Cold again. Probably just cool and damp later, but cold this am. We got drizzle yesterday, despite the weather liars at openweathermap.org assuring me that we would not. The national forecast had us in the rain zone. It wasn’t bad really, or long, and as I headed north I was back in sunglasses pretty quickly.
Gas prices are rising pretty quickly even here in Texas. Markets are pretty distorted, and demand is all over the place. I don’t see any reason for it to get better anytime soon, and lots of reasons for it to get worse.
In fact, that sums up my outlook on pretty much any subject at the moment. I don’t think sanity and practicality are going to break out. I see a doubling down on the insanity instead. And I see it building to a head, and then coming apart kinetically.
Now some people around here have chided me (in the spirit of goodwill, I believe) that I was too negative- “the end is nigh” ” the end is nigh-er”… but I don’t think it’s “the end” that’s nigh, but a massive disruption, a massive change in pretty much everything, except human nature. I did not know the mechanism, but pestilence, war, and famine are always good bets. Current world events seem to be supportive of that belief, if not yet settling on the mechanism. And don’t forget to embrace the power of ‘and’ when it comes to mechanism.
I find myself wondering if I was negative enough. My recent lull in prepping and lack of enthusiasm in the face of everything would seem to indicate that I wasn’t taking it seriously. Well, now we seem to be at the elbow of the curve for a lot of things, food prices, gas prices, violence, and I’m feeling a bit anxious that I let too much time slip away.
If you are feeling that too, I think we need to shake it off, take the time we have and USE it. Anything that improves our position is worth it, with any prep being better than none. I’m still living by my requirement that nothing I do can be irrevocable, but I’m willing to burn a bridge or two if I have to now. Nations are starting to do the same. Several have now announced bans on export of food, or fertilizer, or fuel. If shortages are coming, nations and people are acting to secure their own needs first. I recommend doing the same. DON’T be that guy, faced with empty shelves, crying “why didn’t you leave any for me?”
Unless you are someone’s minor child or legal ward, no one has any obligation to put your needs ahead of their own. That is not the way many of us are used to thinking of the world, or even living our lives, but that is the base reality. No one is coming to save you. Plan to save yourself. After that, if it’s what you want, plan to save others.
All of it is a lot easier with stacks of needful things. Get busy.
n
45F and raining cats and dogs. At least it's not frogs.
Thunder and lightning too.
Gauge says 0.36 since it reset, so all that this morning. I don't think it's been raining long.
Radar map clearly shows the cell moving thru, and a whole bunch that are almost formed headed our way. It was passing over Sugar Land at ~530.
n
https://www.zerohedge.com/energy/first-russia-warns-it-could-cut-gas-supplies-europe-nord-stream-1
n
No, it was an immediate sudden complete failure. Total separation. Hose completely disconnected and when it did so pointed itself through the door into the bedroom. Like spraying a garden hose in the bedroom.
Sucked most of the water up but carpet was still wet. At least no water was oozing under my feet. Put a large fan on the carpet overnight and this morning the carpet is still damp. Dried out a lot last night. The carpet will probably be dry by the end of the day.
I will be calling my insurance agent and see what he thinks. I am hoping I can just inform him what happened and hold off on an adjuster until we get back from the trip as I doubt an adjuster would be here today. But what do I know?
Plumber is arriving today to replace the water heater. I am also getting a nasty gram in the mail from the IRS according to the email from the post office that shows what I am getting in the mail.
This is not turning out to be a good week.
Leaving tomorrow on our Texas trip which was planned four months ago when gas prices were lower. A 3,000 mile trip so I am expecting to $1,000.00, or more in just fuel charges. Did I mention that this week sucks.
Da Buttplug has solved the gas crisis:
‘Help me make sense of this’: Allow Pete Buttigieg to explain how you can avoid being hit by rising gas prices
Our goobermint will kill us.
The local Faux News had a brief piece last night about the first cars rolling out of the Gigafactory yesterday, possibly signalling the start of manufacturing in the facility. At least, Tesla parked a few vehicles just outside the building's doors.
"Just in time to help deal with rising gas prices …"
Why does everyone assume electricity is going to remain relatively cheap?
Will all of the copies of Mayor Pete's husband's book carried on the shelves at the soon-to-be-closing Amazon bookstores get returned to the publisher or pulped?
I’m guessing Mayor Pete gets to keep the royalties.
Our goobermint will kill us.
–finally the penny drops.
n
Oh hooray. Most of the front seems to have passed us, and there doesn't seem to be much forming up after all.
Sun might even poke thru the overcast…
Gauge says 0,42 in.
n
Re: High gas prices.
We are going to Disney World in June, so the gas price increases are inconvenient. It's a 10 hour drive for us. I am renting a car, as none of our vehicles are comfortable for 3 adults for a long trip (heck, even a short trip). I've got a decent deal through Avis for a minivan rental for around $630 for a week. We take 2 days to drive down, but drive back in one day.
Taking into account the cost of the rental, gas, and one night hotel room, we could fly down on Spirit airlines for around $400 more, which includes transportation to and from the airport. I'll still drive, as flying is such a miserable experience now. I'll still fly, but only when driving is not reasonable. 10 hours is right around the limit.
If gas prices double, it definitely won't be welcomed, but I'm not cancelling the trip. It's still a small percentage of the overall cost. Maybe the interstates will be less crowded?
The wife and I might start carpooling when I have to go into the office since our offices are within 3 miles of each other. The biggest inconvenience is I have to adjust my work schedule around hers.
