Hey Dude Where's My Documentary Part 3? The Hydrogen Fuel Cell Saga

    This is the third in a series called Pump and Dump On The Hydrogen Fuel Cell Saga. This series is meant to highlight one of the biggest stock market frauds that took billions from not only greedy and the usual unsuspecting investors but also thousands of young first time, environmentally conscious investors as well. The fact that the fraud was ignored by the media that created the stock's frenzy and and then stuck in the pin that burst the highly inflated hydrogen fuel-cell stock bubble in 2013 and 2014, was certainly interesting in its own right. But, the more important question remains, was it a possible portent of the future of the stock market? What makes this even more amazing, sad, important, or whatever adjective you could tag on it, is the fact that it happened at exactly the same time the oil industry was beginning to feel threatened by upcoming alternative energy technologies. Just that fact alone should make the plight of the hydrogen fuel cell industry one worth definitely investigating. But as we can see, there are forces at work here that make no one want to talk about it at all.

     Before we can continue with the third part of the series, we must at least have a basic understanding of what a stock is and what forces affect both individual stocks and the stock market itself. In order to do that, it is important that we have at least a basic understanding of what is commonly known as economics. Fortunately for us, the economics that we're concerned with are quite simple and not completely boring, as they are concerned with what you and I would know as common sense. They are known as supply-side economics. According to supply-side economics, if an item can be had in relative abundance, its price is generally low because that is what people are willing to pay for the item. However, if the item is rare and has the added bonus of being a necessity or a perceived necessity, then according to supply side economics, those who produce the item can charge whatever the market will pay. Hopefully, that will be a price that will make it profitable for the producer to continue to supply the item to the market.

     When it comes to the the stock market, the same forces are going to apply. If a stock is something that a lot of people want, especially if it becomes a stock for which there is a perceived need, then the price of the stock will increase. Conversely, if the stock is not something that is desired, then obviously its price will decrease. Therefore, this fundamental rule in the stock market is based on the fact that stocks that are more valuable are so because people perceive they are going to increase in value. And again, if it needs be said, if the stock is not perceived as being financially prolific in the future, the stock will most likely lose its appeal and barring any help from outside forces, will decrease in value.

    So, with those fundamental rules in hand, it appears the stock market is a very black and white operation where obviously good ideas and industrious far thinking industry leaders and entrepreneurs are able to attract the capital they need to make their dreams come true, while those industries that cannot keep up with modern tastes or the realities of the changing world, will of course die off in the true spirit of the free market economy. Of course immediately, we must address the fact that the idea of a true free market economy in terms of the stock market is much less true than the practitioners of the stock craft would have you believe. Of course, those who make their living from the stock market and publicly traded companies will sing the song of the free enterprise system right up until their own investment failures, sometimes planned, sometimes not, force them to come begging for bailouts from the federal government. Any other time, however it certainly doesn't hurt to have the federal government's backing when it comes to an industry that needs large federal government contracts to jumpstart its private sector market.

       And so, there you have the first of the artificial forces that affect the price of the stock, government interest or government intervention. Of course, all of the artificial forces that affect the price of stock cannot exclusively include the government but more often than not they do include the anticipated infusion of contracts and therefore money, etc. which causes the price of the stock to increase with its desirability. It is not only the actual act of the signing of a government contract or a big business deal that will influence the price of the stock, what tends to be even more valuable and more necessary for getting in on the stock cheap, is to get access to the information before the events actually happen. With this basic understanding of the forces that govern the stock market and the price of stocks, we shall adjourn the discussion for now.

Some Comments from the Author of Killing Time in Saudi Arabia about his Book

     Killing Time in Saudia Arabia: An American Experience 

by Matthew D. Heines

      More than any of the other books of the American Experiences in Arabia During the War On Terror series, Killing Time in Saudi Arabia was both the easiest and the most difficult to write. It was easy to describe the wonderful people and the incredibly inspiring, yet sometimes intimidating desert locations. It was difficult after the time I spent there to ever come to grips with the imminent danger that it was necessary to shrug off, or else spend my days extremely miserable and lonely in a desolate foreign environment. Saudi Arabia, however, seemed to offer a lot in the way of cultural, social and definitely memorable opportunities. Luckily, there were a number of people with whom I lived and worked, or encountered socially, that had many of the same feelings I possessed about how to keep a semblance of sanity in so foreign an environment, so far away from the love of friends and family.

     I was also extremely fortunate to find that so much was possible socially, recreationally and even in a way financially, due to the general tolerance and support of the Saudis themselves. There would have been very little to write about, if I were physically able to write Killing Time in Saudi Arabia, if all that was said about the Saudis in the media were true. Unfortunately, there were very small pockets of people who felt compelled to use violent action because of the recent invasion of Iraq and the events at Abu Gharib. The insurrection, with a few exceptions, was ignored in the Western media as headlines from the Iraq Invasion dominated the headlines. The fact was however, the Saudis, as is more than apparent in Killing Time in Saudi Arabia, went to extreme measures both officially as well as socially and personally to ensure the protection of Westerners.

