The Things People Expect From A Blog!

Well boys and girls; as it turns out, people (Mhor) actually expect The CUnit to be accurate during a rant so I thought I would post a correction to yesterday’s entry.

A rant, being what it is, often turns into thoughts tromping over each other, with the meaning being lost in the writing. That is what happened in my discussion of domestic drilling. Yea, I know I eluded to domestic drilling being an answer to high gas prices....OK, I actually outright said it was. The fact is that there are only two conditions that would make additional domestic drilling impact prices at the pump. First, the infrastructure would have to be in place to begin pumping several million barrels a day to several idle refineries right now (all of which are a part of my imagination). Second, the oil industry in America would have to be nationalized so that America’s needs are met BEFORE any exportation takes place. Would you want our current political parties trying to co-operate on running that kind of business? Me neither, our prices would quintuple overnight.

The demand for oil in the world is such that the US could find the new wonder fuel I dream of, and the oil industry might not even notice. With demand comes speculation, and as long as there are people willing to pay the futures price, the price will keep going up. The shortages of 1973 and the accompanying price hike was more due to speculation and stockpiling than an actual cut in production or an embargo (the guys pumping the oil don’t control the destination once it’s on the boat).

If the oil industry in America had continued to grow and keep up with demand, as it did when I was a child, things may have been different. But a combination of lifting costs (what it costs to bring oil from the ground to a tank) and environmental legislation (post Santa Barbara Channel oil spills) has put America out of the oil business. We could repeal all of the legislation, however to put the industry back into production shape will take years (read at least a decade) and probably billions of dollars: money that should go toward research and development viable alternatives for powering our cars. It would be easier to repeal the laws of physics.

No, domestic drilling is not the answer to high gasoline prices; however, unless We the people of America demand a real effort to develop viable alternatives for powering our personal vehicles or learn to ride a bus, then domestic drilling needs to be a consideration. At least as a measure of protection against the remote possibility of some nut job group disabling a major production center in the Middle East or closing the Straits of Hormuz. (The US actually gets most of its oil from Mexico and Canada but any world production restriction hurts.) We would hope that the nations that depend on oil exportation could control their neighbors, but these days it’s just not a sure thing.

These are just a few of the realities of oil. If you are really interested in more let me know. I’ll be happy to supply a reading list (what can I say, I did a paper on alternative energy).

As far as SUVs go, Mr. Gunn I know you use yours the right way. It isn’t lowered and it sees the outside of the city. It’s those Supreme Urban Vehicles I see clogging the freeways, rattling my windows, and obviously will never be a Sport anything that bug the hell outta me.

It’s been a while since I had time to make a post. This has been mostly due to my efforts to continue my education and the work I have been putting into it. Well, for the moment I’m done with classes. That means that I have had time to look at the world around me again and make one or two observations:

1. If you skipped going to work/school to march in the streets carrying a foreign flag in protest of laws aimed at curbing ILLEGAL immigration, you deserve to be fired and deported to France. I don’t really care if you are from there or not. I have no problems with immigrants since my parents are immigrants. Just do it legally and learn to function in English. My grandmother would have died with shame to think that the government thought she was so stupid that everything had to be printed in Italian as well as English.

2. If you are trying to become a nuclear power, it isn’t smart to threaten the Israelis in response to US or UN sanctions. They tend to take such threats seriously and respond accordingly. Remember when Iraq decided to build a nuclear reactor?

3. Why are the oil companies raising the price of the gas that has been in the ground for a week and the Saudi King can lower the price of gas in his country? Why do we have to put up with it? Oh yea, because we won’t drill for oil in our own country. We even have one Dem here in CA running for governor on an anti-Bush, anti-oil platform. Of course the Sierra Club and other eco-terrorist organizations endorse him. I hope his Birkenstocks give him a blister. Then again, I hope gas hits $8.00 a gallon. Maybe someone will get the idea that using a non-renewable fuel source and driving monster SUVs isn’t the smartest economic policy. (I only live 12 mi from work and ride a bicycle a good part of the time) (Jump to number 6 for my SUV rant)

4. Is it me or is Louis Faricon very quiet on the Duke Lacrosse rape case? The New Black Panthers are all over it. Jessie is all over it. Could it be that after siding with Mikie Tyson in his rape case that Louie is a bit gun-shy? This one really isn’t worth worrying about; it’s just an observation.

5. How is it that Timothy McVey can get the death penalty but Moussaoui gets life in prison? He will end up protected by the Nation of Islam being treated like a hero. Unless of course they can manage to put him in with a bunch of redneck pig-humping crackers. Then it’s worth not having him slowly cooked over an open Barbeque pit. Yea I know, not very Christian of me, but then again I’m not attempting to judge his immortal sole. That’s not my job.

6. SUVs are great for piling 27 of your close friends in and towing your 27 ft trailer to the beach or campground. It doesn’t make much sense for a single person to drive it down to the local 7-11 for a pack of cigarettes and a Red Bull. Sean Hannity may hate me for saying so (Forgive me Sean), but those road monsters are the number 1 terrorist funding mechanism in the entire world.

Well, that’s all I have for the moment. These are my opinions and if you have one of your own, you know what to do with it....leave a comment.

C