Ah, the rumblings on social media the last couple of months about higher electricity costs, or put in their terms, "my light bill doubled!" I have so far resisted posting a suggestion that they turn off half of their lights…
Paying bills last night, I noticed that the lid has come off the paper price of gold, GLD, which someone has been suppressing for two years, since the start of the pandemic, but, really, the manipulation has been going on for much longer.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10585787/Scientists-16-Covid-genes-raise-risk-falling-critically-ill.html
— the most obvious and straightforward application is barely mentioned, screening for the presence of the genes BEFORE people get sick to identify levels of risk.
n
I really don't like to fly anymore, for any reason. Since I am retired a few days spent on the road is not a big deal. Factoring in the cost of hotels and fuel it would have to be a few hundred dollars less expensive to fly, as in the 4-digit range. When I was working a couple of days on the road was a huge concern with vacation time. Not anymore. Traveling to Europe, which is about all we will fly anymore, is the only time I will fly. When the MIL was alive the wife would fly out every three months or so to deal with issues. But her now being an orphan that is not an issue.
The airport closest to me, Knoxville, is expensive. Unless one wants to fly to Orlando on a cut rate airline. Travel anywhere else and that airport is expensive. The airlines in Knoxville cater to the government workers with the three big nuclear facilities and Alcoa headquarters. When people fly on the company dime cost is not an issue.
As an example the last trip we took to Europe. Flying out of Knoxville the cost was $2,300 a person round trip. Flight went from Knoxville to Atlanta, then on to Europe. Flying out of Atlanta on the same flight to Europe the cost was $1,500 a person round trip. Atlanta is a 4.5 hour trip to the Airport, parking is $10.00 a day with an airport shuttle.
The cost to use the Knoxville airport is $1,600 more for the two of us to fly to Europe. For $400.00 with a $100.00 tip I could get an Uber driver to take us to Atlanta. Another $400.00 plus $100.00 tip for a ride back. I would still save $600.00. Any Uber driver would be thrilled to get $100.00 plus what Uber pays for the day for a single trip consisting of probably 10 hours.
@Lynn: https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2022/03/russia-mulls-legalizing-software-piracy-as-its-cut-off-from-western-tech/
You may not have to worry about your Russian customers paying.
The vaccine agenda must be met. Fauci must have his AIDS jab before he assumes room temperature.
Meanwhile, in Euro-land, did anyone notice that the euro and the dollar are almost at parity?
Couple of years ago, that was the harbinger of the end of the Eurozone…
Now, no one cares.
n
Yikes, popo on the scanner are canvassing a neighborhood looking for a guy who "cuts women up with a box cutter."
n
Despite everything going on, Americans still buy a lot of cr*p, and now even the "woke" companies in the US like Apple are ordering their employees back to offices at least part of the week so no more working in jammies.
The problem with taking a cut rate airline to Orlando before going elsewhere is a delay that results in a missed connection. Allegiant is about to compound their issues with Spirit's mess.
What carbon tax? A handful of states in the NE plus CA have them.
Nothing is moving through Congress, and Biden won't get new taxes via EO without lawsuits.
Does Biden want Speaker Trump?
(For the nitpickers, the Speaker does not have to be a member of the House. Read your Constitution.)
Carpet is drying out. Several hours of high-speed fans is doing the job. Called the insurance company. I have to have someone come out for an assessment then apply to the insurance company to cover the repairs. The company said I could wait until I get back without affecting the claim.
Replaced the hose to the toilet, simple repair, once I found the correct hose at Ace Hardware. Lot of different lengths and sized fittings on the ends.
Currently draining the water heater and the water lines in the house. Water heater is in the garage and all the lines are in the basement and garage ceiling. Told the plumber I would drain the lines to speed up the installation process.
Nastygram from the IRS that was supposed to be in the email according to the USPS on Monday and Tuesday did not arrive. Maybe Wednesday. Of course I am leaving that day so responding may take some time.
Sucked most of the water up but carpet was still wet. At least no water was oozing under my feet. Put a large fan on the carpet overnight and this morning the carpet is still damp. Dried out a lot last night. The carpet will probably be dry by the end of the day.
You may need a dehumidifier for that room. "Something Restoration Services" may have one you can rent.
Nothing is moving through Congress, and Biden won't get new taxes via EO without lawsuits.
Does Biden want Speaker Trump?
(For the nitpickers, the Speaker does not have to be a member of the House. Read your Constitution.)
The Carbon Taxes will be fines in the Clean Air Act. They have been planning these for over 20 years now. The carbon tax will start off "reasonable" and double every year.
Will all of the copies of Mayor Pete's husband's book carried on the shelves at the soon-to-be-closing Amazon bookstores get returned to the publisher or pulped?
I’m guessing Mayor Pete gets to keep the royalties.
All ebooks. The tortured electrons will be returned to the void.
No, these were physical copies of the book sitting on the shelf.
I also saw the book at Bookpeople in Austin-Bergstrom Airport around this time last year, but that is a small local chain. The unsold copies probably went back to the publisher.
@Rick, the right side calender, recent posts, recent comments section are now below the postings (but on the right side, not the middle or the left side).
I am using FireFox 64 bit on Windows 10 x64 Pro.
@lynn – don't see that on my Win 11 system, Firefox version 97.0.2 (64-bit version). Sidebar is in the proper place for me.
And I just updated to the latest Firefox (98.0), still no issues.
Updated: this happens if the screen width is narrower, though. So, not a browser issues, but a ‘viewport’ (screen width) issue.
