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."

Saturday, May 01, 2010

Obama's Eight Days of Dithering - Mark Levin





I think this just about wraps it up.

Here is the O team:




141 comments:

  1. What does Obama do?

    He certainly is not a serious Chief Executive. He is not interested in details or for that matter process.

    Obama is all about image and ideology. He is the consummate campaigner. Air Force One is Showboat One.

    Obama is as president what he always was, an ideological left wing community organizer, unfit to lead and undeserving of the office so many people foolishly and naively entrusted to him.

    Let us hope and pray that nothing more serious arises while this incompetent is still in office.

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  2. I can't see your videos, so I can't comment on them. But, let me say this: There's not much that Could happen that would be more serious than the likely outcome of this event.

    I'm trying to not go "all hyperbolic," here, but this thing "could" end up being enormous.

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  3. Obama was too busy slamming Arizona to have noticed.

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  4. The cost and implications of this disaster are enormous. To start, read about the sunken drilling rig Deepwater Horizon which now resides in Davie Jones Locker. A $600 million rig sent to the depths just as the well was set to come on line.

    Now, some reports are saying that the environmental costs will dwarf those of the Exxon Valdez disaster. The implications for domestic drilling are not yet fully known but already those who oppose drilling off US coasts are reinvigorated. Economically, we need this like a hole in the head. If there is a silver lining, we will accelerate our switch to alternative fuels but for now, we seem to be in the middle of a car wreck.

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  5. Another set back in our economic recovery and another blow to our self esteem.

    The country is in a hell of a funk; Like Job, wondering, "what's next?"

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  6. Whit, this is the Ultimate "slow motion train wreck." Again, not to go all hyperbolic on the list, but this mess could go on for anywhere from 3 months to 3 years.

    Once that gunk starts washing up on shore it won't stop. And, even when it finally does the cleanup will take, in some instances, a hundred years.

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  7. E85 is selling for $1.86/gal in Iowa. Just saying.

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  8. The biorefineries are selling ethanol at the "plant-gate" for $1.45 gal.

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  9. It's a good thing we got a new thread. Doug kinda fouled up the other one with his talk of drinking warm human effluent.





    Now where were we? Oh, yes...

    Obama's Katrina!

    But why stop there with the silliness?

    Obama's Katrina AND optional invasion AND subsequent fuck-up of Iraq!

    A threefer!






    A catastrophe this very well may end up being. Just not one the American people are going to lay at the feet of the administration.

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  10. Wouldn't wanna be playing the part of BP in all this though. That's gotta suck.

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  11. And, yeah, we probably won't be hearing much Drill, Baby, Drill again for awhile.

    The truthout article that rufus posted is making the rounds.

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  12. Nah, this has nothing to do with Obama. This is just something that was sure to happen, eventually. They had a big blowout down deeper in the Gulf, but the currents took it away from the U.S.

    This one is, almost, located perfectly for maximum damage.

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  13. This is the only politician in America that knows how to fix our mess. Phil Bredeson - Governor of Tenn

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  14. MediaMatters has the timeline of administration response to the growing disaster. FWIW.




    I guess it's incumbent on the Limbaughs and Levins to do *something* with the story that casts the admin in a bad light because, well, that's their entertainment bread and butter at this point.

    I listen to NPR. The soft, soothing voices of sanity on 88.5 FM.

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  15. I also expect the topic of non-fossil fuels and attendant technologies to take on new life pretty rapidly.

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  16. The Oil Drum blog's gotta be getting something like a million hits an hour.

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  17. GWB did not cause the Hurricane Katrina but the media worked it to death and placed it on Bush.

    Obama was not savvy enough to see the potential of the oil catastrophe and respond, no more than he responded with Georgia and again in Iran.

    For days it was reported that it was a 50,000 a gallon a day spill. Military surveillance, had it been done, would have recognized that the spill was dramatically larger.

    Obama has no problem pulling in choppers and 747's to wage his endless campaign. He has no problem in blaming everything happening around him on others.

    For 15 months he has been saying he inherited this and he inherited that. The level of federal response to this incident belongs to Obama.

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  18. The "Oil Drummers" are in shock. Most of the commenters are looney-tunes, but there are a couple of "Real" Expert Offshore Drillers that comment. The best is Rockman.

    He called it right the first hour. They understand that this could be one hell of a National Catastrophe.

    They banned me, and anyone else that espoused a "pro-ethanol," or, even worse, "Anti-Global Warming" viewpoint. I still read it every day for the handful of expert comments.

