Talking Books Save the Planet

This morning I saw a story over at American Thinker about the Keystone Pipeline. It talks about rail tankers fitted with heater coils so that raw bitumen extracted from Canadian field may be transported to refineries without dilutents that make the refining process more difficult. In a rail car accident that splits open the heated car, you would get a bunch of nonflammable congealed black gunk to clean up.  I think we are beginning to see the shape of the new federal regulations.

The environmentalists seem quite conversant with this technology, I gather from reading that Anthony Swift, an attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council, describes oil-sands bitumen transport in heated rail cars as a "niche market.”

I Couple this with billionaire and Obama fund raiser Tom Steyer coming out publicly with a pledge to spend millions to back anti-Keystone candidates in the November Congressional elections to illustrate the pattern.

I now ask you, is Mr. Steyer, or for that matter anybody who will anonymously contribute to the anti-Keystone candidates, truly interested in saving the planet, or are they talking their book?

Odessa

For anybody who thinks that the Odessa is unimportant needs to channel Catherine the Great and remember the Battleship Potemkin. Odessa was never a part of Wallachia or Moldavia, but the Zaporizhian Sich that became part of Novorossiya with the recession of the Crimean Khanate.

So in Simferopol, a few miles up the road from the home port of the Moscova, pro-Russia demonstrators gathered, shouting "Crimea is Russia!" Most Russians are very skeptical about demonstrations. They believe that all protesters are being paid.

In the meantime, Lukoil has stopped oil supplies to the Kherson refinery in Odessa. Police have sealed the oil tanks and blocked all exits. Why? Say this to yourself with a Russian accent - "Because of debts."

If there is a partition of the Ukraine, the West will never, ever get Odessa.  Western Ukraine will never have a port on the Black Sea.  The importance of this area to the Russians is why they will resist a partition to the end.  So, may I suggest that or Secretary of State think carefully about that, as our military power is in recession, much like the Ottoman Turks. 

Wonderland

As I wonder whether the other end of the rabbit hole for the 592,825 (approx) AK Rifle Magazines, 7.62x39mm Caliber, New Production, Steel, 30 Round Capacity was intended to be the Ukraine, I am sitting here thinking, if it was, what the various libs in 8 x 10 offices in State and the CIA think of in the Ukrainian freedom fighter push for an American Style Second Amendment.

Be Well

While the national Well-Being Index score fell in 2013, North Dakota residents had the highest well-being in the nation in 2013. I particularly like the use of color on the Gallup map. All of the fracking and oil production makes a state yet an even deeper shade of green. North Dakota is the greenest of the greens!

So, trickle down economics is a real phenomenon. So, no need to make a de-hurtful retraction.

How Do You Say That?

Here is a map showing the percentage of people by region in the Ukraine who speak Russian as their native language, according to 2001 census. I will give you one guess what goes on where 90.6 percent of the people speak Russian.

If anyone thinks East Ukraine and West Ukraine were to divide, with each having access to the Black Sea, I would recommend reading a little history.

Presently, the Truman remains in the Arabian Sea and the Moscova probably lurks in the eastern Mediterranean near Lebanon. In the meantime, our official diplomatic stance regarding the Ukraine is even less engaged than most of Europe.

However, we have learned of a telephone conversation, leaked by who we can only guess, between the U.S. Ambassador and Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Victoria Nuland, where it seems to me she expressed frustration with the slow pace of the anti Russian insurrection by saying, "f--- the E.U."

Sounds almost like the petulant and petty way someone might deal with somebody that disrespected him.

Occupy Kiev

As I ponder here where the other end of the 592,825 AK Rifle Magazines (approx) rabbit hole is, I just can't help but notice how similar those brave OWS souls are to those in Kiev. In an amazing coincidence, they just started to take root in public parks.

I have also heard that as Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych fled Kiev to Karkiv, about a few miles south of the largest tank battle in the history of the world, with a 17 busload Unternehmen Zitadelle rent a mob in hot pursuit, the fellow on the left pictured above has taken station at the moat to the Presidential palace, where he repeatedly orders, "None shall pass."

Critical Information Needs

As I await the arrival of a "Multi-Market Study of Critical Information Needs" form so the FCC can effectively assess how we here at RFNJ serve the information needs of the public, I thought it best to publish a little public service announcement to allay the fear, uncertainty and doubt that not doubt plagues our audience.

NBC News reports that there has been on death and several illnesses in California and seven additional illnesses in Maryland from food poisoning. Maryland is close enough to NJ to warrant our attention here at RFNJ.

NBC also says this outbreak of listeria linked to Hispanic-style cheese.  Although I have written about cheese before, I am not certain what this is.  My sources tell me that hispanic-style cheese goes well with crazy ass crackers.

Black Sea Fleet

Things have been a little chaotic lately, so it has been difficult to express a complete thought for a post. One occurred to me though, as I was driving to the office listening to reports about the escalating unrest in the Ukraine.

You may recall that in examining the events in Syria a few months ago I guaranteed that the US would not engage in a military intervention. I also discussed that our foreign policy is characterized by the personality of our President. It is petulant and petty. It engages in reprisals where the actions of another show a perceived disrespect.

