Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 05:10 AM | Comments (59)
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Storing that oil rather than dumping it into the market at current prices is a costly proposition. If the price doesn't go up $4/bbl in the next 100 days, then you're losing money. If demand stays slack, at what point do they decide to cut and run generating a further collapse in price?

...More than 30 tankers, each with the ability to move 2 million barrels of oil from port to port, now serve as little more than floating storage tanks...

...“It gets expensive to do this,” said Phil Flynn, an analyst at Alaron Trading Corp. “If you’re sitting on a bunch of oil and you’re stuck paying storage and insurance, and you can’t find a buyer, you may have to sell it at a discount just to get rid of it.”

On the other hand, as storage units on land have filled up, the companies that own the tankers have profited. Tanker companies charge an average of $75,000 a day...

Posted by: Purple Avenger at 09:33 PM | Comments (62)
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Update: As always, YouTube provides, so I've added the clip of China's first atomic weapon test from "Trinity and Beyond" below the fold, along with pushing the related text down so this post didn't become even more of a space hog than it was. Original post below.

Enough grim news for today, so how ‘bout some exploding stuff to brighten up the place tonight?

Over at “SplodeTV.com” they have a heartwarming video in their archives from 2007 titled Lots of Buildings Getting Blowed Up. So it’s practically not old at all. It comes with a danceable soundtrack too…if you’re a Euroweenie that is.

Looks like they found that vid at something called “SonicBomb.com” which surprisingly enough has clips of lots of other things getting blowed up real good (as Dave in South Oklahoma might put it.) Tons and tons (or kilotons) of video. The title of one of their posts intrigued me though. It tells the tale of The Man Who Stuck His Head Into a Particle Accelerator. The subtitle to the article is “A Subatomic Bullet to the Head.” The setup:

As a 36 year old researcher at the Institute for High Energy Physics in Protvino, Anatoli Bugorski used to work with the largest Soviet particle accelerator, the synchrotron U-70. On July 13, 1978, Bugorski was checking a malfunctioning piece of equipment when an accident occurred due to failed safety mechanisms”

“Bugorski was leaning over the piece of equipment when he stuck his head in the part through which the proton beam was running. Reportedly, he saw a flash “brighter than a thousand suns”, but did not feel any pain. The beam measured about 2000 gray when it entered Bugorski’s skull, and about 3000 gray when it exited after colliding with the inside of his head inflicting about five hundred times the presumed lethal dose.”

Bigger explosions below the fold. more...

Posted by: Open Blog at 07:52 PM | Comments (91)
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I dunno. I was never very good at the Dead languages. I'm not even all that proficient in the live ones.

But I'm beginning to think it does mean that. Why?

Because President Obama just hired Alaskan State Senator Kim Elton to serve as Director of Alaskan Affairs at the Interior Department.

Now, if you had never heard of Alaskan State Senator Kim Elton before, you would be in pretty good company. Nothing in Elton's biography is particularly compelling. In fact, were one to characterize Elton as a minor party hack of little to no distinction, one would probably not be far off.

However, Sen. Elton is known for one thing and one thing only. He led the Democratic assault on Governor Sarah Palin for the "Troopergate" scandal that wasn't.

You remember "Troopergate". Governor Palin spent the summer of the election campaign fighting unfounded charges that she had exceeded her authority by firing a renegade, tazer-happy State Trooper. Ultimately she was cleared of any wrongdoing.

And now one of the chief architects of the highly public and unsubstantiated smear job has been awarded a plum job in the Obama administration. Being the "Director of Alaskan Affairs" in Interior is a pretty sweet gig with no real responsibilities. You basically show up around 2:00 PM, call Juneau to make sure the pipeline is still operating, and then bail around 2:15 PM to go thank the Good Lord that you aren't freezing your ass off in Alaska anymore. All while pulling down a salary that would make the hard ass crab fishermen on Deadliest Catch blush.

Now, I don't know that anything was promised last year between the Obama campaign and Sen. Elton. Of course I don't know that anything wasn't either.

I just know that a political rival of Senator Obama's was baselessly smeared and the man who led the charge is now the recipient of a sweet, sweet Administration gig. I report, you decide.

I wonder if he's paid his taxes?

Meanwhile, as the Dow craters and the unemployment rate begins to trickle upwards, Peggy Noonan rests easy knowing that the White House chef will not be asked to learn a recipe in which "moose" serves as a prominent ingredient instead of arugula.

Posted by: Jack M. at 04:39 PM | Comments (354)
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Obama's claiming that he'll "cut" $2 trillion from the budget over ten years.

You don't really think he's going to cut spending, do you?

Of course not.

So here's how he comes up with $1.6 trillion of his $2 trillion in "cuts:" He takes the 2008, peak-of-the-surge cost of the Iraq War as our permanent Iraq War spending baseline. He extends that out ten years -- including goosing it down the line for inflation.

Then he notes that he's ending a war which was actually pretty much ended by our troops (and the Iraqis, too) by defeating Al Qaeda and ending the insurgency.

Then he says, "Hey, man, look -- every year I'm going to be saving money on those Iraq War costs! Count it as a 'cut'!"

Um, yeah.

What the fuck -- am I retarded? Am I giving off a pinhead kinda vibe?

Am I wearing a brightly colored shirt with a silly picture on it and mismatches socks? What?

What am I doing, exactly, to send out the signal that I'm a mental fucking defective?

Watch the video.

As Commentary notes, even by Washington standards, this is "unusually disingenuous."

Why not go further? Within two years, according to Obama's rosy estimates, no further TARP or capital injections into the banking system will be needed. So, if we spent $2 trillion on that this year (let us say), why not say that for the eight years after we recover we'll be "saving" two trillion per year, for a total savings over ten years of $16 trillion? (Plus interest!)

