Good comment David G.

David G wrote:

>>Your worship of American Universities is entirely misplaced.>>

I do not "worship" American universities.

It is Shanghai Jiaotong University in China that ranks them so highly.

It is also the 700,000+ students, many from China and India, whose parents make enormous sacrifices to procure a US university education for their children that value them so highly. They are willing to back up their admiration with their hard-earned money.

It is these universities that are attracting the brightest and best to America from all over the world.

These are the facts David G.

It is worth reading

Oil: The Next Revolution
THE UNPRECEDENTED UPSURGE OF OIL PRODUCTION
CAPACITY AND WHAT IT MEANS FOR THE WORLD
Leonardo Maugeri

See: http://belfercenter.ksg.harvard.edu/files/Oil-%20The%20Next%20Revolution.pdf

Some quotes:

>>Contrary to what most people believe, oil supply capacity is growing worldwide at such an
unprecedented level that it might outpace consumption. This could lead to a glut of
overproduction and a steep dip in oil prices.>>

>>Oil is not in short supply. From a purely physical point of view, there are huge volumes of conventional and unconventional oils still to be developed, with no “peak-oil” in sight. The real problems concerning future oil production are above the surface, not beneath it, and relate to political decisions and geopolitical instability.>>

>>The most surprising factor of the global picture, however, is the explosion of the U.S. oil output.>>

>>Thanks to the technological revolution brought about by the combined use of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, the U.S. is now exploiting its huge and virtually untouched shale and tight oil fields, whose production – although still in its infancy – is already skyrocketing in North Dakota and Texas.>>

>>It is worth noting that the U.S. shale revolution cannot be easily replicated in other areas of the world – at least in a short period of time – due not only to the huge resource base of shale/tight oil plays existing in the U.S., but also to some unique features of the U.S. oil industry and market, such as the private ownership of mineral rights, the presence of thousands independent companies – oftentimes small – that historically played the role of pioneering new high-risk, high-reward targets, the huge availability of drilling rigs and other exploration and production tools, a very active financial market that supply money for new ventures. With the exception of Canada, these key features are foreign to other parts of the world, and they make the U.S. and Canada a sort of unique arena of experimentation and innovation.>>

Yes, I know I've overdone this link, but the subject keeps coming up.

This is Canada's effort in "the unique arena of experimentation and innovation" - http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2009/03/canadian-oil-sands/essick-photography

They employ people to scrape bird carcasses off the toxic tailings ponds.

A great future awaits......

Excellent article Steven. Full of logic and facts, which are the bane of those who spout anti-americanism. Anti-americanism is a nebulous, emotionally driven, intellectually bereft philosophy for those driven by a kind of tortured unhappiness looking for a hook to hang it on. Those hoping to see the decline of the US seem to be happy that a misanthropic, totalitarian regime may one day dominate the world. Why ?

Poirot, is that something like the people employed to pick up the bird & rare eagle carcasses scattered around all those dreadful windmills?