. I should have known better than trust people whose only motive is to make big profits. Don't you think our leaders and businesses dependent on oil knew about this way before we did? Are they really to blame though?
Let's face it, we all like to drive the big cars. It is the American way. Well now the American way or let's say the TEXAS WAY..is to focus on RENEWABLE ENERGY. I am here to cheer you up. Pay attention to this.

Texas has more renewable energy potential than any other state!!! That's right..we are number one and for something good (Don't ask about insuring children please!) Due to our size and diverse climate, we have tremendous potential to use clean, renewable energy sources such as wind, solar and biomass. These resources are so plentiful in Texas we can meet all of our state's needs. See? Don't despair..sooner or later we will rise up to the ocasion. In the mean time, drive 55 miles an hour (not 75) buy a bike and start riding to the store near you, carpool, buy a moped and figure out how to camp in your own back yard!!! Cheer up.

Monday

Story of Stuff and Media Literacy on Living Smart

As we confront gas prices going up to possibly $200 a barrell eventually, We are finally asking the tough questions. We are realizing that this may have been going on for a long time and that we have been living in a dream which has now turned into a nightmare. That is why I like to watch the story of stuff, so I can be enlightend. Click here www.storyofstuff.com

On their website you read "The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns. The Story of Stuff exposes the connections between a huge number of environmental and social issues, and calls us together to create a more sustainable and just world. It'll teach you something, it'll make you laugh, and it just may change the way you look at all the stuff in your life forever."

I have to agree with what they say. I have been trying to change the way I live for a while now but it is difficult, but we have to start somewhere. Please watch it and tell me what you think.

This coming Sunday at 3pm (next thursday at 1pm on Ch. 8,) Professor Garth Jowett discusses why even though we have more information everywhere, we seem to know less. After the mainstream media did such a poor job covering the beginning of the war, I felt we needed to question why.
Why is it that we have networks who say they are fair and balanced and clearly they are not? Why is it the so called mainstream media did not tell us the truth about the war? Why was the Pentagon able to fund so called "pro war experts" and our media accepted it without asking questions. Why is it people on certain radio stations can still say Global Warming is a hoax and a large number of people believe them? Find out what media consolidation has done to our media and how we can make better choices when we get information on what is going on. My ultimate advise is follow the money. Who is making money by keeping us misinformed?

One of his suggestions is that you read from the right and the left. I try doing that and I also watch international news in other languages. I know that is not enough. The other problem we face is that there is way too much information as it is. I just want to figure out how to live smarter!

Friday

Oil prices/life will never be the same

I am sorry to say, sooner or later we will have to change our bad habits. I knew we would not do it on our own volition. We would have to be forced to do it and here we are. Gas prices at $120 dollars a barrel and rising, we are beginning to change our ways. At least I am.

I have always said Houston was built for cars, not pedestrians. We are after all, the energy capital of the world. We diversified our economy in the past two decades but we may have to be as agressive in the near future in diversifying our sources of energy. We may have to lead, as we have in the past in many areas in alternative sources of energy. We are number one in wind power in Texas and because we are a "can do" entrepeneurial society, we may be able to lead in other areas as well. Rice University has one of the top nanotechnology teams in the nation. We also have a pro active environmental mayor who may be leaving office soon but is leaving a legacy we can't deny.



The only way we can cease our addiction to oil is to stop consuming it. In Houston, we almost can't live without cars and lack of political will and vision on the part of our leaders in the past 50 years has created more freeways, bigger cars and homes and little in public transportation, bike trails or sidewalks for pedestrians. In my view those days are over. We will change our ways because we have to change.



The fact is the USA has some of the cheapest gas in the world. So we have not been forced like the Europeans to buys smaller cars or build an awesome public transportation system. (I lived in Europe several years without a car.)



In a recent article I read in Money magazine, it stated that out of 155 countries surveyed, U.S. gas prices were the 45th cheapest, according to a recent study from AIRINC, a research firm that tracks cost of living data.


The difference is staggering. As of late March, U.S. gas prices averaged $3.45 a gallon. That compares to over $8 a gallon across much of Europe, $12.03 in Aruba and $18.42 in Sierra Leone.