I’ll take a look for the needed CSS changes.
@lynn, when I zoom too much that stuff gets moved to the bottom of the page. Adjust your window width, and your scroll zoom, until you get it back.
n
rearranging my workweek again. client tomorrow as the forecast has less rain, and I've got outdoor work to do.
so auction stuff today.
n
There is no end to this administrations gaslighting:
Joe Biden gaslights on gas prices, claims ‘it’s simply not true that’ his admin is stifling US energy production — and promptly heads for the hills [videos]
Blame COVID! Blame the Rooskies! tRump, tho! Gee, cripple US fossil fuel production, and it's YOUR fault, plugsy.
I don't see it — macOS 64 bit Firefox 98.0.
macOS Monterey.
The only other machine I have handy is my work laptop, and, per policy, I have to be careful about anything non-company related at this job, especially browsing what could be interpreted as “hate” speech.
Update: fixed, I think. via a CSS media query on smaller viewports (width of the browser screen) to adjust the width and positioning of the sidebar.
On smaller screens, the sidebar will move under the post/comment area, and is now also properly placed for smaller screens.
Changes will be added permanently to the next version of the theme (in progress). Next version will have CKEditor5, which should fix most input issues with smaller screens and other devices. According to their docs.
Apple announced its Mac Studio 'puter today. The M1 Ultra version could actually capture back film makers. Looks powerful. And expensive. Family ticket to Elysium with that puppy.
No one else can buy high end GPUs offering similar capability in quantity at that price neighborhood right now thanks to the bitcoin mining dweebs.
Where I currently work, it is becoming a problem for new product planning.
@lynn – don't see that on my Win 11 system, Firefox version 97.0.2 (64-bit version). Sidebar is in the proper place for me.
And I just updated to the latest Firefox (98.0), still no issues.
Updated: this happens if the screen width is narrower, though. So, not a browser issues, but a ‘viewport’ (screen width) issue.
I’ll take a look for the needed CSS changes.
Thanks ! Yup, works fine on my Office PC running Windows 10 x64 Pro with Firefox. I will widen my browser window at the house.
It got up to 48 F at the house and the office and now looks like it is reversing. ERCOT is hanging in there well. I cannot believe that Solar is making 6,700 MW on this dreary day.
https://www.ercot.com/gridmktinfo/dashboards/
Leaving tomorrow on our Texas trip which was planned four months ago when gas prices were lower. A 3,000 mile trip so I am expecting to $1,000.00, or more in just fuel charges. Did I mention that this week sucks.
The most important thing is that you can buy fuel at a price level. I remember the crude oil markets very well after the 1973 Yom Kippur war. Sitting in gas lines forever. Before the war, gasoline was 29 cents/gallon in the Houston area, during the Arab Oil Embargo, gasoline got up to 60 cents/gallon. And then we were running out.
My family moved to London for the summer of 1973. We lived in a huge four or five story apartment complex that had a ragged playground in the center of it. The electricity was on and off all the time, at least daily from 3pm to 5pm or 6pm. Played havoc with Mom making supper. They rarely cut the electricity to the tube as I would ride down the Piccadilly a couple of days a week to see what was new in the bookstores.
They changed the gas pumps in London from pence per imperial gallons (120% of US gallon) to pence per liters that summer. Dad would rent a Ford Pinto and the five of us would adventure into the countryside on the weekends. We climbed all over Stonehenge and many other places, looking at the name carvings in the stones, some from almost a thousand years before that we could not read. Somewhere I have a picture of me standing on the top of one of the vertical stones.
We came back to more gas lines in Houston in late August. It was a mess. Saudi Arabia and Iraq cut the USA and Europe off from crude oil. Italy still got oil from their pipelines to Syria. Our friend the Shah of Iran increased his crude shipments to the USA from 3 million barrels/day to five million barrels/day for $1/barrel. Later when he was sick in 1979, Jimmy Carter would give him the shaft. His nephew went to TAMU with me, super smart guy. They cut off his funding after the revolution and told him to come home (he showed me the letter), there was no way.
@Lynn: https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2022/03/russia-mulls-legalizing-software-piracy-as-its-cut-off-from-western-tech/
You may not have to worry about your Russian customers paying.
I had notices from my website this morning about somebody in Albania using a cracked version of my software. My software detected illegal usage, sent me a message, and then crashed as per design. I get messages just about every day.
I have been accused of crashing people's PCs and trashing their hard drives when my software crashes on purpose. I don't do that. That is unethical and illegal here in Texas.
Update: fixed, I think. via a CSS media query on smaller viewports (width of the browser screen) to adjust the width and positioning of the sidebar.
On smaller screens, the sidebar will move under the post/comment area, and is now also properly placed for smaller screens.
Changes will be added permanently to the next version of the theme (in progress). Next version will have CKEditor5, which should fix most input issues with smaller screens and other devices. According to their docs.
Thanks !
Programmers ! Bunch of crowing roosters making noise about little changes that barely work. We shall see about the new editor. At least it cannot be worse than the present one (famous last words).
Wait, I am a programmer.
"Russia warns of $300 oil, threatens to cut off European gas if West bans energy imports"
https://www.cnbc.com/2022/03/08/russia-warns-of-300-oil-if-ban-goes-ahead-threatens-to-cut-off-european-gas.html
Hat tip to:
https://www.drudgereport.com/
I am fairly sure that Biden will be pumping more oil out of the USA Strategic Petroleum Reserve. More for show than effect as that oil is super heavy and very sour (sulfur). But the Gulf Coast refineries can process that oil just fine.
https://www.energy.gov/fecm/strategic-petroleum-reserve-9
Nice to have the sidebar back on the side.
