Thursday, June 03, 2010
Lunchtime dumping of the tabs
Seemingly for the first time in ages, the tabs have piled up to dump-worthy levels. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.
The TigerHawk Teenager joined the Facebook group "Boycott BP." I was forced to point out that he still owns a few shares in the troubled oil giant. The question is, what to do with them? Normally I hold oil stocks through these troubles, but there are very real questions about BP's ability to survive this disaster. What to do? (We note that as of this writing BP common is up for the second day in a row. Dead cat bounce?)
Tom Maguire suggests that some enterprising journalist move in next door to the Gore family. Problem is, Gore's house and property are so huge I'm not sure that a reporter living next door would learn much.
Why is Turkey still in NATO?
At the present rate, Turkey has about as much business in NATO as Greece does in the EU. Both countries seem out of place in their respective organizations; both envy and resent northern Europe and the United States, and seek their attention through petulance; and both seem to traffic daily in conspiracy theories about going to war against each other.
Gone is the stalwart Turkey of the Cold War. The country has become a real geopolitical problem in recent years, playing tough with Iraqi Kurds, Greece, and now Israel. One gets the sense that the United States and Europe have not come to terms with Turkey's recent "neo-Ottoman" posture. We need to get serious about encouraging Turkey to become, again, a serious country. Perhaps the first step should be to suggest this.
Liberal blogger proudly poses with Mao. In fairness, I've done the same thing.
It's time we all re-read "Casey at the Bat."
We are all jackals now, to our national shame.
Judging outcomes rather than efforts or intentions, George W. Bush looks like an unreconstructed greenie compared to President Obama. Just sayin'.
The long, hot summer of corruption.
Check out Amazon's page of exciting Father's Day gifts
.Kuwait's oil minister predicts that crude will fall to $60/bbl. Well, good. It will buy us some political space to think carefully about the extent we regulate offshore drilling.
More later. Or not.
11 Comments:
By 
Brian, at
Thu Jun 03, 04:24:00 PM:
Been a long time since we've seen a post saying at such-and-such place, it's been colder than average for the last few days.
On the other hand, Arctic sea ice looks terrible, global levels not great compared to same time in most years, April snow levels were at record lows, and both satellite and surface measurements make 2010 look like a record or near-record year.
There was that post on WattsUp that claimed CO2 isn't causing the runaway greenhouse effect on Venus, contrary to all scientific opinion for the last 50 years. Maybe that's worth discussing.
By 
, at
Thu Jun 03, 05:14:00 PM:
I like the "Have Turkey take over Gaza" idea.
In fact Turkey could resurrect the whole Ottoman Empire and it wouldn't bother me.
By , at
Thu Jun 03, 06:34:00 PM:
Curtis Mayfield would have been 68 today.
People Get Ready -- Original 1965 version with The Impressions
Move on Up - Extended version
By , at
Thu Jun 03, 06:47:00 PM:
Surely BPs share price has more to do with the threats of the Obama Administration than its efforts to fix the problem.
The simple reason for Holders pronouncements yesterday was that it was a political response to polling.
If I had the investigative skills I would be looking into what money types the Administration heavies were corressponding with before the decision to bully BP with threats of civil,and criminal action.
By , at
Thu Jun 03, 06:51:00 PM:
WRT to Man Made Global Warming otr not.
The problem now is how to take the money out of the equation. The EU trading market is up to $300billion.
By , at
Thu Jun 03, 07:01:00 PM:
Turkey is an interesting problem.
Many countries want to bring Turkey into the EU. The last major problem (a few years ago now) was related to the Turkish military's role as the rock which enforces the precepts of Ataturk. This just wasn't democratic.
Unfortunately, some countries need a strong hand to make sure the constitution is not stripped bare.
This does invite the question of what do you do if the government consistently acts outside the constitution?
Wait for the nexte election, if there is one?
By , at
Fri Jun 04, 09:35:00 AM:
In response to Brian:
This from Tim Blair at the Daily Telegraph* - So
much for the problem of climate refugees:
Climate scientists have expressed surprise at findings that many low-lying Pacific islands are growing, not sinking.
Islands in Tuvalu, Kiribati and the Federated States of Micronesia are among those which have grown, largely due to coral debris, land reclamation and sediment …
Auckland University’s Associate Professor Paul Kench, a member of the team of scientists, says the results challenge the view that Pacific islands are sinking due to rising sea levels associated with climate change.
“Eighty per cent of the islands we’ve looked at have either remained about the same or, in fact, gotten larger,” he said …
“We’ve now got evidence the physical foundations of these islands will still be there in 100 years.”
Poley bears are thriving, the Himalayas aren’t melting and now Pacific islands are defiantly buoyant. Do the warmies have anything left? Anything at all?
Adelaide University climate scientist Professor Barry Brook says he is surprised by the findings.
So might be Al Gore, among others.
(Via Liam B.)
* http://blogs.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/timblair/index.php/dailytelegraph/comments/seas_defeated/
By Brian, at
Fri Jun 04, 04:23:00 PM:
That is good news about some islands rising in response limited sea level rise, but if you think that fixes the problems that they and the rest of us at low elevation face from sea level rise, you're mistaken.
Similarly, polar bears aren't doing well. They've recovered from overhunting in the 1960s but more populations are now declining than are growing.
Himalayan glaciers are retreating, except for a few of the highest ones. One paragraph of the 2007 IPCC report contradicted other parts of the report and said they would disappear by 2035 - not true, but also not true to deny that the glaciers are melting.
Meanwhile, record warmth. The May UAH satellite data just came out today, the one that's done be a climate skeptic and one of the ones that don't use surface station measurements. Looks like the second highest May, and the 13 month record is about to be broken.
By , at
Sat Jun 05, 10:56:00 AM:
On the Gores, they very recently purchased another mansion, this one in a high priced California suburb. One has to wonder about the time lines before this purchase and their decision to split. Had this been a Palin-like couple instead of a beloved ultra-left winger, the lap dog media would have 50 "reporters" working on it to find where the money is and how corruption is involved. My bet is that Tipper has discovered what Al has been doing to get such great income from the climate scammers.
By , at
Mon Jun 07, 03:50:00 AM:
"global levels" of ARCTIC sea ice?
I was wondering about BP's options going into the future. It's way too big to go away in any meaningful way, and they will take a big hit, such as selling their stake in Alaska's northern fields. But BP's not a US company, and obumble's petty vengeance antics will do less to gloss over his incompetence than to scare away foreign capital.
By Brian Schmidt, at
Thu Jun 10, 04:40:00 PM:
"'global levels' of ARCTIC sea ice?"
Not what I said.
