Why things never change...

[mlingley]

Things don't change because people don't really like change very much. It really is sad though..

We could be doing things so much better if people cared just a little bit. It's hard though because the corporations don't want change.. they want to maintain the status quo so they can keep their profits coming in.

Case in point.. The price of gasoline in the United States compaired to the rest of the world.

Here we have big gas guzzling cars because up until recently gas was relatively dirt cheap.. In Europe they've been paying 6 bucks a gallon for a long time.. hence they drive small economic cars.. Volkswagen makes a diesel that gets 90 mpg and that isn't even a hybrid.... What I don't understand is this. They don't offer that car at ALL in the United States. Why? Because we don't want those cars right.. we like the big fat comfortable cars because those are the ones that are MARKETTED to us all the time. When Ford or Chevy says they couldn't sell those cars in the us... i say .. these companies create there markets through marketing. If being economical was marketed and made cool people would buy. I'd buy today just becuase I'm a cheap bastard and I just want something to get from point a to b.

I could go on and on about the way i wish things were.

Brazil is energy indepented why can't we be?

Got to maintain the status quo folks... so get in line and don't think or ask questions please.

Stay in your bubble.

Watch more TV.

[Technosoul]

Quote by: mlingley Things don't change because people don't really like change very much. It really is sad though.. We could be doing things so much better if people cared just a little bit. It's hard though because the corporations don't want change.. they want to maintain the status quo so they can keep their profits coming in. Case in point.. The price of gasoline in the United States in keep compaired to the rest of the world. Here we have big gas guzzling cars because up until recently gas was dirt cheap relatively.. In Europe they've been paying 6 bucks a gallon for a long time.. hence they drive small economic cars.. Volkswagen makes a diesel that gets 90 mpg and that isn't even a hybrid.... What I don't understand is this. They don't offer that car at ALL in the United States. Why? Because we don't want those cars right.. we like the big fat comfortable cars because those are the ones that are MARKETTED to us all the time. When Ford or Chevy says they couldn't sell those cars in the us... i say hopwash.. these companies create there markets through marketing. If being economical was marketed and made cool people would buy. I'd buy today just becuase I'm a cheap bastard and I just want something to get from point a to b. I could go on and on about the way i wish things were. Brazil is energy indepented why can't we be? Got to maintain the status quo folks... so get in line and don't think or ask questions please.

Back when we had the first big oil crunch and prices went up at the pumps it was Japan that introduced the compact car, they nearly got the whole market, along with the VW bug. The USA car dealers lost profits trying to sell our gaint gas-mobels. Ford had to re-tool the factoris to catch up and get back the consumer market here (after laying off thousands of workers, getting governmental bail outs, and moving to Mexico to build cars at cheaper overhead costs).

But point is, we will change when we can to adopt our budgets to such influences. This year SUV sales a way below par. Compacts are selling normal like, but even compacts do not counter-act the new price hikes. A economically affordable electric or hydro would no doubt sell good right about now. IF like you suggested, properly marketed. But trucks are harder to economize and they deliver the goods, and the cost of the goods will go up, and that will cause a chain reaction of changes and who knows how that will end up. Cut backs on everything? And then many corporations will feel the pinch, and TV ads will not save them.

[The Dunedan]

A major part of the problem is that the high-performance European and Japanese dieseil-fueled cars require high-grade diesel of a type which is not ( and cannot be, for the moment ) produced in the United States. We havn't had any new refineries since the mid-1970s, and the technology to produce this high-grade diesel is fairly new. We're stuck operating, effectively, with thirty year old technology.

One of my classmates is a German who's here on scholarship; her father is an engineer for Mercedes-Benz who mailed her a number of articles which she then loaned to me on the subject of America's obsolete car technology. The subject of high-grade diesel figured prominently, as did the relative lack of cleaner-burning 100+octane gasoline, which is much more common in Europe as a street fuel.

[Osborn F Enready]

We could all be driving cars that run on hemp, bio-diesel, alchohol or a myriad of other things.

As I said, Ford had a fully modern (for the times) hemp fueled and hemp built car in 1941.

A Short History of why hemp has been outlawed to HELP BIG OIL, CHEMICAL COMPANIES, and the WOOD PULP PAPER INDUSTRY.