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  19. Even the NY Times has noticed:

    ...The Obama administration has publicly chastised BP America for its handling of the spreading oil gusher, yet a review of the response suggests it may be too simplistic to place all the blame for the unfolding environmental catastrophe on the oil company. The federal government also had opportunities to move more quickly, but did not do so while it waited for a resolution to the spreading spill from BP.

    The Department of Homeland Security waited until Thursday to declare that the incident was “a spill of national significance,” and then set up a second command center in Mobile, Ala. The actions came only after the estimate of the size of the spill was increased fivefold to 5,000 barrels a day.

    The delay meant that the Homeland Security Department waited until late this week to formally request a more robust response from the Department of Defense, with Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano acknowledging even as late as Thursday afternoon that she did not know if the Defense Department even had equipment that might be helpful.

    By Friday afternoon, she said, the Defense Department had agreed to send two large military transport planes to spray chemicals that can disperse the oil while it is still in the Gulf.

    Officials initially seemed to underestimate the threat of a leak, just as BP did last year when it told the government such an event was highly unlikely. Rear Adm. Mary E. Landry, the chief Coast Guard official in charge of the response, said on April 22, after the rig sank, that the oil that was on the surface appeared to be merely residual oil from the fire, though she said it was unclear what was going on underwater. The day after, officials said that it appeared the well’s blowout preventer had kicked in and that there did not seem to be any oil leaking from the well, though they cautioned it was not a guarantee.

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  20. Of course Obama is going to visit the area. No one could keep him away, although I be he could not find the dip stick on his Chrysler 300, and has no clue whatsover as to what to do.

    Levin did say that Eric Holder, Obama's guy is sending Justice Department lawyers to Louisiana. They should be helpful in helping Obama deflect blame.

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  21. I think this is way too important to go all "political" on it.

    Rockman, in the first hour said, this thing could shut itself off in a couple of days, or it could go for years. The odds are it will take "months" to drill the relief wells needed to bring it to an end.

    I think they've even shut him down to some extent. I don't know squat about all this, but I know the pipe is leaking in at least 3 places, now. What if the explosion damaged the pipe all the way down? Can we still Plug it?

    Don't let anyone shit you. When you get down 18,000 Ft below 5,000 ft of Ocean, No Living Sonofabitch knows what's going on.

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  22. "GWB did not cause the Hurricane Katrina..."

    Granted, it's a few years ago now, but I don't recall anyone indicating that he did.

    The administration WAS held widely responsible by the media and the public for efforts that involved not simply federal, but also state and local agencies and officials.

    It also occurred at a time when OIF was still circling the drain and administration incompetence in that little affair was the driving narrative leading into 2006. In this respect, Katrina was just more shit in the sandwich they were fated to eat.

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  23. "They banned me, and anyone else that espoused a 'pro-ethanol'..."

    I thought the Drum was a largely Peak Oil site, no? Wouldn't seem to make much sense to ban an alt-fuels guy.

    But the last time I was over there was (haha!) during and shortly after Katrina. Me and about a gazillion other people.

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  24. The oil drum is a "Pro-oil" site, that, I imagine, benefits from some "oil money" somewhere along the line.

    Leanan, the driving force behind the site, is a self-avowed, card-carrying Communist, as are many of the commentors. She is, also, an avid "Global-Warmener."

    It goes largely unremarked-upon that the majority of the "econutzo" groups get a lot of their funding from "oil." Ergo: Their "turning against" biofuels.

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  25. The "Devil's Brew" of All "Devil's Brews."

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  26. The thing is, Hurricae Katrina was "Immediate," with days, and days of eye-overwhelming Visuals.

    This is an ultra-slow motion tragedy that most of the American people haven't even "caught on" to yet.

    It's senseless to try to "play politics" with this one, because the American people will see right through it. They hate oil companies (esp. when their gas is $3.00 gal) even worse than they hate politicians.

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  27. The oil companies have managed to turn the "environmentalists" toward "Electric" cars. Plug-in Hybrid Electrics, and the like.

    That strategy will continue to work until those batteries start dying, and people are left with the quandary of what to do with a 10 year old car that needs a $10,000.00 battery.

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  28. Leanan, the driving force behind the site, is a self-avowed, card-carrying Communist, as are many of the commentors. She is, also, an avid "Global-Warmener."

    - rufus

    Did not realize, but again my dwell time there was very brief and focused on potential economic fallout from that particular hurricane.




    My daughter and I were joking the other day about all events playing into the Mayan calendar of doom.

