COLLECTIVE MADNESS


“Soft despotism is a term coined by Alexis de Tocqueville describing the state into which a country overrun by "a network of small complicated rules" might degrade. Soft despotism is different from despotism (also called 'hard despotism') in the sense that it is not obvious to the people."

Thursday, May 15, 2014

Natural gas has been a central issue in recent tensions between Russia and Ukraine. Putin is encouraging the acquisition of Ukrainian territory. The son of a sitting US vice president takes a high level position doing what?

37 comments:

  1. unpublished writerThu May 15, 06:06:00 PM EDT

    Does anyone wonder about public cynicism? It is understandable why some Ukrainian American want the US to intervene, or why some Russian Americans are siding with Putin, but t there is no rhyme nor reason why true blooded Americans would want to place American soldiers in harm’s way in the distant Ukraine where corruption, ethnic hate and a Soviet mentality prevails on both sides, and where American interests are not at stake.

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  2. VP Joe has not 'endorsed' his son's behavior, so it's OK........

    We could do a lot to make things tough for the Russians, without endangering any American soldiers.

    But we won't.

    We might, one of these days, see Michelle Obama on TV with a hash tag saying, "Give The Crimea Back", though.

    bobbo

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  3. We could build the pipeline, and get busy selling natural gas to Europe from all the sources we can find.

    Get the Europeans off the Russian tit.

    bobbo

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  4. We couldn't sell the Ukraine shit. We're natural gas importers, ourselves. Canada could sell the Ukraine our share, though.

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    Replies
    1. The best thing we can do is stay the hell away from Eastern Europe, and let them work it out on their own.

      Clinton damned near got us involved in a shooting war with Russia, for no good reason ever perceived by the mind of man or deity.

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    2. And, the best thing Ukraine can do is take a page from Germany's book, and start building Solar, and Wind as fast as they can.

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    3. Germany is already producing enough Solar, and Wind-powered electricity to power Ukraine several times over.

      With about 11 times the GDP, Germany supplied 27% of its electricity from Wind and Solar in the first qtr.

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  5. Build the pipeline. Canada and USA sell gas to Europe. Collapse Russian economy.

    No shooting there.

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    Replies
    1. What the fuck is wrong with you? Are the words too large? Too many of them?

      We are Nat Gas IMPORTERS. Importers. Not exporters.

      W/O Canada's Exports we would have Run Out of Gas this Winter.

      How in the hell can the U.S. sell gas to Europe when we already use more gas than we produce?

      Wake the fuck up, cowboy.

      Delete
    2. The bounty: The push to export natural gas stems from the fact that the country now has too much of it. Thanks to the fracking-led energy boom, U.S. natural gas prices have collapsed. The flow of gas from many recently drilled wells has actually been shut off, as pumping it out costs more than the gas can be sold for.

      Prices in other parts are the world aren't nearly so low. In Europe, they are three times higher than in the United States. In Japan they're nearly five times as high. That offers an incredible incentive for energy companies to put their gas on a ship and send it abroad.

      http://money.cnn.com/2013/06/04/news/economy/natural-gas-exports/index.html

      OK, cowgirl.

      bobbo

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    3. Sarah wanted to bring it down from Alaska to the states, rather than burn it off at the oil fields.

      bobbo

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    4. You've got be the dumbest motherfucker on planet earth.

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    5. Wrong.

      You have that title.

      I am only runner-up.

      bobbo

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  6. WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House on Tuesday brushed aside questions about whether the involvement of Vice President Joe Biden's son in a Ukrainian natural gas company raised ethical issues at a time when the administration is promoting energy diversity in the country.

    R. Hunter Biden, a lawyer and a partner in an investment firm, was recently named to the board of directors of Burisma Holdings, a private company that has drilled for natural gas in Ukraine since 2002.

    In a statement on Burisma's website, Hunter Biden said he would help the company with "transparency, corporate governance and responsibility, international expansion," and other issues.

    Natural gas has been a central issue in recent tensions between Russia and Ukraine. Ukraine depends on Russia for most of its natural gas, and has accused Moscow of . . . . . . .

    MSN


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  7. This is how close we came to running out of nat gas this winter:

    EIA Chart

    And, that is With the 8% of consumption that we Import from Canada.

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  8. ...and guess what happens as they shutter coal and nuclear plants. The only thing that exporting gas in the short run will accomplish is to equalize the global price.

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  9. The 10-year note 10_YEAR +0.16% yield, which falls as bond prices rise, dropped over 15 basis points to 2.50% in the past three sessions. That move is emblematic of the way interest rates should behave as the world shifts toward the “new neutral” paradigm outlined by Pimco earlier this week, the bond market veteran told MarketWatch in e-mailed comments.

    “2.50% currently reflects a 0.5% new neutral rate and seems fair for now,” Gross said.

    The new neutral outlook published by Gross and Pimco advisor Richard Clarida suggests that the global economy is transforming from a period of recovery after the financial crisis — termed the “new normal” back in 2009 — toward stability that is characterized by modest economic growth over the next three-to-five years.