No one is feeling sorry for us I presume, because we have been living the myth that cheap oil is forever. There are so many reasons they are giving us for the rise in oil prices. I have interviewed several experts and they all have different answers. The falling dollar, speculation in the market, rebels in Nigeria, storms everywhere, the ever unstable middle east, problems with refineries, greedy oil companies etc.



The bottom line is that we had a chance to change our ways with the oil embargo in the 70's but lo and behold we didn't! Instead we subsidized SUV's and Hummers just a few years ago!!!



The bottom line is that we can' be this dependent on oil forever simply because, is is a finite resource and if that is not true (some disagree with me) global warming begs us to look into alternative sources of energy that won't contaminate the air.



This is what I plan to do in the next few years. I plan to buy a new hybrid when my car falls apart. In the mean time, I will keep my tires in shape, I will change my air filter every 3000 miles, and I will drive 55 miles an hour..not more.



Then I plan to work at home as much as I can so I don't have to drive. If I can move closer to my job I will and maybe I will move into a smaller apartment. Finally I will try to car pool and if I have the guts, ride a bycicle to work!


This way, I won't get tired of people telling me we are living in a recession, prices will keep going up and the future doesn't look good. My experience tells me there is always a silver lining in any challenge or tragedy we face. Here is the silver lining I find in this. We can't keep destroying the environment. We can't keep living a lie. We can't have more than we can afford. Now that's living Smart!
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Monday

Lap Band surgery in Juarez and the plight of its women

This past weekend I ended up in a five star hotel/hospital Angeles in Juarez. A friend was having the lap band surgery and she had come upon the information on the internet after several years of research.
Travelling to another country to have surgery is known as "medical tourism" I actually felt like a tourist. The hospital arranges everything. Your pickup at the airport, your hotel after surgery and anything else you need. I would call them medical travel agents!
How is this possible? Well when you can pay 70 dollars for an MRI like I did in Argentina a few years ago compared to 1200 dollars in the USA. You do the math. The lap band surgery in Mexico is 50 to 60 percent cheaper than in the United States. The doctors who performed this apparently simple and quick surgery.( It takes 45 minutes,) usually work in both countries.
My opinion is that the doctors and the hospital were first class. The nursing staff didn't speak that much English but they did a decent job.

Did you know that hundreds of Americans visit Mexico for lap band surgery every month?
A lap band surgery in Houston is around 16,000, while in Mexico it cost 8,000.
My friend was walking 2 hours after surgery and her biggest complaint was pain, but they had that under control every two hours as well.

My view is that eventually this surgery needs to be covered by our insurance companies. Good luck though. If our medical system continues to be in the profit business. Watch out. Business is Business here or Mexico and right now, many Americans are choosing to go down the border for a quick fix to their obesity problem and businessmen will benefit from that. (The hospital where we stayed is apparently a business venture of Carlos Slim, the second richest man in the planet.)

I say quick fix because in reality, having this surgery is no cake walk. It takes little time, it is reversible and it has worked wonders for thousands of people, however, You can only drink liquids for at least two weeks and you will be eating very small portions for the rest of your life.

If I were obese I would probably do it, but it did make me think twice about portion control. For some reason, this weekend I felt I had to eat a lot less than I usually do.

While I was in Juarez I also asked about the women dissappearing. Since 1993, nearly 300 women have been murderd by what authorities say are serial killers. One was killed while we were there. They usually work in assembly plants, or maquilas. Most are discovered mutilated with evidence of sexual abuse. I heard all kinds of comments from the Mexicans living in Juarez. Some were upset Ciudad Juarez gets a very bad rap for these murders. Others were angry the women were not protected because the funds the corporations were giving to the government for security, "dissappeared" as well. Frankly, I don't know who is responsible for this but as long as humans are not seen as important as the almighty dollar or peso. The human race will continue to commit these atrocities.

As medical tourists however, we felt safe driving directly from the airport to the hospital which is only 20 minutes away from El Paso. Our driver told us. How many women were killed in your city since 1993? I couldn't answer but no city has a monopoly on safety I replied. The fact is I am glad people around the world are concerned about the Juarez women. The only way to stop these crimes is to keep the pressure on the authorities.