Interesting chart posted on the Oil Drum shows that the U.S. and Canada per capita energy consumption is far greater than that of other countries.

An interesting article in The Oil Drum, “Renewables to the rescue?”, reports that, “fossil fuels (oil, natural gas and coal) accounted for 87.5% of the energy we used. Wind, solar and geothermal combined accounted for 0.4%.”

Modern civilization depends on cheap and plentiful energy, and it is astonishing the amount of fossil fuels that is burned up every day to keep our way of life going.  If we keep burning them up, someday, the world will run out of fossil fuels.  There is a finite supply.  And before these fuels are exhausted, it seems clear there will be the nightmare phenomena of “peak oil” and “peak coal” that will radicalize markets, economies and nations.  And this could be within ten years.

From "The Oil Drum"

The depressing news from the Gulf oil disaster adds to my growing pessimism. I’m sad that the children of today are likely to have a crummy future.  The world seems headed for great turmoil, not in some distant time, within the near future — within 20 years, or sooner. And, our system seems without the capacity to deal with challenges.

This oil disaster in the Gulf and the financial system meltdown remind us that the big disasters we should most fear are all man made.  It seems clear that these ecological and financial disasters could have been avoided — if our democracy that was operating to protect and advance the common good.  If, in other words, ours was a successful democracy.

The truth is, our failure to respond adequately to the challenges of our day is not the failure of a vital democracy, but the failure of a money directed oligarchy.  How much worse must it get, before the corruption of our system is seen as the root cause of much of our problems and before the vitalization of our democracy becomes a central issue?

I like this quote from Thomas Friedman:  “The standard answer is that we need better leaders. The real answer is that we need better citizens. We need citizens who will convey to their leaders that they are ready to sacrifice, even pay, yes, higher taxes, and will not punish politicians who ask them to do the hard things. Otherwise, folks, we’re in trouble. A great power that can only produce suboptimal responses to its biggest challenges will, in time, fade from being a great power.”

I started feeling sorry for Guy Fogle when I read the DDN article today, “Area candidate, ex-TV broadcaster owes $8K in child support.” Fogle, along with David Esrati and Joe Roberts, is seeking the Democratic nomination to be the party’s candidate for Congress, 3rd District, running against incumbent Republican Mike Turner.  And so, as a reward for his effort, in the DDN, today, his problems and failures are in headlines for everyone to see.

But, now I’m thinking, maybe the attention to Fogle’s financial problems, pointed out in this DDN article, in fact, might turn out to be a positive for Fogle’s congressional race.  I need more information and it is my intention to interview and write articles about Fogle and about each of the candidates.

The DDN wrote:  “Guy Fogle, the former local television sportscaster turned congressional candidate, owes $8,300 in back child support, according to an affidavit his ex-wife filed in May.  Debra D. Juniewicz filed the affidavit May 14, along with a motion filed by a staff attorney with the Montgomery County Child Support Enforcement Agency. That same day, county Domestic Relations Judge Denise Cross found there was probable cause that Fogle was in contempt of court and set a July 22 hearing.”

David Esrati in his post today, “The wrong way to vet candidates,” described the DDN article as a “hatchet job.” But, it seems to me that the DDN writer, Lou Grieco, in writing about Fogle’s financial problems, including his bankruptcy, made an effort to be fair.

The DDN reports,

“Fogle said Monday, June 14, that those problems, which started when he developed testicular cancer in 1998 and continued through bouts of unemployment, are one of the reasons he is running. ‘There have been times that I’ve lived in a car,’ Fogle said. ‘I’m not backing away from what happened to me.’”

Fogle said he had trouble paying his bills, including child support, because of continuing problems. His cancer, which started when he was a full-time employee at WDTN-2 and working as a schoolteacher, spread to his lungs, his lymph nodes and his renal artery. Though he had insurance, it covered about 75 percent of total costs, leaving him with six-figure bills, Fogle said.

He has also gone through periods of unemployment or underemployment, he said. Because he has not had health insurance, he has not been able to go in for routine testing recommended for cancer survivors, he said. Fogle said he believes people will understand his story because so many people now know what it’s like to have to make difficult decisions about what to pay: the mortgage or the medical bill?

Esrati predicts, that because of his financial plight, “Fogle will not be taken seriously by anyone, especially Turner.”  Says, Esrati, “His (Fogle’s) campaign is toast.”

But maybe not.  The headline for Fogle’s web-site, I think, is telling.  The headline is a  play on Fogle’s first name:  “A regular Guy for Congress.”

Who couldn’t imagine it happening to one’s self — a nightmare scenario of cancer and huge bills that keep mounting up?

Guy Fogle’s life experiences, and the attitude and perspective he gained from those experiences, in my thinking, could communicate a life story and point of view that could empower him to be a very effective Representative for the 3rd District.

Fogle’s problems certainly give him a unique perspective and his life story and his determination to overcome, I can see, may work enormously in his favor.  Don’t Democrats love underdogs? Don’t Democrats love those who work hard to overcome?