* George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and other founding fathers GREW HEMP; Washington and Jefferson Diaries. Jefferson smuggled hemp seeds from China to France then to America. * Benjamin Franklin owned one of the first paper mills in America and it processed hemp. Also, the War of 1812 was fought over hemp. Napoleon wanted to cut off Moscow's export to England; Emperor Wears No Clothes, Jack Herer. * For thousands of years, 90% of all ships' sails and rope were made from hemp. The word 'canvas' is Dutch for cannabis; Webster's New World Dictionary. * 80% of all textiles, fabrics, clothes, linen, drapes, bed sheets, etc. were made from hemp until the 1820s with the introduction of the cotton gin. * The first Bibles, maps, charts, Betsy Ross's flag, the first drafts of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were made from hemp; U.S. Government Archives. * The first crop grown in many states was hemp. 1850 was a peak year for Kentucky producing 40,000 tons. Hemp was the largest cash crop until the 20th Century; State Archives. * Oldest known records of hemp farming go back 5000 years in China, although hemp industrialization probably goes back to ancient Egypt. * Rembrants, Gainsboroughs, Van Goghs as well as most early canvas paintings were principally painted on hemp linen. * In 1916, the U.S. Government predicted that by the 1940s all paper would come from hemp and that no more trees need to be cut down. Government studies report that 1 acre of hemp equals 4.1 acres of trees. Plans were in the works to implement such programs; Department of Agriculture * Quality paints and varnishes were made from hemp seed oil until 1937. 58,000 tons of hemp seeds were used in America for paint products in 1935; Sherman Williams Paint Co. testimony before Congress against the 1937 Marijuana Tax Act. * Henry Ford's first Model-T was built to run on hemp gasoline and the CAR ITSELF WAS CONTRUCTED FROM HEMP! On his large estate, Ford was photographed among his hemp fields. The car, 'grown from the soil,' had hemp plastic panels whose impact strength was 10 times stronger than steel; Popular Mechanics, 1941. * Hemp called 'Billion Dollar Crop.' It was the first time a cash crop had a business potential to exceed a billion dollars; Popular Mechanics, Feb., 1938. * Mechanical Engineering Magazine (Feb. 1938) published an article entitled 'The Most Profitable and Desirable Crop that Can be Grown.' It stated that if hemp was cultivated using 20th Century technology, it would be the single largest agricultural crop in the U.S. and the rest of the world. The following information comes directly from the United States Department of Agriculture's 1942 14-minute film encouraging and instructing 'patriotic American farmers' to grow 350,000 acres of hemp each year for the war effort: '...(When) Grecian temples were new, hemp was already old in the service of mankind. For thousands of years, even then, this plant had been grown for cordage and cloth in China and elsewhere in the East. For centuries prior to about 1850, all the ships that sailed the western seas were rigged with hempen rope and sails. For the sailor, no less than the hangman, hemp was indispensable... ...Now with Philippine and East Indian sources of hemp in the hands of the Japanese...American hemp must meet the needs of our Army and Navy as well as of our industries... ...the Navy's rapidly dwindling reserves. When that is gone, American hemp will go on duty again; hemp for mooring ships; hemp for tow lines; hemp for tackle and gear; hemp for countless naval uses both on ship and shore. Just as in the days when Old Ironsides sailed the seas victorious with her hempen shrouds and hempen sails. Hemp for victory!' Certified proof from the Library of Congress; found by the research of Jack Herer, refuting claims of other government agencies that the 1942 USDA film 'Hemp for Victory' did not exist. Hemp cultivation and production do not harm the environment. The USDA Bulletin #404 concluded that hemp produces 4 times as much pulp with at least 4 to 7 times less pollution. From Popular Mechanics, Feb. 1938: 'It has a short growing season...It can be grown in any state...The long roots penetrate and break the soil to leave it in perfect condition for the next year's crop. The dense shock of leaves, 8 to 12 feet above the ground, chokes out weeds. ...hemp, this new crop can add immeasurably to American agriculture and industry.' In the 1930s, innovations in farm machinery would have caused an industrial revolution when applied to hemp. This single resource could