Just solar or does the number include any gas generator backup at those facilities?
Home Depot/Asian market run at lunch.
A "Church Lady Without A Church" personality type stopped me while I loaded salt into a cart for my water softener. "Sir, you want to use these (pointing to bags of crystals) for melting ice."
"Thanks, but I actually need this (pointing to bags of pellets) for my … water softener! Really!"
Male. Went off in a semi huff. Men are the worst Church Ladies.
Walking out, I saw a Washington plate on a car and made the connection. WA State/OR has lots of that personality type, usually the natives or near natives.
My favorite admonishment was about my soda habit, usually as I loaded bottles into my car. “That pop isn’t good for you.”
“Isn’t this the state that legalized weed? That isn’t good for you either … don’t ya know.”
Gotta wonder what that place is like now with legalized possession of small quantities of heroin, crack, and meth just across the river in Portlandia.
Rice was $35 per 25 lb bag at H Mart. Geesh. The last time I topped off the bin, it was $28 for the same size bags in … December?
Why does everyone assume electricity is going to remain relatively cheap?
http://www.energyogre.com has warned me that my house contract is getting ready to change from 9 cents/kwh to 13 cents/kwh. I am not impressed as we move into the major cooling season. Of course, I was running the heat in our bedroom last night and in the kitchen area.
Guess what happens Saturday night ?
Yes, it is your favorite time of the year, SPRING FORWARD. We lose an hour of sleep at 2am.
Church on Sunday morning at 830am is going to be tough.
Allowing for exchange and conversion from litres, I'm paying 4.588/gal for gas today in the Great White North. That's close to the cheapest in the country right now.
Meh. FALL BACK + SPRING FORWARD = 0. You're just giving back that hour you got in November. 🙂
It is the favorite weekend of the year for the people running restaurants and bars on the Gulf Coast of Florida, including the Keys.
The week after the time change last March was beautiful. We usually stay at this place.
https://tween-waters.com/beach-cam/
Yeah, it really is like that. About 75-80 degree daytime highs unless a cold front comes through.
The Keys are nice, but they aren’t the only places in Florida to watch sunsets.
AT&T is installing fiber in the neighborhood, finally.
Yesterday they ruptured a gas line at a neighbor's house, and used their GPS to get the address when they phoned the fire department.
The GPS gave my address.
Some unexpected excitement followed. All is well now, though.
I demand compensation for that hour !
My ISP's promise to come "next week with him, his brother, and the new hire to solve my connection" seem to be hot air.
They didn't show. There has been no contact, not even "we'll be there on X day".
The deal is you get Plan at the Ethernet port from the antenna. Anything after that is your problem. Seems fair.
I'm supposed to be getting 30 down and 10 up. I'm getting 15 to 27 down and around .5 to .75 up. Use to get about 33 down and 8 up when the plan was 25/5. Shrug.
It's making me feel like a fool. They had a deal a few months ago. Pay for X months and get X time free. Oh, and a speed boost for a while that I didn't see. But one day the offer was the same but "pay today and get double free time".
How can I pass that up? Pay for a year and get four months free? Just a mere $368 credit to the account.
Yeah, I bit. Buffalo Nickle was pleased.
Anyway. He says he can talk to the radio at 300 Mbps. So if the radio is working properly, in and out, the problem is the Ethernet cable from the radio to the power supply. Or the power supply. I connected a laptop directly to the POE, I get the same speed test results as I get from this PC. My LAN isn't the problem.
The connection is working fine for the Roku. <—That stops a LOT of complaining.
Today I looked a bit at Starlink. Sucky web site. Pay $99 to reserve your equipment. Refundable. When your equipment is ready, $499 plus $50 shipping plus sales tax. $99 a month for 100 to 200 or more download and maybe 20 or so for upload.
I'm not seeing a downside here. Take my $368 free time, apply that to the almost $600 (with shipping and tax) to get Starlink and then pay $99 plus tax a month for FOUR times the speed I'm paying $92/month?
I'm giving the local company until July to fix my connection and then I'm calling sunk costs and walking.
Three years plus of "supporting the local company" is enough.
Allowing for exchange and conversion from litres, I'm paying 4.588/gal for gas today in the Great White North. That's close to the cheapest in the country right now.
That is cheap! In the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), I would pay $5.496 USD/US Gallon for regular. Of course I chose to drive an Audi (fun, but not cheap) that wants at least octane 91, so yesterday I paid $6.185 USD ($7.93 CDN)
Eh, high gas prices are the cost of doing business. You want to punch a guy hard in the face, you need to expect to have bleeding knuckles at the least. As for the nuclear war worries, let Vlad the Poisoner give that order. His chain of command would have to agree to execute an order that would result in the deaths of everyone they love to satisfy his bruised ego. His own people will shoot him (committed suicide by shooting himself in the back of the head, 5 times, is the current joke doing the rounds). It probably makes sense to give him a way out of the mess he has made, I just have no idea how to do that without making it appear to be a reward for invading. That sends the wrong message to Putin, and especially to Xi. (Here's hoping Taiwan has received, and paid for as they can afford it, a whole lot of Stingers). Interesting times.
@paul – remember that Dr. P. used to say that 90% of computer issues are cables. I usually added "the other 90% are users". (see https://www.jerrypournelle.com/chaosmanor/pournelles-law/ )
Assume you have replaced the Ethernet cable from radio to power supply with a quality cable.
