Musings Yet Again

I haven't published a new blog in a while. Perhaps it's because I find a lot of creative time going towards building and maintaining my Facebook page; which deals with a lot of the same issues and topics. I also believe that a lot of how you face things, and complete the day to day slog, is based on your attitude. That has also limited a lot of what I like to discuss lately because things in the petroleum world have been very negative. The oil glut and falling prices of fuel and gas directly affects every facet of what is going on in the oil patch here in South Texas. I suppose that rings true in North Dakota and everywhere else they are pursuing "black gold". At one time diesel selling for around $2.00 a gallon would be cause for celebration. After almost four years of working in the "biz" our attitude is remarkably different. I personally think that oil selling for much above $100 a barrel is a thing of the past. What we really need is for things to bottom out and stability to take over. Unfortunately; all we are seeing is prices continuing to decline. One positive note that we have heard and observed is that there is still a ton of infrastructure that needs to be completed, in order to connect all the pieces, and get the oil and gas moved out of here.

 

Though I am not a bible thumper and refrain from proselytizing, I have to say some evil things have occurred of late. We have some depraved murderers pretending to act in the name of Allah determined to establish a Muslim caliphate, ruled by Sharia law. They place little value on human life; seemingly able to come up with a new and unique way to murder anyone who stands in their way. I started this paragraph before I found out that the co pilot intentionally flew the Germanwings Airbus into a mountain in the French Alps. One was definitively suffering from some sort of mental malady and I guess it can be argued that they both are/were. Look, I admire anyone that is so devoted to his or her beliefs that he or she is willing to die for them. Where I have a problem is when they involve innocents in the dying part of that belief. It's there that I also get off the train when someone twists the Koran to fit his or her beliefs. With all due respect I believe anyone is wrong when they believe that their deity or idol sanctions the taking of innocent lives. I am unfortunately resigned to accept that any sort of long term peace in the middle east will be fleeting, at best. How ironic that we set things in motion by deposing Saddam Hussein. It is his followers that make up the core of ISIS leadership. Even more serendipitous is that we had its leader confined in Guantanamo at one time. You may wonder why you should care about a conflict that is thousands of years old. With the involvement of both Iran and Saudi Arabia we now have a full fledged regional war. Add to that weak leadership in the United States, and the nearby civil war in Syria, and you have a powder keg ready to explode. Let's hope that doesn't happen.