    It IS humorous, until you stop to consider that it wouldn't take much chain-of-events-wise to put us in the ditch for real.

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  29. Trish, I'm getting to the point where I really don't want to think about Dec 21, 2012. :)

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  30. I don't, however, think we "hate" oil companies, any more than we "hate" Wall Street, given recent events.

    I think there is severe disillusion and real anger with regard to Big Anything (including most especially perhaps the Big Something that pays my bills) but I don't think hate is quite the correct characterization.

    Then again, I "hate" populism.

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  31. Two U.S. offshore production platforms in the Gulf of Mexico have been shut down and a third was evacuated as a precaution after a giant oil spill and further shutdowns are possible, the U.S. Minerals Management Service said on Saturday.

    More to Come

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  32. Just remember, rufus, we're all invited to What Is's buried conex for the End Times Blowout.

    BYOB.

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  33. Here's the most recent comment from Rockman. The PPA is the guy in charge of the amount, and density of the "Cement" that's used.

    Alan -- And that if nothing goes wrong with that process. Even when they do get deep enough to cut the original hole that's when the tricky phase really begins. When they intersect the original hole there may be a huge pressure surge. They'll be planning on that and will have safety protocols in place. But, then again, so did BP. Coincidentally just got an email from my former boss when I was a pore pressure analyst. Wanted to know if I were up for a gig on one of he relief wells. He hasn't secured the contract yet: chicken and egg -- can't get the contract without someone to fill the slot and can't get the contract without a warm body to fill the slot. All his other PPA's are tied up and, as he put it, he needed an "expendable body" really bad. Yes...a dark sense of humor helps cover the obvious anxiety. Had to remind him of the promise to my young daughter about given up offshore gigs. He said he remembered but thought I might reconsider so I could be a part of history. A very sad history, of course. But I'll admit the thought had crossed my mind even before he messaged me. But I had an easy out: I'm on crutches right now after double knee surgery. But still...

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  34. The PPA is, also, the "First to Die."

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  35. What in the hell happened? Was it an accident, or something else? I think it was an accident, but ain't sure.

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  36. It was a "Blowout," Bob. They tapped into something that caused an explosion the "Blowout Protector" couldn't handle.

    Absolutely could not have been any type of sabotage. The force of the Explosion blew up through mile-deep water, and blew seawater 240 ft into the air.

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  37. I think you're right Rufus. There was a caller on Savage yesterday, that worked on rigs, and knew what he was talking about. Knew the whole business from the inside. They talked over all the possibilities, and it looks like a blow out, like you say.

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  38. I assume a relief well exists to relieve pressure from the primary well?

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  39. Trish, what they'll do is, actually, try to "tap in" to the existing well-hole, and, the best I understand it, pour cement down the pipe to Plug it. This sounds almost impossible, but it is, evidently, something that's done from time to time.

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  40. They will have several rigs drilling for it from different directions. I suppose the one that's first to hit it gets a prize of something (or, maybe, their next-of-kin, who knows?)

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  41. "I suppose the one that's first to hit it gets a prize of something..."

    : )

    Yes, I do suppose.

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  42. And be it that truly grave an undertaking, I shall light a candle in front of the Saint Rita statuette.

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  43. Re Saint Rita:

    We bought it as a sort of joke (upon ourselves) in the South American equivalent of the dollar store shortly after our arrival. We kept it on a shelf in the kitchen.

    Our housekeeper is the one who began lighting candles in front of it. Every day. I found that actually really delightful and discovered, about a year later, that she would scribble prayers and fold them neatly and put them under the statuette.

    My God, but what COULD have happened had not Saint Rita been looking out for the world through a devoted emissary?

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  44. Jesus, there must be a lot of pressure down there.

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  45. The Catholics have saints for every damn thing. They have run out of days to celebrate them.

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  46. I am loathe to think of faith - any faith - as a trifling matter any more.

    The sacred serves a purpose.

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  47. Mostly to control the plebs, and shuffle'm off to war.

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  48. You're a horrible cynic, rufus.

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  49. Don't make me light a candle for you, too.

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  50. OMD, this just too spooky. You guys were talking about the Oildrum and matters related to the precarious situation we seem to be in what with 2012 and all...I thought we're on the "edge of a precipice" which sounded redundant, so I googled it and there, right near the top of the list was this: Dancing at the Edge of the Precipice

    It's a sign....

    :)

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  51. Light all the candles you got.
    Dig in.
    Cash out.

