Crude Oil and Total Petroleum Imports Top 15 Countries

Crude Oil and Total Petroleum Imports Top 15 Countries:

"The top sources of US crude oil imports for May were Canada (1.840 million barrels per day), Saudi Arabia (1.579 million barrels per day), Mexico (1.116 million barrels per day), Venezuela (1.030 million barrels per day), and Nigeria (0.851 million barrels per day)."

I found this very interesting. Canada is our single largest source of crude oil, about 17% more than Saudi Arabia. Iraq isn't even in the top five, and if you walk through the list, it's not a very pretty sight. Lots of unstable countries, and countries that are not very friendly with the United States. These include Venezuela, Nigeria, Angola, Algeria, and Libya.

I'm posting and commenting on this list for several reasons.

First, to my friends in Canada. If Karl Rove wants to visit, I highly recommend not letting him into your country. No good can come from a visit by Rove. Double that for McCain, but he was already there and apparently he doesn't realize Canada is a foreign country. I would keep an eye on him. He keeps running ads about off shore drilling and his energy plan. After re-reading through his plan, it's a quick read and requires no technical background, he *may* be considering Canada part of his plan. Again, keep an eye on him.

Next, I don't agree with either party, but at least Obama is using credible technical resources (academic and industry) rather than industry-only.

Here is what I think the US should focus on in the next five to ten years:

• Drill off shore and in ANWAR. By drill, I don't mean pump oil from production wells, perform the studies necessary to accurately estimate the size and scope of any and all reserves in the United States. There is little risk to the environment and it will provide accurate information, currently not available, to make an informed decision.
• Nuclear Power. This has to be revisited. Consider a standard design for reactors, which increases safety and reduces cost. Also, plan to reprocess waste material instead of burying it in a salt mine. It doesn't have to be safe enough for humans to ingest, but somewhere in between. Charter the appropriate scientists to come up with some options and review, and this is not a ten year study, give us your best information within a year. At this point, we will have enough information to make an informed decision. Sound familiar?
• Forget ethanol.  It can’t be pumped, it’s hydrophilic (absorbs water), it’s corrosive, poor net energy, need I go on?
• Forget Hydrogen, at least for now and as a vehicle fuel.  Read “The Hydrogen Myth” and other references.  Look at the specifications for the BMW mixed fuel car – it generates half the performance when using hydrogen fuel.
• Biofuels are viable, just don’t compete with food (use non-food source material), and target generation of diesel or clean burning oils.  I’m quite interested in generating methane and other simple hydrocarbons from algae.
• Wind power generation – there are huge possibilities in some areas of the United States.
• Solar generation – we need tax benefits and contracts to sell back power to local companies at pre-defined rates.  Tax benefits have to be long term to make it a simple decision for homeowners and encourage wide spread adoption.  I’m an engineer and I can barely figure out how to complete energy rebate forms for my new HVAC system installed last year.  One page and you should be able to do the math in your head to figure out the payback and net cost.

 

Technorati Tags: politics,energy

Hunter S. Thompson’s 9.12.2001 Essay predicted the future

Fear & Loathing in America

This essay by Hunter S. Thompson was published September 12th, 2001. I'm not sure how I missed the original article. Hunter S. Thompson was prescient.  Thirty years ago, he was the first person I read to realize that Jimmy Carter would win the presidential election (Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail, Rolling Stone, 1975) and in 2001, he was the first person to predict the reaction of the Bush Administration.

Given the state of the nation in 2008, I think this article bears reading. Everything Thompson said, possibly including the death tolls from 9/11, was entirely accurate. I was mildly amused by his description of President Bush II:

This is going to be a very expensive war, and Victory is not guaranteed -- for anyone, and certainly not for anyone as baffled as George W. Bush. All he knows is that his father started the war a long time ago, and that he, the goofy child-President, has been chosen by Fate and the global Oil industry to finish it Now. He will declare a National Security Emergency and clamp down Hard on Everybody, no matter where they live or why. If the guilty won't hold up their hands and confess, he and the Generals will ferret them out by force.

Technorati Tags: politics,Thompson,Bush,terrorism

The upside to FISA and government monitoring

 

Technorati Tags: politics,privacy

Slaughterhouse 1945

http://www.newsweek.com/id/143739/output/print

This is a letter from Kurt Vonnegut to his family when he was a POW in Nazi Germany in 1945.   It’s an amazing letter and is included in a collection of writings on war and peace, “Armageddon in Retrospect”. 

The timing of the book, as the US enters it’s fifth year of war in Iraq, is fortunate.  The more people read about the horror of war, the less it is sanitized and glamorized. 

Technorati Tags: Vonnegut,war,books

Gas Prices - what's the fuss?

