Mike Pouraryan
Another Challenging Year Begins.....
I begin 2011 with a sense of excitement and of course, concern. I wrote about my concerns in SP's sister site, Kitten Politics. I also talked about a sense of optimism and hope I continue to have in the wake of the tragedy that happened in the U.S. State of Arizona. But, I am also heart broken by the scenes coming out of Australia.
Australia's third city, Brisbaine, has been under water. Al Jazeera is right now reporting that people are escaping the State of Victoria. Some 14,000 people have been made homeless. The scenes have been heart wretching. According to some of the reports I have seen, some of the missing may never be found. I was especially moved by the story of the young boy who gave up his life to save his brother. I believe that Australians will overcome and truly rise up to the occasion.
Australia will recover. But, the wide swings in weather patterns is a sign of a bigger problem that has to be understood. The challenge for 2011, in my view, is to truly figure out how to move beyond the traditional way to fuel our way of life. I have periodically discussed it. But, as the price of Oil once again approaches 100 dollars a barrel and an average gallon of gas reaches around 3 Dollars Fifty Cents, things have to change. Auto Manufacturers are doing things already. Products from GM and Nissan are leading the pack.
Moving halfway around the World, Brazil has also suffered from floods as well. It is happening ever more. For instance, in the U.S. City of Nashville, the whole city was literally buried in Water. I knew a number of folks who lost their homes and had no flood insurance becuase there was no history of floods in Nashville. Nashville, is yet to recover. But, there are those who seem to have their head in the sand. What I found very disappointing, was a column I saw from an American Blogger, Michelle Malkin, questioning the changes in Global Tempreature because 49 states in the U.S. experienced Snow. What she and the rest of the sceptics fail tl understand is that the World is getting warmer. 2010 was the warmest on record. So, there has to be a better way to overcome.
As I continue on with the journey, I remain excited and hopeful. I hope that all who have suffered the natural calamities will remember this and be inspired by this:
Australia's third city, Brisbaine, has been under water. Al Jazeera is right now reporting that people are escaping the State of Victoria. Some 14,000 people have been made homeless. The scenes have been heart wretching. According to some of the reports I have seen, some of the missing may never be found. I was especially moved by the story of the young boy who gave up his life to save his brother. I believe that Australians will overcome and truly rise up to the occasion.
Australia will recover. But, the wide swings in weather patterns is a sign of a bigger problem that has to be understood. The challenge for 2011, in my view, is to truly figure out how to move beyond the traditional way to fuel our way of life. I have periodically discussed it. But, as the price of Oil once again approaches 100 dollars a barrel and an average gallon of gas reaches around 3 Dollars Fifty Cents, things have to change. Auto Manufacturers are doing things already. Products from GM and Nissan are leading the pack.
Moving halfway around the World, Brazil has also suffered from floods as well. It is happening ever more. For instance, in the U.S. City of Nashville, the whole city was literally buried in Water. I knew a number of folks who lost their homes and had no flood insurance becuase there was no history of floods in Nashville. Nashville, is yet to recover. But, there are those who seem to have their head in the sand. What I found very disappointing, was a column I saw from an American Blogger, Michelle Malkin, questioning the changes in Global Tempreature because 49 states in the U.S. experienced Snow. What she and the rest of the sceptics fail tl understand is that the World is getting warmer. 2010 was the warmest on record. So, there has to be a better way to overcome.
As I continue on with the journey, I remain excited and hopeful. I hope that all who have suffered the natural calamities will remember this and be inspired by this:
