Here I go promoting something I know little about.  About the only thing I do know is that occasionally contrarian views have been proven correct, and Dr. Thomas Gold (founding director of Cornell University Center for Radiophysics and Space Research), an aficionado of the contrarian view, has been proven right before. I first heard of Dr. Thomas Gold and his "theories" about five years ago following the release of his book "The Deep Hot Bioshere."  He was defending his idea, on a morning radio talk show, that oil was of abiotic origin and not, as dictated by conventional wisdom, a "fossil fuel".  I admit to being immediately curious and headed off to the local bookstores only to find that the book was not in stock.  I never found the book and soon lost interest.  Not until reading the recent articles on "peak oil" did I recall Dr. Gold and then began a new search for more material on this fascinating subject.  As luck would have it, the article featured below, by Joel Bainerman, "If hydrocarbons are renewable- then is 'Peak Oil' a fraud?" appeared in the 321 Energy Web Site yesterday (September 5) and was just what I had been looking for.  However, this was not the only document available in fact, there is an almost overwhelming amount of written material on this subject.

Whether one considers religion a gift or a scourge, it has to be recognized that religious beliefs are among the most powerful of all cultural characteristics.  Religion has the power to unify a nation or to cause deep divisions. I believe that man is religious by nature and that religion is so pervasive that the very act of refusing to believe in a superior or supreme being may be considered a religion itself; i.e., the religion of "no god(s)."  Perhaps this would be good grist for another mill, however, because my primary reason for presenting this diary is an article on the Christian evangelist Billy Graham that appeared in the August 14, 2006 issue of Newsweek Magazine. I apologize for the fact that the article I have chosen is available online only to subscribers. The Newsweek link reveals only a lead-in for the article. I have endeavored to supply sufficient quotations and organization to cover the most important points.