In that situation, I argued, the Russians granted assylum to Edward Snowden, which triggered an US posture designed to impose the high cost upon the Russians of preparing for actions that will never come.  The Russians knew that, because they likened our foreign policy to a monkey with a hand grenade.

Part of my analysis involved our total unpreparedness to engage, evidenced by the locations of our carriers. I also looked at the fact that the Moscova, which is equipped with nuclear anti-ship missiles, was deployed in the Mediterranean. As a result, I postulated that our carriers would venture nowhere near the 500 km ranger of her missiles.  Thereafter, our carrier groups have come no closer to Syria than the Arabian Sea.

Today, the Truman remains in the Arabian Sea. I assume the Moscova, which is part of the Black Sea Fleet, remains off Lebanon.

Where is the Black Sea Fleet based? The Ukraine.  I wonder how many AK-47's there are in that country that could use a good new magazine?

-The Socialism You Don't Hear About: I Stand with the Students!

Thanks to the intense coverage of the US and International News Media, nobody in the developed world has to be bothered with the ugly truth of socialism in Venezuela. They will claim that it is not really socialism down there, therefore we shouldn't discount the philosophy. BOLLOCKS!
There are several videos on Liveleak that reveal the true face of a socialist government in response to a protest. Here's a protester being admonished by the caring para-military forces.
This is required reading for anyone that believes socialism or communism to be some kind of egalitarian Utopian concept.  So all you Che Guevara t-shirt wearing college students, understand this: in Socialist countries, Protesters get shot, beaten, killed and disappeared, while in the US they can sue the cops for getting their feelings hurt.
El mensaje de los estudiantes

Rough Translation:

Students do not ask permission to the Communists in power to disobey : we are not slaves, not negotiate with Communists .
We will not ask permission of the pro-Cuban to win our Freedom and Sovereignty : Venezuela is Venezuelan .
We want to be reborn Venezuela : why combine the whole nation around Liberty.
The MUD is dead : it's time to re-found the Republic .
That traitor and mercenary political class, the PSUV , has deceived us for years and has enslaved Venezuela : MUD deception lasted too long .
Why we do not want a peace of slaves until we conquer Freedom , will not stop protesting.
The regime has killed several fellow combatants by this conviction : that we do is in their name , to heighten their spirit and to remain forever in our memory : this fight is not in vain .
Win is vital for us : we will not ever be slaves .
It is a point of honor for us to release our imprisoned comrades, they were not committing any crime, as we were protesting for Freedom of Venezuela . Offense would not fight for freedom .
The regime has armed criminals and mercenaries. We soar and threaten our lives and are protected to instill fear and make us their slaves.
We will defend : we will not allow to take Venezuela through terror : there is no fear at the prospect of becoming slaves. We know the government and all its institutions.
We do not want to continue humiliating Venezuelans queuing to survive.
We do not want to continue to control the population through terrorism and crime.
We do not want to continue impoverishing Venezuela : it is necessary that the constitutional order is restored .
Do not stop fighting until they are expelled Cuban Communists Venezuela with his accomplices in the MUD .
This fight is life or death for Venezuela . This is the message of students: my brothers of struggle.

-Zero Hedge: Land of Fruits and Nuts

 

If you are one of the many readers, commentors, or anonymous masturbators that post at Zero-Hedge, it's time for some medicine.
While you spasm with delight over former Wall Street Execs turning down pseudo-government agency jobs (as if it were a conspiracy), the purveyors of your fantasy forum just jumped the shark, with Zero-Hedge readers erecting the ramp.
In a truly classless, slow news moment of dementia, Zero-Hedge decided to report the passing of a good friend of mine and further implying that his death is somehow part of a bigger conspiracy. I won't link the story because the guy's family deserves a modicum of respect. Let them mourn their loss.
Zero Hedge decides that a multinational company with over 100,000 employees is somehow the center of of bizarre attrition or somehow an untimely death could only mean the employee was a whistle blower. Just bizarre how these cretins believe that everyone employed at one financial institution or another is somehow connected to some greater cog in the wheel of the oligarchy.
I'm saddened by the loss of the big guy. He had a great sense of humor and was one of the first people to welcome me to the trading floor.
Wall Street isn't for everyone. I knew a lot of people that died young, from the stress.
Face it: we sit around all day, get our blood-pressure ramped, eat horrible food, return home after 12 or 13 hours only to put out a fire or two in our personal lives.
The average Zero Hedge peanut gallery guy wouldn't last one week on a trading desk and would probably run home crying if he sat on a Delta One desk for a day.
I'm done with Zero Hedge. What a waste of bandwidth.

Trickle Down Economics

So my liberal friend, do you know what that state that is where there's so much green and what has been going on there?  I'll give you a hint - It's not very ... "green" ...

(Insert sound of head exploding here).  