    Stockup on lighters, cigarettes and canned goods.

    Pull up your jock straps.

    Fix bayonets.

    Say your prayers.
    Smoke 'em if you got 'em.

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  52. I like words.

    "The edge of the precipice."

    Reminds me of the edge of night.

    One of pet peeves these days is hearing someone say a "whole host." Meanwhile, I never hear anyone mention a half-a-host.

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  53. Gee, Whit your about the closest we got.



    :)



    .

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  54. And if all that seems a little mantic, I'm fine, thank you.

    Just having a little fun.

    Burned out on doubt.

    :)

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  55. Chuckle, chuckle, Quirk...cute!

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  56. We are having way too much fun with this post to change it.

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  57. Why is it, that the noble elk have a rut in the fall, and we humans, who think we have a handle on it, with our Christianity, and such, and our morality, can't think of getting fucking our of our minds all year long, even to the very grave. Why is that? My answer might be, that sex is of the first expression of God, and we are starters here. What I like about Joe Campbell, is he deals deeply with human thought.

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  58. Oops, posted in wrong thread:

    Sure would be nice if anyone in Media would just let someone who knows something talk and answer questions.

    A caller got on one of the shows yesterday, and I learned more in 30 seconds than my previous knowledge combined.
    ...but 30 seconds was all he got, then it was back to whatever the "issue" was being discussed.

    A critical fact is this:
    When the column is filled with oil, the weight of that column moderates the pressure.

    As soon as gas begins to come up with the oil, the weight is reduced, and if you don't get it shut off in time, the resulting pressure can blow up just about anything.

    Must be a hell of a feeling as they are monitering and the density starts going down:

    You know the chances of a shit storm are rapidly going up.

    Still seems like it would have been a good idea to leave the fire burning at the site, esp after the platform collapsed.

    Sat May 01, 04:59:00 PM EDT


    Doug said...
    The differences between Alaska and LA are critical.

    Rocks are cleaned off rather quickly - the wetlands are like a giant sponge, and will take forever.

    AND it happened at the worst possible time, when all the animals arrive to lay eggs and etc.

    ...not to mention the additional bad luck of the winds and currents.

    Sat May 01, 05:05:00 PM EDT

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  59. Doug said...
    Supposedly intelligent people @ BC were suggesting it was not an accident.

    Putting them in the same category as the truthers.

    Sat May 01, 05:07:00 PM EDT

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  60. "We finished 3rd to a guy that owns a country."

    One of the 25 people that put together $10,000.00 to buy a horse that's running in the Derby, speaking of a race they almost won.

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  61. Another observed, "Whether this is complacency by officers who do not see such orders as a problem, or worse, officers who recognize the problem but do not insist the orders are changed, this is a serious problem. We are discussing the training of American citizen soldiers in the use of potentially deadly force against a specific group of political dissenters.

    There is never a time in an officer's career in which he does not have a duty to apply critical thought to the orders he is given and asked to give. It is my opinion that any officer that has allowed these orders to persist, to reach the level of junior officers and soldiers, has demonstrated a lack of judgment or apathy towards what his duty requires of him.

    Either way, we should demand more of the commissioned officers, who we as a nation empower to lead our sons and daughters into battle."


    Tea Part 'Terrorists'

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  62. Here's an argument I put up against Robert Rapier, long-time ethanol detractor:

    Here’s where your argument falls apart, Robert: We know that the successful plant will be a smallish plant that doesn’t “Transport” the biomass very far. Thus, there will be no competition to speak of between biomass that’s separated by more than 15, or 20 miles, at the most.

    Indeed, a lot of counties could probably support a 10 Million gpy cellulosic plant without going out more than 5, or 6 miles for their feedstock.

    Let’s look at it. Let’s say you can get 7 tons of biomass/acre, and 80 gallons of ethanol/ton. Some areas would yield higher amounts of biomass, and some people say they can get more than 80 tons, but those number seem “reasonable,” I think.

    That would yield 560 gallons/acre. Let’s just cut it down to 500 gal/acre for ease of calculation. We would need 20,000 acres, or 31.25 sq mi. Or an area with a Radius of approx. 3.15 miles.

    The average county is about 1,100 sq miles, or thereabouts. You could put one of these on each “end” of the county, and that would yield about 60 Billion Gallons of Ethanol, Annually.

    You’ve used a bit over 5% of your area, and it’s very unlikely that you’ve put this in the middle of your best farmland.

    And, it is just impossible to make the argument that there will be any “competition” for the biomass, and thus run up prices.