Thanks to Dave @ Garfield Ridge. Oh, and he also sends along this link about that price-leading-to-overestimation-of-a-product's-quality thing I mentioned, in case you need some kind of cite for it.

PS: Obama's cultists are making much of the fact that Obama seeks to put Iraq War costs back into the regular budget. They hail this as an advance for transparency, accountability, and honesty.

That's a lie.

He wants to put the exceptional and temporary costs of the Iraq War into the regular budget so he can fraudulently claim $1.6 trillion in "savings" down the line.

In Related News... The United States has "cut" over $75 trillion from its budgets over the past 230 odd years by not fighting the fucking British every goddamn fucking year.

Posted by: Ace at 03:36 PM | Comments (132)
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Obama's cap and trade scheme will impose a $700-$1400 additional tax on all families as energy producers (and users) pass-through their own higher costs to the public.

Obama plans to devote more taxpayer money to defray these costs for those making $75,000 per year or less.

And those making between $75,000 and $250,000 per year? Noted tax evader Tim Geithner didn't directly answer when questioned about it, only saying that if we wished to combat global warming, we needed to change the "incentive structure" of energy production.

You know, much like noted idiot David Brooks, I'm beginning to wonder if this clean and articulate Obama feller has been completely straight with me.

(No cite; was on Brett Butler's show.)

I'm actually starting to get mildly optimistic about 2010. I think the public is giving Obama a huge amount of leeway, but at some point, the grace period ends.

Vid: At Gateway Pundit. During the campaign, Obama confessed his plan would cause the price of electricity -- his word here -- "to skyrocket."

Thanks to CJ.

There is a psychological principle that kicks in about expensive purchases. If someone pays a lot of money for something, they will have a high interest in claiming their purchase wise and the product sound because they don't want to admit they've been gulled. (Yeah, gulled again -- one of my favorite words. I'm hoping to repopularize it.)

They'll claim it's good, even if it's crap. If they'd paid less money for it they'd have no problem admitting it's crap -- after all, they have no ego to protect in that case. Pay small money for something, no harm in admitting you got what you paid for.

I think that's going on with Obama. The public took a huge chance on this stutterin' prick, and ignored the warnings. They were also bullied by the media into voting for him, and indulged themselves in the media flattery for being so progressively-minded.

And now they're eluctant to admit to themselves they been had. Bamboozled. Run amok.

But at some point people do confront the ill wisdom of a purchase, and at that point, the invective and anger begins flowing.

Posted by: Ace at 02:39 PM | Comments (140)
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As commenters note, Obama's creepy branding is similar to Soviet iconography. Instead of a sickle, a leaf; instead of a hammer, a gear. Instead of the tools of the worker, the fruits of their labor.

Deliberate? Or just some sort of subconscious Jungian attraction to such symbols? Certainly the latter -- they're brazen but not that brazen -- so we can take some small comfort in that.

Incidentally, you can be sure that all the dubious earmarks in the spendulus don't get the logo treatment. The logo will be reserved for the small percentage of less-controversial spending.

A commenter points out this opportunity to share your "Recovery Experience" with President Obama and the world.

Seems like a chance for good solid fun. Share your own stories here -- bonus points if you really post it.

(Not under your real name I hope -- you'll get audited.)

Posted by: Ace at 01:43 PM | Comments (119)
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This is pretty funny -- It's Andy Rooney dialed down to 1 on the interest scale (instead of him swinging for the fences to get all the way up to 4, where we like him).

It's pointless to explain what is said in a clip lasting two minutes-- but I'll note that if someone tried to make small-talk like this face-to-face with you, you'd excuse yourself for the bathroom on bar. How it made its way to a national tv broadcast is puzzling, except, I guess, it's not.

He can do whatever he wants. Even mull the "strangeness" of the spelling of February (which he does in fact spell out, to pad this segment further).

Why, his job is almost as safe and demand-free as Bill Moyers' on PBS.

Thanks to dan-O.

Posted by: Ace at 12:36 PM | Comments (63)
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All must know of Dear Leader's munificence:

Put a stamp on it -- thatÂ’s what the White House says.

President Obama announced today that his administration will begin stamping an emblem on projects funded by the economic stimulus package so that people can easily recognize the effects of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

All projects will be stamped with the ARRA logo (short for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act) and lists the recovery.gov website on the emblem.

In remarks at the Department of Transportation this morning, Mr. Obama referenced the new emblems.

“We’re also making it easier for Americans to see what projects are being funded with their money as part of our recovery. So in the weeks to come, the signs denoting these projects are going to bear the new emblem of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act,” Obama said. “These emblems are symbols of our commitment to you, the American people -- a commitment to investing your tax dollars wisely, to put Americans to work doing the work that needs to be done. So when you see them on projects that your tax dollars made possible, let it be a reminder that our government -- your government -- is doing its part to put the economy back on the road of recovery.”

Thanks to G.

And Check This Out... Our nation's Department of Education, interested solely in educating our children, explains to us what the stimulus package is.

I repeat myself so often but I'm often forced to. So, here goes:

What if George W. Bush had done either of these things?

Thanks to Slublog again.

Just Because... [Slublog] - A more literal interpretation of the stimulus package. more...

Posted by: Ace at 11:27 AM | Comments (264)
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Viva la class warfare!

Camp also complained about provisions that would limit the size of charitable contributions that could be taken by families earning more than $250,000 a year.

But Geithner defended the overall proposal, saying far more people would benefit from lower taxes under the plan. He said the budget reflects what Obama viewed as "a deep moral imperative to make our society more just. But it's very good economic policy too. It will mean there is again a fairer, more equitably shared tax burden on the vast majority of Americans."

Posted by: Slublog at 11:25 AM | Comments (39)
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