Why should we bother to exist? What gives life meaning? Why shouldn’t we all just give up and go off into that good night?
I doubt that you want to hear my answers to those questions. And frankly, I am not at all sure that I would be edified to hear your answers to those Click Here to continue reading.
This post is a comment that I left on my own blog in response to Mr. La Roche. This is getting to be a bad habit with me. But when I write two pages out, I hate to bury it in the comment section. Especially when writing out those two pages prevented me from writing Click Here to continue reading.
They say to stand out one must be original. They say to advertise well one must be original. They say to sell one must be original.
Perhaps I should take a lesson from Miranda July, the author of No One Belongs Here More Than You. She decided to create the website for her book on the […]
How trustworthy do you think most of the governments in the Middle East are? This question is important because according to a study requested by US Energy Secretary Bodman almost all the new oil for export in the coming years is going to come from the Middle East.
Now all by itself this is pretty depressing. But what would be even more depressing is that if no one could increase oil exports. After all, demand is projected to soar in China and other places. Without new sources of oil, prices are going to soar.
But as Stuart Staniford argues in this post, it is very likely that government in the Middle East are lying through their teeth about there likely reserves.
I won’t provide any quotes from his post, because his argument is too involved and chart dependent to quote well. But if you are familiar with Stuart Staniford body of work you know that just about anything he writes is worth reading.
This from R-Squared…..
Gasoline imports were strong while prices were at record highs. Looks like prices may need to head back that direction to attract more imports. That gasoline import number is pretty weak, considering gasoline imports have been running at well over a million barrels per day. I suspect today’s report means gasoline prices will continue their recent climb, after bottoming out a couple of weeks ago. That refinery utilization number is another big story. We have yet to see 92% utilization this summer. You have to go all the way back to 1991 to see summer utilization numbers in this range. Last year’s June number was 93%, and it was over 97% in June of 2004 and 2005.
As long as refinery utilization rates stay low, we are going to be dependent on imports. And as long as we are dependent on imports we are going to have to pay more then the wholesale price in Europe plus shipping costs for our gas. That will never be cheap.
This update summary has been tardy, but . . . most recent additions as such:
Interesting fact: Did you know you could polish with olive oil? Read more here.
Filed under The Odd Bag.
What do Ebert and Lichtenberg have in common? Maybe nothing, but find a quote from each here.
Filed under The Odd Bag.
Ever heard of proto-protestants? […]
Why is it that there is one and only one demographic effect that the majority of highly educated people in the world are willing to accept? And why is that one effect the idea that less children are good for the environment?
A lot of highly educated people are willing to argue that people Click Here to continue reading.
The Bush administration is urging China’s central bank to buy more government-backed mortgage bonds in an effort to sustain financing for U.S. home loans.
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Alphonso Jackson is in Beijing to persuade the Chinese central bank to buy more securities from Ginnie Mae, a corporation under HUD that guarantees $417 billion in federally insured, fixed-rate mortgages.
What more is there to say? (Hat tip: Macro Man).
Yesterday, I wrote to Mr. Nichols in spare moment saying…
Poetic temperament is a valid excuse for having problems writing. But not for taking stuff that you have already written down. Have a little mercy on the rest of humanity.
He never responded. But Philosophical Poetry went back up today. Hooray!!
Given Mr. Nichols past record you can Click Here to continue reading.
One of the things that helps to inspire people is the progress and achievements of their peers. This is as true of jugglers as it is of anyone, and perhaps even more so. Because of this, Steve Healey created a database of juggling records. Anyone could sign up and post their achievements, and compare themselves Click Here to continue reading.