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  63. What are the costs per acre?

    ...gas, electric, labor, etc.

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  64. ...and, as Quirk asks:
    If it's so damned good why are there still no commercial cells?

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  65. "Burned out on doubt."

    Shoulda been here for lunch. Magnificent BLTs with maple bacon and tomatoes that - given it's not yet tomato season - had been left for a week to take on a little flavor on the kitchen counter.

    Also, Pepperidge Farm white bread.

    Accept no substitutes.

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  66. Doug, cost/acre is going to vary a bit. Some will fertilize. Some won't. Some will have to spend more to prepare the acreage (growing switchgrass vs growing hybrid poplars, for ex.

    I got a hunch the biorefineries are going to end up paying somewhere between $50.00, and $60.00/ton delivered. And, I expect most farmers are going to want to make, at least $15.00/ton, or pretty close. However, once the system is in place and operating, and the "gamble" is out of it $10.00/ton might be acceptable.

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  67. $420/acre for feedstock, plus cost of running fermentors.

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  68. Absolutely NO bank in the U.S. is, right now, interested in lending the first penny to any type of biofuel project. Period. No. Conversation.

    One large banker put it thus: No Banker wants to finance the "First project. Every banker wants to be the First to finance the "Second."

    And, despite what the administration says, they're "stalling the ball" to, actually, do anything substantial to support ethanol, or biodiesel. They'll give away "grants" for "research" into all sorts of off the wall nonsense, but when it comes time to do something meaningful they never answer the phone.

    They, supposedly, have a lot of money set aside for "Loan Guarantees," but even the strongest players like Poet are having to wait for . . . . . well, we don't know how long, because everyone's still waiting.

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  69. Doug, the biorefinery doesn't buy feedstock by the acre; they buy it by the ton.

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  70. Here's the biorefiner's dream: $45.00/ton - 100 gal/ton = $0.45 of feedstock cost per gallon of ethanol.

    My hunch: about $50.00 ton and 90 gal/ton = $0.55 feedstock cost per gallon.

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  71. Yeah, I just plugged in your 7 tons/acre.

    Couldn't Willie Nelson self-finance one?

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  72. Algore could finance entire states.
    ...if he really wanted to.

    Instead, it's off to OphraLand for Al and his honey.

    And 9 bathrooms.

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  73. One of the things - actually THE thing - that attracted my daughter to economics is the understanding that there ARE many different things you can do, as a nation, as long as you are willing to pay, as a nation, for each of those things.

    It's not a matter of ideology, really, but of willingness and capability to take on certain burdens in order to avoid what you know or fear to be greater ones.

    Economics, unlike ideology, allows for flexibility.

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  74. Most progress, actually, gets made by bribing congressmen. Always has. See: Canals, railroads, government contracts, etc.

    Except, now we call it "Campaign Contributions."

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  75. The IRS has kinda put a crimp in Willie's financin power.

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  76. "You should have been here for lunch..."

    Well, now you tell me; After the fact...

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  77. I am watching Russel Crowe in "Master and Commander" on AMC.

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  78. A French warship just surprised Crowe and co and shot the you-know-what out of them. Fortunately, the Brit ship avoided sinking by slipping away in a fog bank.

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  79. A toast made in the Captain's Mess:

    To wives and sweethearts.
    May they never meet.

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  80. One must always pick the lesser of the two "weevils."

    And, who said the English were humorless?

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  81. doug said:

    "Rocks are cleaned off rather quickly - the wetlands are like a giant sponge, and will take forever"



    c'lmon doug, deuce assured us but a few days ago that Oil is natural and it was all just media hysteria. Get with the program dude!






    Blogger trish said...

    "I assume a relief well exists to relieve pressure from the primary well?"

    rufus never seemed to answer the question directly. NO is the answer. It seems the industry-regulator/government discussions revolve around the cost and need for such a ninny environmentalist cost inducing protection.


    The primary difference between Katrina and this problem is that we could see Katrina coming. Even I rank amateur thought, as the hurricane trundled toward shore, that New Orleans, being below sea level and all, could sustain some damage. The disaster preparedness people would have thought of this as well -as I'm sure they did. However Bush stepped into is with his 'Brownie's doing a bang up job' media posture. I'm forever amazed at Americans propensity to place all and sundry at the presidents feet. Yeah the buck stops there but he, really, isn't God.




    Blogger rufus said...