have created millions of new jobs generating thousands of quality products. Hemp, if not made illegal, would have brought America out of the Great Depression. William Randolph Hearst (Citizen Kane) and the Hearst Paper Manufacturing Division of Kimberly Clark owned vast acreage of timberlands. The Hearst Company supplied most paper products. Patty Hearst's grandfather, a destroyer of nature for his own personal profit, stood to lose billions because of hemp. In 1937, Dupont patented the processes to make plastics from oil and coal. Dupont's Annual Report urged stockholders to invest in its new petrochemical division. Synthetics such as plastics, cellophane, celluloid, methanol, nylon, rayon, Dacron, etc., could now be made from oil. Natural hemp industrialization would have ruined over 80% of Dupont's business. THE CONSPIRACY Andrew Mellon became Hoover's Secretary of the Treasury and Dupont's primary investor. He appointed his future nephew-in-law, Harry J. Anslinger, to head the Federal Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs. Secret meetings were held by these financial tycoons. Hemp was declared dangerous and a threat to their billion dollar enterprises. For their dynasties to remain intact, hemp had to go. These men took an obscure Mexican slang word: 'marihuana' and pushed it into the consciousness of America. MEDIA MANIPULATION A media blitz of 'yellow journalism' raged in the late 1920s and 1930s. Hearst's newspapers ran stories emphasizing the horrors of marihuana. The menace of marihuana made headlines. Readers learned that it was responsible for everything from car accidents to loose morality. Films like 'Reefer Madness' (1936), 'Marihuana: Assassin of Youth' (1935) and 'Marihuana: The Devil's Weed' (1936) were propaganda designed by these industrialists to create an enemy. Their purpose was to gain public support so that anti-marihuana laws could be passed. Examine the following quotes from 'The Burning Question' aka REEFER MADNESS: a violent narcotic. acts of shocking violence. incurable insanity. soul-destroying effects. under the influence of the drug he killed his entire family with an ax. more vicious, more deadly even than these soul-destroying drugs (heroin, cocaine) is the menace of marihuana! Reefer Madness did not end with the usual 'the end.' The film concluded with these words plastered on the screen: TELL YOUR CHILDREN. In the 1930s, people were very naive; even to the point of ignorance. The masses were like sheep waiting to be led by the few in power. They did not challenge authority. If the news was in print or on the radio, they believed it had to be true. They told their children and their children grew up to be the parents of the baby-boomers. On April 14, 1937, the Prohibitive Marihuana Tax Law or the bill that outlawed hemp was directly brought to the House Ways and Means Committee. This committee is the only one that can introduce a bill to the House floor without it being debated by other committees. The Chairman of the Ways and Means, Robert Doughton, was a Dupont supporter. He insured that the bill would pass Congress. Dr. James Woodward, a physician and attorney, testified too late on behalf of the American Medical Association. He told the committee that the reason the AMA had not denounced the Marihuana Tax Law sooner was that the Association had just discovered that marihuana was hemp. Few people, at the time, realized that the deadly menace they had been reading about on Hearst's front pages was in fact passive hemp. The AMA understood cannabis to be a MEDICINE found in numerous healing products sold over the last hundred years. In September of 1937, hemp became illegal. The most useful crop known became a drug and our planet has been suffering ever since. Congress banned hemp because it was said to be the most violence-causing drug known. Anslinger, head of the Drug Commission for 31 years, promoted the idea that marihuana made users act extremely violent. In the 1950s, under the Communist threat of McCarthyism, Anslinger now said the exact opposite. Marijuana will pacify you so much that soldiers would not want to fight. Today, our planet is in desperate trouble. Earth is suffocating as large tracts of rain forests disappear. Pollution, poisons and chemicals are killing people. These great problems could be reversed if we industrialized hemp. Natural biomass could provide all of the planet's energy needs that are currently supplied by fossil fuels. We have consumed 80% of our oil and gas reserves. We need a renewable resource. Hemp could be the solution to soaring gas prices.