Magazine Solicitation

The U. S. Army Contracting Command - New Jersey, Picatinny Arsenal, NJ, in support of the U.S. Army Research Development Engineering Command Armament Research Development and Engineering Center (RDECOM-ARDEC) and Several Program Offices, intends to issue a solicitation to all Basic Ordering Agreement (BOA) holders to procure the following:

1. 592,825 (approx) AK Rifle Magazines: 7.62x39mm Caliber, New Production, Steel, 30 Round Capacity

That many magazines would require 17.8 million rounds just fill each magazine once.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Assuming a package dimension of 8.75 x 5 x 1 inches, if you lay them end to end lengthwise they will cover approximately 81.87 miles, about 15 miles less than the distance from New York to Philadelphia.

Stacked on top of each other, it would be approximately 9.36 miles high.  

The Thoughtery

Well we in the Northeast are all talking about to polar vortex aren't we? At more than one place I have seen food fights about global warming. The weather press has found a way to drum up a little controversy to get us to consume more of their news and weather product.

At the end of the day, that is what the press is supposed to do - sell more product. Their tried and true strategy is to appeal to controversy. They then provide a source of information to appeal to your desire to take an intelligent position to solve the problem. Then there are more clicks and eyeballs.

It only makes sense that global warming has been a perfect story to fit that formula. The story became a blip on the press radar, I think, because of the way that scientists pursued grants. A little hyperbole gets you noticed by the keepers of the spigot in Washington. Scientists, much like Strepsiades after all, have bills to pay too. Grants are what keeps you securely planted in your chair.

Garth Paltridge in Climate Change’s Inherent Uncertainties published in the Quadrant Online discusses the role that clouds play in climate models. They amplify rather than reduce the warming effect of increasing carbon dioxide, while no climate scientist will say with certainty the empirical data supports this proposition. But, the model pays the bills. Then the model pays the bills in Washington and a few of Al Gore's massage therapy bills too.

So those denying buggers with their inferior argument that led the Pheidippides of modern climate science academia into the Thoughtery for a life-changing education are still around. Aristophanes laid it all out in The Clouds quite some time ago.

-2 Minutes of Hate... Zero Hedge & Their Obsession with Blythe

Tom, has written about Blythe Masters on more than one occasion. He knows her better than most. I met her a few times, but like Tom I have to shake my head at Zero Hedge's bizarre obsession with her. Some claim she manipulated currency, others claim she manipulated the silver market.
It all seems pretty gauche that the she has been saddled with vitriol by those that expected precious metals to continue their parabolic rise. I'm not that gullible, but it appears a cadre of window-lickers can't shake the fixation.
Here's the link
I saw the piece posted towards the end of today's session. I guess the Blythe fixation has lost some dedication because for the first time in a dozen years I had to use ZH's search feature to find the story,  let alone a story that was posted hours ago.
Blythe, the CFTC job isn't for you anyway.
I have to question why she maintained a blog though...

The Exit of a Golden Age

This is a topic that is so big an so important that I hesitate to raise it because I won't do it justice. There are several stories out there about the CBO estimates that the ACA will result in 2.5 million workers opting out of full-time jobs over the next 10 years. It's worse than that, really.

I have had a sense from the passage of the ACA that our macroeconomic models about growth and GDP should be revised to more resemble France. At best, I think the best we can look for is about 1 1/2 % growth in GDP. The incumbent wealth will continue to receive protection, while the middle class will continue to shrink. Opportunities to reward technical innovation will be more sparse and less florid because fewer people will have disposable income. The focus in life, much like in France, will become who owns property and how do you get in line to inherit it. Ambition for dependency on the family and the state will become de rigueur.

This is all because our Supreme Court found that the federal government can compel a private citizen to enter into a contract that they do not want. As a matter of categorization, what the ACA requires is not a contract. A contract is a voluntary exchange. Compelled compliance is something else. Much like Act IV, Scene 1 in Macbeth, it is a deed with no name.

Now that the deed has been done, it will only get worse. Our federal government may now compel deeds without names of types that can only be imagined by the control freaks that inhabit Washington. Every time, it will be a disaster in ways that they did not imagine.

It is up to the millennials to recognize this. Maybe the ACA can be rolled back and we will see some 4% and and 5% GDP growth and some real opportunities to earn income. It was like that in the late 70's and early 80's. I could find work easily.  It was just a question of how hard I wanted to go at it.

I a close friend of mine and I discussed at length in the late 70's that we were living in a golden age.  We both read a lot of science fiction and believed that that technology will change everything.  But we both knew we were in a golden age that would not be matched.  We couldn't articulate how that was.  Now it is becoming clear now.

Our freedom is leaving and I can't really do anything about it.

Keystone Cops

The Department of State has determined that the Keystone pipeline will not impact global warming. As a result, many thought that the pipeline build may move forward with an administration blessing.

Well we could Hear it Coming, I know I can't be free. White House Chief of Staff Dennis McDonough has explained to us that, “We have one department with a study, now we have other expert agencies — the EPA, the energy department — to have an opportunity to look at this and make their determinations.” Yes, like determinations involving rail safety?

McDonough also said, “The president wants to protect their ability to do that, make this decision based on the best analysis and most sound science.” 

That is the sound of a dinner bell for lobbyists.