    "Absolutely NO bank in the U.S. is, right now, interested in lending the first penny to any type of biofuel project. Period. No. Conversation."

    c'mon rufus, ya build a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door. Banks aren't normally the place to go for financing for new and risky ventures. Vulture capitalists and investment banks are the traditional place. If ethanol were such a slam dunk plants would be going up all over. Alas, the gamblers don't seem to think it such a slam dunk. Maybe they are blind to the possibilities - go out an sell 'em and get rich!

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  82. Blogger rufus said...

    "Most progress, actually, gets made by bribing congressmen"


    bah, you really are a socialist...errr, communist.

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  83. rufus - to see videos and stuff try updating your flash:

    http://www.adobe.com/support/flash/downloads.html

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  84. The most pertinent coulda/woulda/shoulda argument I've heard regarding this disaster (aside from not have pre-drilled relief wells) is that they shouldn't have put out the fire on the rig. Supposedly they towed in a bunch of fire boats and shot ton's of water at the rig. the water brought put out the fire and toppled the rig sending that pipe to the bottom of the ocean with leaking kinks in it. tch tch Obama - how could you do such a thing!

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  85. "Well, now you tell me..."

    It's the thought that counts.

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  86. Blogger rufus said...

    Whit, this is the Ultimate "slow motion train wreck."



    The other slow motion train wreck occurring is the sovereign debt crisis in Europe. There are some here chuckling at Europe's problems but I don't think they will be contained to just Europe. Like the oil slick, slowly but surely, the problems are spreading. Who's not debt?

    For a primer on why Germany must bail out Greece (sticking the proverbial thumb in the dike):

    "Life in the German empire
    Doug Saunders

    They don’t like to think of it that way. When it became apparent this week that Berlin will have to contribute at least $32-billion toward a Greek rescue plan over the next three years, the front page of Bild, the flamboyant Berlin tabloid that represents a window into the country’s unguarded id, went apoplectic: “Billions for Greece: What’s In It For Us?” it asked in three-inch-high type.

    Chancellor Angela Merkel had hoped that the big cash rescue could be put aside until after the May 9 regional elections in North Rhine-Westphalia, where news of a big foreign payout could hurt her party’s fortunes.

    But the Greek crisis, and the mounting Portuguese and possibly Spanish and Italian crises, are, at their heart, and in their origin, German crises.

    Ms. Merkel realized, almost too late, that letting the rescue wait will only cost Germany more money and possibly destroy its institutions, so on Thursday she took action and primed the pumps for a bailout. Greece and its neighbours, she acknowledged, are not just nearby countries; they are umbilically linked to Germany, and their fates had become inseparable.

    To understand this, you need to visit the residential shopping streets of southern Europe. What you will see is German: The food in the supermarkets, the electronics shops, the clothing outlets and a great many of the cars on the road, to say nothing of the olive presses, sewage-treatment plants and fishing boats. The banks used by consumers are often branches of German chains, and their loans have financed huge building booms.

    Germany is the world’s second-largest exporter, ahead of the United States and exceeded only by China, and its largest markets are its European neighbours. These countries are net importers: They meet most of their needs by buying things from other countries, especially Germany, which has used its size and wealth to build efficiencies, and economies of scale, that make its exports irresistibly cheap.

    This leads to a balance-of-payments deficit: These importing countries have more money flowing out of their borders than they have coming in – for Greece, an amount equivalent to a tenth of the entire economy – and Germany has a surplus, with piles of it stacking up.

    When other countries have balance-of-payments deficits, they can escape by devaluing their currencies and slashing the exchange rate. This, in essence, is what the United States is doing to ease its $2-trillion imbalance with China. But Greece and Germany share a currency, the euro, so that option isn’t possible. And in a common-currency system, a balance-of-payments deficit becomes a fiscal deficit: It turns into government debt."

    http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/life-in-the-german-empire/article1553140/

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  87. Are the folks in Pennsylvania ready to bailout California?

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  88. Relief wells are primarily drilled to inject concrete and seal the well.

    Pre-drilling doesn't sound feasible, as the relief must meet the primary where it enters the reservoir.
    ...that location only becomes known once the reservoir is reached.

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  89. "It's the thought that counts."

    Yes, it is. ;)

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  90. Becalmed for over a week in the South Pacific, Captain Jack's crew is becoming restless and there is a hint of mutiny and 12 lashes for one insubordinate young sailor grieving for the loss of his mate.

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  91. The reason I mention sex is I've been reading Schopenhaur's The Will To Live and can't really figure out where it comes from. Just is, I quess, an escape from the noumenon, a recess.