Dr. P is right. But, no. The Ethernet cable from the radio to the power supply is coming down a 40 foot push up mast.
Said wire was replaced a few years ago by the prior ISP. About seven years ago.
The current ISP install fools dropped the mast and replaced nothing but the radio on the mast. What a deal. $250 for installation and jeebus, I'm the bad guy somehow.
Oh. A tidbit. That I'm sure the Master Account Agreement will change any day now…. If you don't pay, you'll be turned off and it's a $30 charge to re-connect.
I'm not seeing a down side. If the ISP doesn't see fit to actually fix my problem, I can simply not pay them. If Starlink sucks, I can pay the $30 to turn my radio back on.
Green Acres…..
Oh. A tidbit. That I'm sure the Master Account Agreement will change any day now…. If you don't pay, you'll be turned off and it's a $30 charge to re-connect.
I'm not seeing a down side. If the ISP doesn't see fit to actually fix my problem, I can simply not pay them. If Starlink sucks, I can pay the $30 to turn my radio back on.
Green Acres…..
SpaceX just sent three plane loads of Starlink receivers to Ukraine. I have no idea how much production that represents for them.
I would not plan on seeing a receiver for several months.
Anyway. He says he can talk to the radio at 300 Mbps. So if the radio is working properly, in and out, the problem is the Ethernet cable from the radio to the power supply. Or the power supply. I connected a laptop directly to the POE, I get the same speed test results as I get from this PC. My LAN isn't the problem.
The connection is working fine for the Roku. <—That stops a LOT of complaining.
I think that Roku boxes have an enormous amount of fault detection and recovery in them. It is not just big buffers.
That said, out of the Netflix, Disney+, Hulu, Amazon, IMDB, Paramount, Fubo, and AMC streaming services, Netflix is hands down the best one as far as dealing with streaming issues.
@paul — well, if it was my place, I'd "drop the mast" and replace the cable. Plus some spray cleaner of the contacts at both ends. Then check the download/upload. If it improves, finish new cable installation with tie-wraps.
Maybe even put the new cable inside a small-diameter plastic pipe with drip-drops at each end, to reduce moisture on the cable. Or even seal both ends with silicone sealant. Then un-drop the mast.
In the meantime, I'd sign up for StarLink.
But that's just me troubleshooting from hundreds of miles away with no knowledge of the site installation.
But that's just me troubleshooting from hundreds of miles away with no knowledge of the site installation.
I think it is the 70 lb proto velociraptor that he has walking around the place. She sounds scary to me !
"Flashback: Trump Warns Gas will Be $7+ if Biden Elected (VIDEO)"
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2022/03/flashback-trump-warns-gas-will-7-biden-elected-video/
Trump was right !
Correlation does not equal causation. Not to mention consideration of the source of that article.
Not to mention consideration of the source of that article.
— Rick are you really saying you believe the video to be fake, due to it being on Gateway Pundit?
or is it just a thoughtless knee jerk reaction to the URL?
n
My electricity provider at my house just sent me an email and said that they are going out of business tomorrow. Looks like my account will be thrown in the pool, the group of accounts to be double charged in ERCOT (the spot market).
It didn't matter.
Yeah, Biden. Trump tho.
(Always spell it t-h-o)
The people most affected by $7 gas are the Biden voters living in the suburbs of DC and the tech hubs restarting their commutes in the next month. This is also the first tax year that failure to restore the SALT deduction will really start to hit home in a few weeks. Ah well, another foolish political choice as the old schoolmarm in the Chief Justice robes puts it.
Here’s the thing. Trump. I’m jus’ sayin’.
Yes, we know. Orange Man bad.
Maybe Trump was able to read a headline.
Always a bit of a challenge, with "a bit of a" meaning "an often insurmountable".
IMHO, the reasoning that Biden 'caused' gas prices to be the price as mentioned is not valid.
Biden did not cause Putin to invade the Ukraine. That invasion, and the subsequent bans on Russian oil, along with monetary limits on Russian funds, is the impetus behind the increase in OPEC pricing, which, to my understanding, are world-wide.
I was not saying the video is false. I am saying the conclusion (implied by the headline) that 'Biden caused gas prices to increase' to the current levels is a false assumption as to the cause of the gas price increases.
I am also saying that the source (Gateway Pundit), a (very) right-leaning publication, and therefore inclined to blame Biden (and support Trump), is basing an (implied) conclusion on it being Biden's fault is biased.
There may be some gas price increase based on Biden energy policies, but those policies did not cause the big increase in gas prices the past 1-2 weeks. For instance, I am not convinced that if the Keystone Pipeline was built that it would have had much effect right now – when was the projected implementation date of oil flowing through the Keystone Pipeline?
Any effect of Biden administration energy policies would have been felt long before the Russian invasion, I'd think.
The headline LITERALLY says "Trump Warns Gas will Be $7+ if Biden Elected."
The video shows Trump saying that exact thing.
That is pretty straightforward and has nothing to do with political bias, except the willingness to point it out.
Gas prices have been rising since bidn took office so his policy and stated beliefs about what direction his administration would take HAVE already impacted gas prices.
He told Putin that a little bit of an invasion would be ok with him and the US. His public stance certainly factored into Putin's decision making.
n
Correlation does not equal causation. Not to mention consideration of the source of that article.
In this case, correlation is causation. The source of the article is a video on the campaign trail.