Businesses are significantly impacted by the price of gas, particularly trucking, but I am tired of hearing news outlets incessantly beating the drum about the price for regular gas.

I maintain that for every dollar increase in the price of gasoline, the cost to the average consumer is $50 per month.

The average person in the United States drives 12,000 miles per year.  The average car gets 20 mpg.  At this rate, they buy 600 gallons of gas per year.

12000 miles per year/20 miles per gallon = 600 gallons/year

The price of gas has increased about $1 per gallon since last year, so this is $600 per year or $600/12 = $50 per month.

I'm more concerned about the increase in the price of cream for my coffee, which has almost doubled in the past year.  Bread and other staples have increased at an alarming pace, and quite frankly, I spend quite a bit more on food than gasoline in a month.

$50 per month is less than the cable bill for most households.  $50 per month is less than my than my home water/sewer bill. $50 per month is less than I spend on coffee.

Every time I see the news on TV, they lead with the price of gasoline.  I don't care about the price of gas, I care about health insurance, food, education, and my local taxes.  $50 per month is a rounding error on my monthly budget, not something that I need to hear about every night.

 

Technorati Tags: economy,energy,news

Debunking the Reagan Myth - New York Times

Debunking the Reagan Myth - New York Times

Very interesting article. I think the myth of Regan is not standing the test of time. I remember how the Republican weenies were tripping over themselves to put his image on some currency (Jackson was falling out of favor). They already named an airport after him (but I still refer to it by it's old name in the hope that people will just give up on it...).

On the other hand, after reading excerpts from his diaries, there are some facets of his personality that I appreciate much more now than when he was alive. My favorite entry is actually a stab at Michael Kinsley, but perhaps, it is an accurate assessment of George W. Bush as well:

"May 17, 1986. A moment I've been dreading. George brought his ne'er-do-well son around this morning and asked me to find the kid a job. Not the political one who lives in Florida. The one who hangs around here all the
time looking shiftless. This so-called kid is already almost 40 and has never had a real job. Maybe I'll call Kinsley over at The New Republic and see if they'll hire him as a contributing editor or something. That looks like easy
work."

RIAA

RIAA

 

I think the pent up disgust with the RIAA has reached the boiling point.  I don't condone vigilante justice, but the intellectual property 'land grab' by the MPAA, RIAA, and other groups has run roughshod over copyright laws (Bono Act, aka Disney Act), fair use, the Constitution, habeas corpus, and other rights we used to have as citizens of the United States.

At this point, people are fed up and I can only hope that it boils over into a grass roots revolt in the 2008 election.

It is one year and counting until George Bush and Dick Cheney are out of the White House.

Technorati Tags: RIAA,MPAA,fair use

Melinda Gates goes public - Jan. 7, 2008

Melinda Gates goes public - Jan. 7, 2008

This is a very good article about Melinda Gates. It paints a pretty even picture of how they have setup and run the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. I did work for a non-profit they helped fund in the late 1990's and I was impressed with how focused they were and how effective the projects are.

In the past, the US government initiated projects to eliminate polio and some childhood diseases. These projects were highly successful. However, in the current climate, our government sees fit to spend countless dollars the war in Iraq.



It disturbs me that it makes so much sense for someone like Bill and Melinda Gates to step into the gap, identify projects like malaria prevention, and bring appropriate resources to bear. I hope they are successful, and I think they are headed in the right direction

Deficiencies of the Do Not Call List

I received a call at home this evening.  During dinner with my family.  At 6:00PM EST.  It was Valerie from Datascension, a market research firm which is exempt from the Do Not Call legislation.

In no uncertain terms, I told Valerie I didn't want to speak with her.  My exact phrase was "I would rather have glass shards placed in my eyes than speak to you.".  She didn't blink.  She asked if there was anyone else in the house who was available to be interviewed.

I stated that we were eating dinner.  I *should* have asked her to hold, put the phone down and finished my meal, but the throbbing vein on my forehead had a mind of its own.

They maintain a do not call list, but she asked me to go online to www.datascension.com and opt out.  Actually, you can't, but you can send a note to dnc@datascension.com and it appears that they want to limit the opt-out to a current research project.  This is totally unacceptable.

I called the toll free number (below) and transferred to Reception.  The woman answering the phone was very professional and she took my name and phone numbers and assured me that they would be removed from the Datacension database.  I asked, and she confirmed, that this was a permanent removal.  I find it odd that the original caller did not offer me this service and the e-mail opt-out does not appear to be permanent.

Contact Datascension, Inc
407 W. Imperial Highway, Suite H314
Suite H314
Brea CA 92821
Tel: 888-996-9238
Fax: 714.276.9080
Email: information@datascension.com