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  92. All men should be monks. Among other things, it would put Las Vegas out of business, fast.

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  93. To put things in a litle persepctive, in pleistocene Nevada there was the giant sloth, the wild horse, a giant kind of turtle, a monstrous lion or cougar, the beginnings of the bison, among other critters, and, some early men. Now it's all dry lake beds, and stars at night, which may be better. The early men all died out or moved east, south and west. Lately some have come back to Las Vegas. Nevada is really interesting, when you get to know the countryside. It was very wet there, years ago. Damned climate change!

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  94. The people that first came back were human criminals from Chicago, and LA, those very good survivors. I always wanted to have a ranch in Nevada, but failed.

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  95. They imported gambling, and the whore house, a true rise in the level of civilization. Beats giant sloth meat.

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  96. M.L.D--I'm working on the second leg of my poem. The gods that fucked up early Nevada, really played around, and fucked it up totally, fucked up Las Vegas too, and all I need to do, is, go down there with my daughter in two weeks, take some pics, do a little more research and a thing or too, and put part two together. Part three I have not figured out yet, how to get our spiritual hero the hell out of there. He's gonna be in a spiritual and physical desert, that's for sure, I just got to get him the hell out of there.

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  97. I think I'll take our hero back to the noumenon, with some good fishing on the way, so to speak, from Vegas, if I can, M.L.D. in his mind, without him blowing his brains out. I think I'll bring him back to Idaho, and sit him in front of a computer, lonely, but still alive.

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  98. I don't think this thread was that much fun at all.

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  99. Yes, but how. The story is simple, a guy loves the coutry side, drives down there, loves it, the countryside, hates the city, and comes back a little transformed. I got the trip down really well in mind, even my daughter thinks it's good, change it how? I ask, cause I need help. How change the basic plan? It's a little transformation, a little spiritual, is the point of it. In three steps. Down, changed, and back, I just can't write the second and third part.

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  100. Sometimes life isn't fun, but tough. I want to thank anon for sticking up for me a little with DR. Thanks, and good night.

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  101. Stop reading Schopenhaur.






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  102. Godamn you, least he knows what the fucking noumenon is, you ass.

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  103. Uh...FYI, there's no name calling or sexual content allowed on this blog. That's why Allen left.

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  104. He's way too pessimistic for you Bob. You shouldn't be reading philosophers anyway.


    Kant and Plato where two of the old Shopster's favorite philosophers. Yet Plato said;

    "Philosophy is an elegant thing, if anyone modestly meddles with it; but if they are conversant with it more than is becoming, it corrupts them.”

    You take these guys way too seriously and it can skews your outlook on life.

    As Karl Marx said; "Philosophy is to the real world as masturbation is to sex”

    As for noumenon or phenomenon, who really gives a shit. Life's to short to be worrying about it.


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  105. "That's why Allen left.

    Yea, what about that Melody? I thought he was going to go off into the desert for a few months until some new blood arrived at the EB.

    (Hey, what's this M.L.D. shit? I thought it was Melody. Women. It's hard to keep up.)


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  106. "The early men all died out or moved east, south and west..."

    Yea, I heard rat moved southeast.





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  107. Quirk, you shit, it's through Berkeley Hume Kant and Schopenhauer I ameading. I have read them before,butmy mind is really on Melody, andthat's the truth. A wonderful girl means a lot more than some asshole plilosopher, when you really think about it.

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  108. And I don't think Allen has acutally left. Vacation. He is the most thoughtful kind and understanding poster we have ever had in this dive.

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  109. Still thinking of me, aye boobie?

    Better buy some new books.
    At least read something different.

    That was a picture of a woman's back, not her chest, in that beer commercial. How long has it been, boob, since you saw a woman's chest, up close and personal?

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  110. You're right Bob. Allen's a saint.


    "Quirk, you shit, it's through Berkeley Hume Kant and Schopenhauer I ameading."

    Ameading? A typo evidently?

    Does that mean you are reading these guys? Or through reading these guys you are mending? Or something else?

    At any rate, if you have to read these philosophical types, I would suggest switching over to more practical philosophers such as,

    Charles Schultz (practical):

    "I have a new philosophy. I'm only going to dread one day at a time."

    or Edward Abbey (critica):

    "When the philosopher's argument becomes tedious, complicated, and opaque, it is usually a sign that he is attempting to prove as true to the intellect what is plainly false to common sense"

    or Woody Allen (existential):

    "Students achieving Oneness will soon move on to Twoness."