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  10. I think everyone is underestimating the growth in the economy.

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  11. Buying bonds at these rates seems nuts to me.

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    Replies
    1. It's always dangerous betting against the bond market. There's no money out in the hinterland. It's all rounded up in Manhattan. First-time homebuyers are down from 40% of the market to 25% of the market. All the building is in duplexes, and apartments. As soon as business picks up a little bit, energy prices are going to rise. It's looking pretty bleak, to me.

      Delete
    2. I might be a little tired, and grouchy this morning. :)

      The flip side is, construction is construction. Single family stand-alone, or apartment - both are boosts to the economy. A little wage growth, and maybe things will look a little brighter (now, to figure out how to get that "wage growth.") :)

      Delete
    3. How is it that some people at GM shouldn't be tried for Murder?

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    4. At least, Criminally Negligent Homicide.

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  12. How is it that Obama isn't tried for murder for leaving those people to die in Benghazi?

    bobbo

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  13. How is it that Obama isn't being impeached for directing the IRS to oppress opponents in the United States?

    bobbo

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    Replies
    1. And systematically too, not just picking on a few.

      bobbo

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    2. Why is the Ag Department being armed with .40 caliber machine guns?

      bobbo

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    3. Why was Obama supplying guns to drug runners in Fast and Furious?

      Why are there Waiting For Death Lists at the VA?

      You should be pissed.

      bobbo

      Delete
  14. Why has Obama just released thousands and thousands and thousands of illegal alien criminals from prison and is refusing to deport any more?

    We all should be really really pissed.

    bobbo

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  15. OBAMA EYES EXEC ACTION TO STOP DEPORTATIONS

    Drudge Headline

    You'd have had to be the dumbest motherfucker on earth to have voted for this guy.

    bobbo

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  16. Government accused of hiding long hospital waiting lists...

    DAMAGE CONTROL: VA forces retiring official to resign...




    VETERANS SCANDAL RISKS ENGULFING OBAMA


    Drudge Report for details......

    bobbo

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  17. 'That fetus ain't got a dick, it's outta here'

    'That fetus has got a dick, it's outta here'

    Democrats are assholes these days, to be blunt about it.

    bobbo

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  18. These were meant for here -



    AnonymousFri May 16, 06:45:00 PM EDT
    Democrats !

    In California, the Democrats have voted down a bill that would ban sex-selective abortions.

    Then, there's that top Democrat Debbie Wassermann-Schultz here -

    « Sudanese woman sentenced to hang for apostasy | Rove Needs Head Examined for Hillary's BrainTumor Remarks »
    Share Share |Share on twitter Twitter

    May 16, 2014
    Perhaps the most despicable thing Debbie Wasserman Schultz has said yet

    Thomas Lifson

    There’s a lot of competition, but Debbie Wasserman Schultz has disgraced herself in a way that may surpass anything else she has said. So far. Via Lifesite News (hat tip: Weasel Zippers):

    Democratic Party Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz has branded a bill to punish men who trick their girlfriends into aborting against their will, or who otherwise kill a woman's unborn child, “senseless” and “extreme.”

    Yes, that’s right. So devoted is she to abortion that she would not punish those who trick a woman into aborting a child by giving her drug that causes an abortion without her knowledge.Some background on the law DWS attacked:

    The state legislature passed the Offenses Against Unborn Children bill after Remee Jo Lee's story went national last year.

    Andrew John Welden tricked Lee, his girlfriend, into taking a bottle of Cytotec (misoprostol) that he had falsely labeled as “Amoxicillin.” She miscarried their child, which she desperately wanted and had already named, last Easter. But Lee was surprised to learn that, because of an oversight in Florida law, Welden could not be charged with harming their unborn baby. Prosecutors could only charge him with violating the federal Unborn Victims of Violence Act because he was accused of breaking federal laws against product tampering.

    Florida is one of 14 states that provide no legal remedy for mothers whose unborn children are killed before the point of viability.

    That's when Lee and her family threw their support behind the Offenses Against Unborn Children Act, which treats a crime that harms an unborn child as a separate offense from any damage inflicted on the mother.


    This is the person Democrats have placed at the head of their party. The mind boggles at this war on women.

    ..........................

    You'd have to be morally blind to vote for Democrats these days.

    bobbo

    Reply

    AnonymousFri May 16, 06:47:00 PM EDT
    The scandals are coming so 'fast and furious' these days that one can't focus on them well.

    Like trying to watch individual birds in a flock, it overwhelms.

    bobbo


    out

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  19. What this country needs is factory farmed free range chickens.

    http://theweek.com/speedreads/index/261733/speedreads-the-case-for-giving-chickens-virtual-reality

    A little virtual reality in their lives to give them a taste of paradise before the frying pan.

    "You can judge a country by how it treats its chickens."

    bobbo

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  20. At 3:00, yesterday afternoon, the 8th largest economy on earth (California) was getting 40% of its electricity from Renewables - including Hydro.

    That could power Ukraine 3 or 4 times, over.

    Ca ISO

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  21. I see that some folks still do not understand the technology well enough to sign-in

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