Biden has done exactly what he said he would do on the campaign trail. Trump called him on it. Biden is now running away from the consequences.
Biden has done many things to destroy to fossil fuel industries in the USA. He is well down that path. I could enumerate them for you if needful.
plugsy McSpongeBrain and the ProgLibTurds have made it their mission for all Americans to suffer. Couldn't we have a nice slow transition to fart and solar power? Why kill fossil fuels before fart and solar are viable to support a nation of 300+ million? Also against ANY nuclear power except weapons. Ya think plugsy is driving electric vehicles?
Any effect of Biden administration energy policies would have been felt long before the Russian invasion, I'd think.
The price of gasoline was up a dollar since Biden took office before the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Up a full dollar per gallon !
For an incompetent with an incompetent administration, Biden has been very busy. Things he has done:
1. Canceled the final leg of the Keystone XL pipeline. The northern leg and southern legs were complete. The 800,000 ? barrels per day of tar sand oil is being carried across the border by oil trains, horribly inefficient.
2. Made all banks declare their oil related loans to the FDIC. If the oil related loans are above a certain percentage, the bank is declared insolvent.
3. All energy related projects must complete a carbon dioxide portion of their application to FERC. This amount of CO2 production will become the future limit of all production. This is being litigated at SCOTUS now.
I could go on and on about the changes since Biden became president.
Regarding Keystone XL: the Premier Kenney of Alberta is asking if the US (meaning President Biden) would reconsider allowing that pipeline to proceed. He claims it could be in operation by the first quarter of 2023. I think (though I have no experience at all in such projects or knowledge of what remains to be done) the date is wildly optimistic as large projects tend to have large problems. Still, let's say operational sometime in 2023. Good for Alberta (supplier), good for US (consumer), bad for Russia (less demand for their oil). I am somewhat neutral on Keystone XL, but to the extent that this is another thumb in Putin's eye, I favour it.
(I am expecting a comment about "Canadian warmongers" and our pitiful military. Not an unjustified criticism. I will say that deterring the USSR kept me from being drafted to fight WW3 in Europe in the 1970s/early-80s. Putin is following a very familiar pattern and it is better to stop him now at Kiev than later at Warsaw or Vilnius.)
You will note the Canadian Prime Minister, Trudeau, has not asked about Keystone XL. He has support from the center-left in Canada (and hardly any support in Alberta) and will gain nothing from Alberta voters if he asks and hear a howl of dismay from his supporters.
Do you have $7 gas in the US? Not yet. I am pretty close to that in Canada (earlier post). As I noted, you can't punch someone without expecting to damage your fists. For the time being, I will without complaint (though not happily) pay high gas prices. Happening under Biden? Maybe. Biden's fault? Tough for a Canadian to blame the US President for a war in Ukraine started by Russia.
>> Why does everyone assume electricity is going to remain relatively cheap?
I'm waiting…in the meantime we just sold our 2015 Mazda to Carmax and are in the process of purchasing another 2018 Leaf.
Used car market still strange…over the past two weeks their offer went up $1,400 (despite the gas prices) and the price of the Leaf, had we not immediately put a deposit on it, would have gone up $1250. Number of used Leafs at reasonable prices has really gone down across all the players (Carmax, Carvana, Vroom, etc).
Also done for now with Carvana – the number of stories I see about their doc handling issues (issuing multiple temp tags, unable to provide titles for months and months) is scary.
Oil trains with cars manufactured and sold/leased by Warren Buffett.
Read all about it here. The Gecko is shameless.
https://berkshirehathaway.com/letters/letters.html
Disclaimer: I own the stock, enough to get a print copy of the letter every year.
If the engine isn't turbo-ed and the car has factory original paint on all of the surfaces they'll resell a seven year old Mazda fast. Plus, Carmax is competing with Carvana which is still playing with private equity money IIRC.
Which model?
That last line is a lie, btw. I used to pay $18 now paying ~$26iirc for the multipack at costco. The packaging also brags "wider roll" when they previously reduced the width.
n
thats a lotta transactions.
n
Regarding Keystone XL: the Premier Kenney of Alberta is asking if the US (meaning President Biden) would reconsider allowing that pipeline to proceed. He claims it could be in operation by the first quarter of 2023. I think (though I have no experience at all in such projects or knowledge of what remains to be done) the date is wildly optimistic as large projects tend to have large problems. Still, let's say operational sometime in 2023. Good for Alberta (supplier), good for US (consumer), bad for Russia (less demand for their oil). I am somewhat neutral on Keystone XL, but to the extent that this is another thumb in Putin's eye, I favour it.
Dude, you spelled favor with an extra u. Very proper British.
The Keystone XL pipeline from the Alberta Tar Sands Project to the Canadian border is complete. The Keystone XL pipeline from Nebraska to the Cushing terminal in OK is done. So just the section from Nebraska to the Canadian border, about 500 miles, has to be completed. The pipe sections are there, the pipe welders are not. They need 8,000 welders for a year IIRC.
The tar sands oil is moving into the USA, it is just inefficient, meaning the oil has to loaded on trains, sent across the border about 500 miles, and unloaded. And Mr. Buffet gets a cut.
"‘I just wanted to play Duck Hunt with my kids’: the man on a mission to bring back the light gun"
https://www.theguardian.com/games/2022/mar/07/duck-hunt-light-gun
Ok, that is cool. I used to love playing Duck Hunt in the bars.