    However, if you insist on speculating on the "meaning of life" and what awaits afterward, I can only offer this Confucian wisdom:

    Why did the chicken commit suicide?







    Answer:








    To get to the other side


    Good night Bob.



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  111. No, I do not put you in the category of Hume, Berkeley, Kant, Schopenhauer, self confesed crimanal. Or Goethe. Or Shakespeare. I read them with some thought, you I pass by. I would much rather read Melody, and that's the truth.

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  112. Sure, a typo, but these guys, good as they are, and they are really really good, particularlly Kant's categories, which makes you really really think, mean less to me than one word by Melody.

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  113. That was a picture of a woman's back, not her chest, in that beer commercial. How long has it been, boob, since you saw a woman's chest, up close and personal?--About two days ago, asshole, if you want to ask my wife and she would be shocked, if you actuaully asked. She and I have an active sex life for people our agr, self confresed criminal. She sure as helll wouldn't go to bed with you.

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  114. Doubt if she'd qualify, to sleep with me, boobie.

    To old for a fact.

    But other than that, why would you think I'd want to, sleep with your wife?

    Golly ...

    All you did, was not recognize the difference 'tween a woman's back, and her chest.

    Kinda funny, but me, I know the difference.

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  115. self confessed crimanl, that asks about our private sex life....

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  116. You are an asshole, and everybody knows it, including Trish, who gave you the benefit of the doubt.

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  117. No, boobie, no question was asked abut your sex life.

    A question was asked about your eyesight.

    Not even close to being the same thing. No mention was made of your wife, your daughter or any lover you may have ever had.

    Only that you did not recognize a woman's back, when seen in profile, on a video.

    Thinking tha there was hair on her chest, foolish boobie, bringing your wife into the thread.

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  118. No convictions, boobie, and the FBI has not interviewed me, about anything, ever.

    While they are watching you.

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  119. But since you did, mention your wife, guess it's fair game, now.

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  120. Assholes and cunts, your posted specialties.

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  121. No convictions, boobie, and the FBI has not interviewed me, about anything, ever.

    While they are watching you.-----Rat, you are NUTS! --JUST ABSOLUTELY FUNCKING NUTS!!!!!!!

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  122. The FBI HAS NOT EVER INTERVIEWED ME FOR A GODMAND THING---you're crazy rat, crazy as HELL!!!!!!!!!!!!! Shit, I'm going to bed, goodnight, if you can get it.

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  123. The closest I've come to being interviewed by a law enforcemant officer was a polite call I got from my Jewish Lawyer, who is an officer of the court, last week. He wanted to know what kind of prices I had gotten for some land, and, just, how I was doing. I am doing well...in the past he had loaned me a lot of money... long paid off...he wanted to check on my wife too--who also talked to him....we are not self confessed ciminals here....and we get along well with our Jewish lawyer... and we have had no interviews with the FBI....

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  124. You said they came and interviewed you, boobie. They had a cover story about checking out one of your tenants, but they talked to you, at length, you said.

    Perhaps you've forgotten, senility, I guess.
    But that is how they do it, boob. They do not tell you, that they are investigating you. But they were, after all of your seditious and racist posts concerning our President, you've put yourself on the long list, as a security threat.

    As to your wife, and your thoughts of passing her around the patrons of the Bar, well, I'll stay away from that offering.
    The football team, her "boys" may have already taken care of that, for you.
    Little wonder you're worried.

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  125. Kitchen Sink Bomber:

    Police Find Car Bomb in Times Square

    Thousands Are Evacuated as Crude Device in S.U.V. Fails

    By AL BAKER and WILLIAM K. RASHBAUM 4:35 AM ET
    A crude bomb of propane, gasoline and fireworks began to detonate but did not explode on Saturday, prompting the evacuation of tourists and theatergoers.

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  126. You said they came and interviewed you, boobie. They had a cover story about checking out one of your tenants, but they talked to you, at length, you said.---You're absoluiteLY NUTS- none of my tenants have a dmaned dime--what's the FBI doing interviewing me? You are crazy as hell. I've never posting here again, most people, like you,ARE CRAZY. Deuce just shut it down for Chrit's sake. All you are doing is giving some anti-semite a forum. There is never any meaningful talk here, Melody knows how to get in touch with me, if she wants. Your NUTS, rat. And a self confessed criminal. I leave it up to WiO.

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  127. "But since you did, mention your wife, guess it's fair game, now."

    Rat, let me join with everyone who might have mentioned it before in saying you are one slimey piece of shit.


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