Archive for July, 2012

There is no universal truth. The only truth is personal and is what you yourself sense now.

Thursday, July 12th, 2012

The concept of truth is traditionally important in many ways.

It is an important factor in philosophy where lines of reasoning, logic steps are based on the concept of true assumptions.

The fact is that there is no such thing as an universal truth: absolute, relative, objective, subjective or whatever. The concept of truth has often been associated with power play, government, politics, science as a tool of conformity and suppression, or as a means to gain advantage over others.

The use of the concept of truth is also a hindrance to further development of many matters. When something is declared true further search for meaning and understanding often stops. As an example there can be no political truth, and scientific truth is nowhere to be found as science is perpetually changing into new forms.

Factually there is no such thing as a common truth. We are all individuals living in our own world, which is a world being constantly recreated in your own minds. As you live and grow through experience and deeper insight, your picture of the world develops, constantly taking new forms.

Your reality which is also your truth also constantly  changes. This makes it possible to reach higher levels of consciousness, and to live a richer life, a happier life. You do not remember the past, you do not worry about the future, you just live in the now.

You must always seek out your own truth, and if you accept other peoples version of the truth you will grow increasingly confused and dazed. The only truth for you in the world is what you yourself find. Do not accept anything else. This is also the the way  to independence and free will, to higher levels of consciousness.

Nobody can give a free person the truth because there is no such thing. To become a free person, a happy person you must live by your own facts or truth. It is exactly the same with all knowledge – it must be all of your own making. The news in the media, the science, what people say, what you learn at school are not your truth, your knowledge -you do not have to learn it or heed it.

To learn the truth you must work hard, and you can only do the work yourself, although you may seek references among others. The present way is wrong: we have all been told, we have accepted what we were told, and we end up being locked in and dare nothing, meekly following along.

Authority must always be questioned: who are these people, what do they really know, what are their interests, where is their documentation, what are they aiming to achieve, why should we accept what they say. Always be the one who knows or say that you don’t.

To be happy the only aim you will ever have is to follow your own mind, live your own truth. If we keep listening to authorities of all sorts we will never be happy – which is the only aim. This is all really about thinking independently. This we must all do – each one of us – so that the common good is achieved. All illusions are created by others, we believe many things, we do not use logic, we feel, we hope we pray.

There is hard work ahead for you. Remember you work for your own good, your own happiness. Surely that is what we all want? Being your own true person could be very satisfactory.

Or maybe there is one basic truth: The notion of essence or oneness – it all comes back to One?

Melting permafrost, gas hydrates – our future energy supply?

Thursday, July 12th, 2012

Sept. 2008

Due to presumed global warming permafrost may melt and this will again lead to increased global warming.

Gases will be released from the ground – CO2, methane – calculated to be 1700 billon tons – double of what the atmosphere contains today! This will probably take 100 years.

Through the years thick layers of organic mass has been deposited and melting will let the gases go.

The gases can be used for commercial energy purposes, and research into these processes is taking place. A patent for producing natural gas from hydrate by means of CO2 injection has been granted (University in Bergen).

Gas hydrates are a potential energy source found in permafrost environments and under the sea floor. They form when water and methane gas come together under extreme pressure and in a cold environment. The water and gas are frozen together at a molecular level. One cubic metre of gas hydrates contains 164-cubic-metres of methane gas, and 0.8 cubic metres of water.

Heating the gas hydrates bring methane to the surface. Thus when frozen gas hydrates are heated or undergo a change in pressure, they melt. The water runs off and the methane gas is released.

At the seabed outside Japan gas hydrates estimated to be equal to 100 years Japanese energy consumption has been located.

Total Norwegian emission pr. year is 50 million tons.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permafrost

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clathrate_hydrate

Canada:   http://ess.nrcan.gc.ca/2002_2006/ghff/index_e.php

Norway:   http://www.uib.no/people/nglbh/GANS/index.html

July 2012

The Japanese are working on developing their methane resources, and tests are possibly being performed this year. It seems the potential gas hydrate resources are large enough to supply the country for several hundred years.

Commercial production will hopefully start in 2016. Nuclear power is going, and seismic mapping of hydrates are in progress and will continue for at least another 5 years.

It is a big technical challenge to get the gas from the hydrates, and it has to do with melting. There are several methods as you can use>

  • melting by energy
  • chemicals
  • pressure reductions

There is risk of collapse and loss of stability. One method being considered is to inject CO2 and at the same time take out the methane.

Surely there must be similar structures in many other parts of the world?

The Chinese going forward – with the rest of the world

Wednesday, July 11th, 2012

The US is grappling with its budget – there will  be massive cuts in military expenses, the health insurance will cost and must be taken into the budget, and creation of jobs is not moving briskly. An election is coming, so the big issue short term is winning there.

In China a new leadership will come onstage late this year and early next year. The big changes are rolling : massive urbanization, move into industry, developing services and bringing along everybody in the process. There is talk about a welfare state for all based on elements from tested models from the Nordic countries. This could be a make or break development, with obvious difficulties when done on such a large scale.

Chinese military spending is going up fast. SIPRI states that it is now probably about US $ 160 billion, but that it possibly will overtake the US in about 25 years time.

The positioning in the Asia region continues with both China and US jockeying for friends and relations and resources. The Chinese must match the US military presence in the area at first, and possibly in the rest of the world later. The South China Sea developments are of particular interest – many nations are involved, many interests are played out like oil, fisheries, other resources and also the question of security. US relative strength is going down, and China will be a different player in a few years time.

So everybody is thinking out their own strategy for the coming change. No doubt the new centre of power politics will be in this area. So called global security is in play and a rebalancing will be seen.

Most important however will be the inner workings of the Chinese state. There are many comments in the Western press about intellectual freedom. Artists and dissidents have been harassed, the police are controlling citizens and politicians as well, Chinese internal security is of great interest in the West, and speculation about the forces, the realities of it all is being given wide publicity.

So is a welfare state being pondered – or perhaps already in the works? This could be a hugely important issue, and determine the development of the Chinese status in the world. In here we also have factors like social structure, economic models, private freedom. In a good state you should be able to say what you think, do what you want to do?

The cohesion of Chinese society is another aspect. Moving in the direction of 1 – 99 is surely no use!

Welfare plans are probably now being laid, health and social security for all, trade unions with a job to do and being allowed to do it. The election system, local, central has been under debate, especially in Hong Kong where changes are expected.

Transparent political processes are part of it all in the long run too, acceptable conditions for artists, writers, intellectuals, acceptable working conditions, acceptable procedures for strikes and incidents, economic equality and equality between the sexes…..

There surely are many things to consider. The Chinese will surely move along nicely, with some ruffled  feathers maybe, but the continued existence and good development of the Chinese state is not in jeopardy. The future of the US as we know it is much more difficult to assess.