"Aaron Rodgers, Packers agree to terms on four-year, $200M extension"
https://www.nfl.com/news/aaron-rodgers-packers-agree-to-terms-on-four-year-200m-deal
"Green Bay is putting its money where its mouth is, agreeing with the 38-year-old Rodgers on a four-year extension worth $200 million, including $153 million in guaranteed money, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported Tuesday. The deal makes Rodgers the highest-paid player in NFL history on an annual basis while also reducing his salary-cap number for 2022."
Wow ! Well that makes Deshaun Watson worth a lot more unless he is sitting in a jail cell.
Hat tip to:
https://www.drudgereport.com/
Keep that in mind as the election heats up in Florida and you see DeSantis hit pieces on WPLG out of Miami.
One guess as to who owns the station.
Dude, you spelled favor with an extra u. Very proper British.
None of that sloppy dropping of vowels. Revolutionary behavior and the Queen may not approve. (A labour of love uncoloured by any negative feelings for my neighbours to the south. Or is that "soth"?) Both spellings (with or without the "u") get used up here.
The Keystone XL pipeline from the Alberta Tar Sands Project to the Canadian border is complete. The Keystone XL pipeline from Nebraska to the Cushing terminal in OK is done. So just the section from Nebraska to the Canadian border, about 500 miles, has to be completed. The pipe sections are there, the pipe welders are not. They need 8,000 welders for a year IIRC.
The tar sands oil is moving into the USA, it is just inefficient, meaning the oil has to loaded on trains, sent across the border about 500 miles, and unloaded. And Mr. Buffet gets a cut.
Canadians are very aware of the amount of oil being moved by rail. It complicates an already very busy rail system that is needed to move grain to market. Cost to transport by rail reduces revenues to the companies mining that oil. A pipeline is much preferred both for cost reduction and safety reasons (oil-bearing train blew up and wiped out a small town in Quebec a couple of years ago – oil burns VERY hot). The environmentalists don't like pipelines so problems on both sides of the border, though for Keystone XL it is all on the US side. (Thanks for the updates on status of construction).
"US Policy: Cheer Ukrainians On — and Keep Us Out!"
https://buchanan.org/blog/us-policy-cheer-ukrainians-on-and-keep-us-out-159159
"Did Ukraine’s trolling for membership in NATO trigger Putin’s war?"
"Friday’s Wall Street Journal writes:"
"“The Russian invasion of Ukraine resulted from two immense strategic blunders, (Russian historian) Robert Service says. The first came on Nov. 10, when the U.S. and Ukraine signed a Charter on Strategic Partnership, which asserted America’s support for Kyiv’s right to pursue membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. The pact made it likelier than ever that Ukraine would eventually join NATO — an intolerable prospect for Vladimir Putin. ‘It was the last straw,’ Mr. Service says. Preparations immediately began for Russia’s so-called special military operation in Ukraine.”"
Yup. I am sorry to say that Ukraine poked the bear and got bitten.
Watson is still under contract, but he'll probably go cheap. Lovie is going to be the fall guy.
Lovie was fired coach walking the day he was hired for the top job.
Watson is still under contract, but he'll probably go cheap. Lovie is going to be the fall guy.
Lovie was fired coach walking the day he was hired for the top job.
Nah, Deshaun Watson is the problem of the General Manager. Lovie's problems are the players who are cleared to play. Lovie cannot hire and fire. However, Watson may actually get read the riot act by Lovie who could bring him back into the fold (and needs him).
More gang violence reported as gun violence.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10590715/Six-teens-charged-murder-school-shooting-killed-boy-wounded-two-girls.html
My guess anyway. Wonder how many are 'dreamers'?
The suspects were identified on Tuesday as, 17; Nyang Chamdual, 14; Manuel Buezo, 16; Romero Perdomo, 16; Alex Perdomo, 15, and Henry Valladares-Amaya
n
Jameis Winston was Lovie Smith's reclamation project with the Yucs, drafted with Jimbo's assurances that everything would work out well.
Smith has nothing to lose making a second run at that project.
I'm sure it's just her wide appeal, and not some attempt at bribery or influence of an elected official. Because that would be a crime. Like her outfit.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-10590767/Kamala-Harris-stepdaughter-Ella-Emhoff-shows-abs-Paris-Fashion-Week.html
n
"UPDATED: Navy Recovers Crashed F-35C From Depths of South China Sea"
https://news.usni.org/2022/03/03/navy-recovers-crashed-f-35c-from-depths-of-south-china-sea
"Navy salvage crews operating from a commercial salvage ship have recovered the F-35C Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter that suffered a ramp strike on the deck of USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70 and crashed into the South China Sea, a U.S. 7th Fleet spokesman confirmed to USNI News on Thursday."
My uncle was very concerned about having to eject from an A-4 landing on a carrier. His shoulders are 24 inches wide and the cockpit is 18 inches wide. He figured that he would leave at least one shoulder in the plane so he might as well stay with the plane no matter what.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10591269/How-Putins-war-Ukraine-affect-budget-American-food-costs-set-rise.html
–the damage has ALREADY been done. The results are underway, and any further conflict and disruption will make them worse.
n
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10591269/How-Putins-war-Ukraine-affect-budget-American-food-costs-set-rise.html
Dadgum, all those Mountain House #10 cans are gone off Big River. Sure am glad I bought a couple of them.
https://www.amazon.com/Mountain-House-Spaghetti-Survival-Emergency/dp/B083XHMB98?tag=ttgnet-20/
Some of the individual packets are still available.
https://www.amazon.com/Mountain-House-Classic-Spaghetti-Backpacking/dp/B084P1XXGV/
I figure that they all taste like crap but they are calories in an emergency. Probably taste better than bark off a tree.
