A HOLIDAY MESSAGE FROM MIKE RUPPERT

The first thing I want to say is how deeply touched and encouraged I have been by all of the messages of support, donations and good wishes you have sent. They are saving my life on a daily basis. While it is so very difficult to recall the disastrous and painful events of this last year, no matter how challenging they have been, you have given me hope and the chance for a new beginning.

I believe there is more that I have yet to contribute.

I am now in New York and, thanks to the help of doctors who are familiar with my work and the tests it has brought, I am making progress. And 'progress' is a word we should all hold close on this Christmas of 2006. With the challenges of Peak Oil becoming ever more apparent, with a world situation that sometimes seems gloomy at best, I am focusing on the love and hope you are giving to me and hopefully to each other this holiday season.

In these I find good reason to celebrate. While there are those who would celebrate the demise of FTW, I suspect that they have already understood that they and their activities are, at best, inconsequential. The map we have drawn is clear and being read by many on their own. Many of you have communicated to me the changes you have made in your personal lives thanks to the work done by all the great writers who graced our pages over the years.

My personal challenges include recovering my health and cleaning up a lot of wreckage that still remains. As you know, we are trying to save some 4,000 copies of Rubicon, find a permanent home for the web site, and pay off a lot of debts. We are looking for a new, less expensive web host, and I am looking for new ways to occupy my time as I recover my health and address the financial and personal challenges that lie ahead. When all is said and done there will be no black marks on FTW's history or my own.

One thought that occurs to me strongly is that while so many in the Peak Oil movement have done so much to educate people about the coming challenges, we have not done enough to inspire hope in or take care of each other. Since returning from Venezuela I have been in touch with many Peak Oilists and have found this to be a shared awareness and concern. But in the generosity and kindness I have felt since being in both Canada and New York I have a new attitude emerging based upon a simple human kindness that penetrates and defeats all gloom.

In reading Richard Heinberg's lastest book on the Oil Depletion Protocol I find inspiration to write a fictional account about the many qualities in the human race that are both worth saving and which may actually prevent much needless suffering. While I have retired from investigative journalism I have not retired from writing and I am exploring some ideas to give us all motivation and hope. The world seems burned out on war and tension and perhaps this can point the way to new approaches for our mission.

We have a lot to do still and this Christmas reminds me that, as important as it is to take care of the world, it is even more important to take care of each other; to care for the caregivers.

With deep gratitude for the Colin Campbells, the Richard Heinbergs the Matt Savinars, the Julian Darleys, the Mark Robinowitzes, the Barry Silverthorns, the Megan Quinns, that Pat Murphys, the Mike Kanes, the Matt Simmonses, the Roscoe Bartletts, and all those whose names I can't possibly list here, and with special gratitude for all of you who have sent me your love I say:

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and may we continue to show our love for and to each other throughout 2007. Unlike oil, love is a renewable resource.

Michael C. Ruppert