[Osborn F Enready]

Patriotic Farmers of America GROW HEMP!

http://www.cannabis.com/untoldstory/hemp_3.shtml

[Keith Hamburger]

Quote by: Osborn F Enready We could all be driving cars that run on hemp, bio-diesel, alchohol or a myriad of other things. As I said, Ford had a fully modern (for the times) hemp fueled and hemp built car in 1941. A Short History of why hemp has been outlawed to HELP BIG OIL, CHEMICAL COMPANIES, and the WOOD PULP PAPER INDUSTRY.

Well, I'm not sure if this is really on topic or not, but I guess it goes along with the title "why things never change ..."

You forgot to mention about how the parts of the hemp plant used to make paper, fabrics and oils are all different parts of the plant. The same plant can be used for all three things at once. In the case of all of our other major crops, corn for example, the part of the plant that is useful is just a single thing. In the case of corn, the only truly useful part is the grain itself. In the case of hemp most all of the plant is used for something. The long fibers in the stems are used for fabric. Short fibers in a part of the plant called a nodule is used for paper. The seeds can have both protein and oils extracted. We all know what the leaves and flowers can be used for. (although, if you harvest the flowers you obviously won't get seeds)

There is very little waste in the industrial use of hemp. And much less pollution. Wood paper products are bleached with very harsh chemicals that are quite hazardous to the environment. Hemp paper products, on the other hand, use much less dangerous chemicals to achieve the same results. Much easier on the environment than wood processing.

Keith

[Osborn F Enready]

Actually, there are over 160,000 different industrial uses for hemp.

Paper, textiles, medicine, plastic, fuel, oil, etc etc etc.

Probably the MOST useful vegetable on the planet.

[phoenix_fire]

Things never change because, for the most part, government is run by old white guys who are comfortable and complacent with "THE WAY THINGS ARE". (They are well-paid to be so). The average age in the Senate is about 60. (http://www.senate.gov/reference/reso...df/RS21379.pdf) The Pope at 79 was considered one of the youngest of the candidates. According to the Census Bureau (http://www.census.gov/prod/2002pubs/p20-542.pdf) only about 36% of my age demographic voted in the 2000 election, compared to 72% of those age 65-74. Change is most often instigated (but not necessarily instituted) by the young and idealistic. But as long as government is controlled by the old and complacent, the economy will always be short-sighted, the environment will continue to suffer (hey, they won't have to worry about it), Social Security will eventually go bankrupt (long before I'll be old enough to collect), oil reserves will dry up, new technologies will be stifled, and the status quo will remain until the situations reach beyond the crisis point and it is too late to do anything about it.

[Technosoul]

[quote=phoenix_fire] Things never change because, for the most part, government is run by old white guys who are comfortable and complacent with "THE WAY THINGS ARE". (They are well-paid to be so). The average age in the Senate is about 60. (http://www.senate.gov/reference/reso...df/RS21379.pdf) The Pope at 79 was considered one of the youngest of the candidates. According to the Census Bureau (http://www.census.gov/prod/2002pubs/p20-542.pdf) only about 36% of my age demographic voted in the 2000 election, compared to 72% of those age 65-74. Change is most often instigated (but not necessarily instituted) by the young and idealistic. But as long as government is controlled by the old and complacent, the economy will always be short-sighted, the environment will continue to suffer (hey, they won't have to worry about it), Social Security will eventually go bankrupt (long before I'll be old enough to collect), oil reserves will dry up, new technologies will be stifled, and the status quo will remain until the situations reach beyond the crisis point and it is too late to do anything about it.
[/QUOTE}

I agree, Timothy Leary (1960s) once said "never trust anyone over the age of 30".

I was told once that people back in our pioneer days seldom lived past the age of 30 and a 40 year old guy would be "real old". So perhaps our country was founded by people in their 20s, even Jesus, who introduced new ideas for changes was perhaps in his 20s when he was conducting his mission. Now older people should have more wisdom then the youthful groups, but the youth have sharper minds when it comes to finding alternitive solutions for problems that have been re-enforced by older "stuck in a rut" concepts.

It should be up to the government, our representives, to go out and to tap into the minds and ideas that our younger generations could provide. And put those ideas on the table in Congress (etc).

They youth are not going to vote for some old turkey if they know the guy does not share their perspectives or ideas. Only the old turkeys will vote for old turkeys. And being that they now vote the most, the parties put old turkeys on the ballet. So the youthful continue to not vote. As you can see we also got stuck in that revolvoing door situation.

So instead of seeking for new sources of oil here in America they should seek new sources of ideas here in America, and those new fields are not Alaska, they are the mind fields of the youth.

Businesses that take risks evolve, those that do not never change and so the profts stay the same.
It would be a sensible concept to take a risk on some of the new ideas advocated by the bright minds of our youth. Relative to governmental objectives.

[mlingley]

All that info about hemp was interesting Osborn.. I live in Illinois and my Dad is a farmer. I can definitely see the need for another cash crop. Do you guys realize that farmers get the 2.50 a bushel for corn. Did you also know that they were getting that in the 70s. The price hasn't changed in 36 years people, something is wrong with that. I know we're more productive and all, but I don't think the production curve and the inflation curve coincide. Especially now that the cost of diesel fuel, and chemicals are going up.

Techno I like what you said.

This whole government is kinda screwed up. This culture is not right either.

Everything is propaganda.

There is a drastic difference in what is to what could be. Not enough people care yet.