Do you have $7 gas in the US? Not yet.
— not everywhere but in some wheres… like in Cali. Of course they could rescind the heavy taxes at the pump but they still won't shave $4 off the price…
https://www.zerohedge.com/commodities/absolutely-out-control-gas-hits-4-gallon-first-time-2008
n
Lynn, I have known a now-retired A-4 pilot for a long time. I once watched him do some extreme solo maneuvers in an air show. He was not young then, and younger pilots cheered wildly. Even the audience was impressed, although most did not fully understand the stresses he took.
He was a small guy, but he told me he would only eject as a last resort. Seats have greatly improved, but are still a last resort.
Gas prices. Here in our little CA town, we still have a 4 handle as of Sunday. We are screwed going forward.
Lynn, I have known a now-retired A-4 pilot for a long time. I once watched him do some extreme solo maneuvers in an air show. He was not young then, and younger pilots cheered wildly. Even the audience was impressed, although most did not fully understand the stresses he took.
He was a small guy, but he told me he would only eject as a last resort. Seats have greatly improved, but are still a last resort.
My uncle is 80 and 6'1". Same height as me but he weighed about 150 lbs as a Navy pilot. 20/10 vision back in his 20s so they made him a fighter pilot. 4,500 carrier landings. Distinguished Flying Cross for circling his wingman in a life raft in Hanoi Harbor for entire day while they shot at him. They shot down his wingman with a SA-2 (first one the Navy / AF had ever seen). My uncle says the SA-2 looked like a telephone pole going past his wing to hit his wingman (took a wing off his A-4 plane). They tankered my uncle six times above Hanoi Harbor while trying to get a S&R helicopter in to rescue his wingman. Every time the Vietnamese set out from shore in a boat, he would fire off one round of 20 mm at the boat since he only had 200 rounds. Dark came and that was the last time my uncle ever saw his wingman.
He came back the next day with four 500 lb bombs under his wings. They knew where the SA-2 base was on a mountain top above Hanoi. They had some intel that the SA-2 could not go straight up so he came in above 40,000 ft and stuka dived on the SA-2 missile site. Scratch one missile site. He figures that he removed the top 20 feet of the mountain. Probably Russian technicians running the SA-2 missile site.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S-75_Dvina
John McCain was my uncle's commanding officer on the Enterprise. McCain was shot down in the same Hanoi Harbor later. He never saw my uncle's wingman in the Hilton. My uncle still wears a MIA bracelet.
The A-4 was quite a plane. Single B-52 engine with no afterburner. Two of them would take off from the carrier, one with fuel and one with bombs. The plane was too heavy for takeoff with both fuel and bombs. The A-4 with fuel would transfer his fuel to the A-4 with bombs and land, refuel, and do it again. That is how my uncle got 4,500 carrier landings. Plus 4,500 catapult shots.
We gave a lot of A-4s to Israel after the six day war in 1967. Or charged them a dollar each. My uncle was one of four ??? Navy pilots that went to Israel for a year to teach them how to fly the A-4s. They taught about 50 pilots to fly the A-4. He went back about ten years ago to meet them all again. Only four of the Israeli pilots survived the Yom Kippur War in 1973, he had no idea it was that bad. Of course, less than half of his Navy squadron survived their six month tour in Vietnam.
Warm all week, below freezing at night, low thirties during the day. We got a big dump of snow which turned to ice before I could shovel. Treacherous.
Spent time with the rabbits tonight as a stress break. I spent the evening with a friend last night. Her dog is out of my second Cardigan Welsh Corgi. He’s ten next month but has cancer. He’s a sweet dog and it broke my heart to see him dying. It was a tonight evening.
Humble rabbit chores tonight were a good antidote. I had my phone with me and did an impromptu tour of the rabbitry, complete with umms and poor camera angles and unscripted babble. Watch at your peril.
https://youtu.be/xIkrMnMXfpU
@lynn
What a story. It’s late and I’m tired out, so nothing intelligent to say.
General thoughts on Russia and the Ukraine…
I have always considered Putin to be a very intelligent guy. Not a nice guy, of course, but you don't stay in power in a country like Russia without being smart. His current course of action, though, is just bizarre. Doubling down, tripling down on a losing play, even more bizarre. I wonder if he's mentally stable, or perhaps suffering early onset dementia? How much damage will he cause, before his internal people take him down?
Meanwhile, Ukraine has shown how a propaganda war is won. It's also not a nice country, certainly not a candidate that either the EU or NATO would normally consider as a potential member. But – wow – Zelenskyy knows how to manage international publicity.
Add to that the absolutely shocking incompetence of the Russian military. They could take all the time they needed to preposition assets and set up their logistics, and…total fail. If Russia didn't have nukes, the world would be laughing.
Europe is *still* buying a billion dollars a day of oil and gas. "We're imposing sanctions, here, take our money." That's every bit as stupid as the Russian logistics fail. Completely ending the flow of money into Russia would end the Ukraine invasion within a week. Probably by putting Putin's head on a platter.
Exactly. Europeans would have to turn their thermostats down 10 or even 20 degrees, and wear sweaters in their houses. They would have to drive a lot less. It might be inconvenient.
There is a lesson to be learned here: Don't do business with countries you cannot trust. Like the US and the Middle East: Nothing good comes of dealing with countries that don't share your civilizational values.