     That is the story that I think should be told along with any other about the Saudis, because unlike many of the stories that are passed around outside of a culture that hasn’t changed for fifteen hundred years, Killing Time in Saudi Arabia is a real testimonial to their character, their respect and their kindness. It will only take a few minutes reading to imagine that you too are in the middle of Riyadh on the high Arabian Plateau in January and you are working for a homeless military contractor, they having been blown up a few months before. It is then your very life depends on the majority of the population not sharing the sentiments of the previous pyroclastic perpetrators. The fact will always remain, due to my unquenchable desire to learn, discover and explore, that were the Saudis any less protective, supportive, friendly and hospitable during those extremely dangerous times, there would have been no story to tell, and most likely, I would not have survived long enough to tell it.

But this is not my story at all...

It is our story.

 Matthew D. Heines

Some Comments from the Author of Another Year in Oman about his Book

Another Year in Oman: Between Iraq and a Hard Place

by Matthew D. Heines

     I think most will agree that there are few things that can get your mind off of your own mental anguish and heartache like a good war, and that was the original premise for Another Year in Oman: Between Iraq and a Hard Place. Although at its face, it does look suspicious as a very obvious attempt to cash in on the success of My Year in Oman, but I can assure the skeptical reader that the book is not a sequel and from its inception, was meant to be part of a series, of which there are three books.

     By my second year in Oman, I had found things were going to be much different than the first year. That was a hard pill to swallow when the first year had been so good. But, I said to myself that I was in a beautiful country with lots of beautiful women, and I bet I can find another one pretty easily. This is the story of how that worked out.

Matthew D. Heines

Some Comments from the Author of My Year in Oman about his Book

My Year in Oman: An American Experience in Arabia During the War On Terror

    The country is called the Sultanate of Oman because it is ruled by a singular figure in the form of a generous and caring despot named Sultan Qaboos bin Said who, though a small and thin man, carries the most weight in the Arabian world when it comes to enlightened counsel and settling the disagreements of other nations. My Year in Oman: An American Experience in Arabia is in fact the Sultan's story as much as my own, because without the work that he commissioned in modernizing his country on a Biblical scale, I wouldn't have been invited to teach at a university there and I would most likely have much less of a story to tell.

     My Year in Oman is about the mixing of cultures, something that has been done for thousands of years on this geographically strategic area of the world where India, Asia, the Persian Gulf and Africa are all relatively easily accessible by ship. My Year in Oman is, in a tongue-in-cheek way, a vehicle to highlight the author's stereotypically American manner of thinking.

     I first considered writing My Year in Oman, within the first few days I was in the country, based simply on the events that occur at the beginning of the book. I figured if that much had happened, there had to be much more coming that would be interesting and something people where I lived would never, ever experience, nor, most likely, even comprehend. I started My Year in Oman, the second year of my contract at the university where I was teaching. I was sure by then I had more than enough to write about. I will let the reader be the judge of that, although the size of the book is an indication there were at least a few events worth noting.

      More than anything else though, as I relate in my second book, Another Year in Oman, I knew that I was experiencing what I refer to ingeniously as the "Old Oman" with unpaved roads, small populations and enough infrastructure to keep the Omanis comfortable as long as they had more and more roads, buildings, houses, cars, electricity, water and money. 

     I wanted people to understand what the Omani culture was really like, but I also wanted people to see the places, to breathe the warm sea air and feel the sweat from the oppressive humid heat against the coolness of the open sea as I undertook solitary snorkeling trips into the Gulf. I wanted to share the Arabian desert at night, the dawn and the height of noon-day. I wanted people to experience my first mornings eating breakfast in a five-star hotel watching the dark blue waves hitting the brown sand beaches of the Gulf of Oman as the temperature intensive sun climbed into the sky. 

      However, more than the story itself, I hope the insights I am able to offer about Oman's history, and the stories of my interactions with the Omani's themselves will give the reader a more accurate understanding of the Arab Culture than they might learn anywhere else, or in such an entertaining way. I hope that with the understanding, we might someday be able to relate to each other in a more humane and civilized fashion.

Matthew D. Heines

Some Comments from the Author of Deceptions of the book Ages about his Book

Deceptions of the Ages: "Mormons" Freemasons and Extraterrestrials

by Matthew D. Heines

      Though some may claim it is, or is not, this book is not about religion, it is not about secret societies, deception or the massive amounts of human tragedy that have been heaped upon entire populations for the most nefarious of reasons. This book is a historical attempt to teach the reader about history while at the same time explaining how events, organizations, brotherhoods and cultures contributed to the modern world we see, or don’t see, in the present day.  The reader will soon discover that there is a lot of history that seems to be left out of the body of what we call history, as the reader comes to understand why that history was deemed as better left hidden in the darkness of Plato’s Cave.

     Ultimately, the reader may or may not come to understand that our world is a continuum of the same forces that always have been present and will always be present in some form or another. As we explore the modern world all the way down to the subatomic level, we will see how these same forces are necessary for the universe to even exist. It is my hope that the reader will take away from this book an overview of not only how we got to be where we are, but that the reader will have a better idea of exactly where we are and, where we appear to be going.

     It is my sincere hope that if enough people read this book and are able to see the world as it really is, then the decisions we make will hopefully be based upon an understanding of actual history, religion, science and human nature and not the illusions and delusions we see today. 

Matthew D. Heines