DrumBeat: November 3, 2007
Posted by Leanan on November 3, 2007 - 9:10am
Topic: Miscellaneous
Who holds the world’s oil? You might assume it’s in the hands of big private oil companies like ExxonMobil. But in fact, 77 percent of the world’s oil reserves are held by national oil companies with no private equity, and there are 13 state-owned oil companies with more reserves than ExxonMobil, the largest multinational oil company. The popular perception in the United States is that if leaders of oil countries nationalize their oil, they are bucking a global trend toward privatization. In reality, nationalized oil is the trend. And the percentage of oil controlled by state-owned companies is likely to continue rising, mainly because of the demographics of oil. Deposits are being exhausted in wealthy countries — the ones that exploited their oil first and generally have the most private oil — and are being found largely in developing countries, where oil tends to belong to the state.
A Glimpse Of Light In The Distance
An ex-Marine thinks he can extend the working day for millions of people.
Oil price lifts Saudi stocks to one-year high
Saudi Arabia’s bourse rallied to its highest close in almost a year yesterday as record oil prices and an interest rate cut boosted the appeal of petrochemical and banking stocks.
East End residents cast worrisome glances at nearby refineries
Manchester hugs the Houston Ship Channel, where refineries and other business run 24 hours a day.It’s there that some stats show that cancer rates are abnormally high... and incomes drastically low.
Doubling of oil recovery efficiency seen possible
In the field's southern area, called Haradh, Aramco raised production in three increments starting in 1996. The first step involved vertical wells; the second, starting in 2003, involved horizontal wells; and the third, starting in 2006 involved maximum reservoir contact wells, smart, completions, and instrumentation.The advance of technology, Saleri said, yielded a five-fold increase in added production between the first and third increments.
In addition, real-time pressure monitoring helped Aramco keep several wells from prematurely watering out. Haradh production is 900,000 b/d.
Worldwide, Saleri said, recovery efficiency is 30-35% but could be 60-75%.
Talisman Has Lost 'Credibility': New Ceo
Talisman Energy Inc. has lost "credibility" with investors and analysts by repeatedly failing to meet its own production forecasts, the company's new president and CEO said yesterday. John Manzoni said the Calgary-based independent, whose share price is up just 2% this year despite sky-rocketing oil prices, must start achieving the targets it sets and can do so by internally sharpening its ability to execute projects.
French fishermen protest over rising fuel costs
Fishermen disrupted traffic in northwestern France on Saturday to protest against the rising cost of fuel and to demand state aid.Around 100 vehicles slowed down traffic in a "snail operation" on main roads in western Brittany, said a spokesman for the fishermen who started a strike in the northwestern port of Guilvinec on Friday.
Markey calls on Bush to free up oil reserves
Representative Edward J. Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat, called yesterday on President Bush to release both home heating oil and crude oil from two reserves to ease the cost to consumers, but the White House said it has no plans to do so.
Natural gas line to coast planned
One of the country's largest pipeline companies is considering building a $3 billion line that would link natural gas fields in Utah, Wyoming and southwestern Colorado with northern California and the Pacific Northwest.
Official sees N.E. energy shortage: Not enough terminals, pipelines, regulator says
New England will need to add liquefied natural gas terminals or significantly expand its gas pipelines - and possibly do both - or the region will likely face natural gas shortages or major price hikes, a key federal official said Friday.New England is vulnerable because of its location at the tail end of several natural gas pipelines, its dependence on natural gas for both electricity generation and heating, its limited gas storage space and lack of its own geological gas reserves, said Joseph Kelliher, chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
Syria plans to build a $3 billion oil refinery with a Kuwaiti partner, part of an effort to more than double the country’s capacity and process crude oil from neighbouring Iraq, Syrian Oil Minister Sufian Al Alao said.
China Struggles With Fuel Crunch
Bus drivers in the bustling southern province of Guangdong have a new daily chore: Hunting for diesel. Amid widespread shortages, service stations allow drivers just a few quarts at a time, forcing buses to stop repeatedly to fill up while passengers fume, said Dai Guowei, an employee of the Zhaoshang Passenger Transport Co."After using up the diesel from the last filling station, we have to rush to another station," Dai said Friday. "Usually we have to wait at least a half-hour to fill up. So we get a lot of customer complaints."
The National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company has said that the Islamic Republic's private sector is to construct eight oil refineries in the country, reported the Iran Daily. The plants will be located in Shiraz, Kermanshah, Khuzestan, Tabriz and Neka as well as two in Hormuzgan and the second phase of the Arak refinery. The decision is in line with Iran's Vision 2025.
Fuel shortage leads to rationing in Dominican south west
Gasoline Retailers Association (Anadegas) president Juan Ignacio Espaillat says that fuel supplies are limited in the south west of the country, and diesel is being reserved for hospital and emergency use only, so that rescue and relief work can continue in the aftermath of Tropical Storm Noel.
China turns to Kazakh fuel as prices jump
Kazakhstan has increased its fuel oil exports to China, accounting for an average of 2.5 per cent of total imports into Asia's top buyer this year, from less than one per cent in 2006, traders said yesterday.
Global Uranium Supply and Demand
“The United States is dependent on Russia for a significant portion of its nuclear energy. I don’t think a lot of Americans know that.”
Feds fail to right Alberta's wrongs
Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach got it wrong with his new royalty regime when it comes to natural gas, not with regard to oil or oilsands. Gas prices are too low, due to moderate weather in North America and a switch of petrochemical production to the Middle East.
HOBART has lost out on a $20 million oil-rig refit contract, with Tasmanian Ports Corporation defending its decision to favour cruise ships and Antarctic research vessels.
Shrinking ice means Greenland is rising fast
Greenland appears to be floating upwards – its landmass is rising up to 4 centimetres each year, scientists reveal.And the large country's new-found buoyancy is a symptom of Greenland's shrinking ice cap, they add.
Energy firms cautious on oil shale
What better evidence of the daunting challenge that oil shale presents: Shell Frontier Oil & Gas, seen as the leader in the quest to free millions of barrels of oil in massive rock formations in a three-state area, doesn't expect to start commercial production any time soon.
$100-per-barrel oil raises recession fears
Even though headlines will scream, markets will get nervous, and politicians will blame each other, the real economic impact of a triple-digit price for petroleum is uncertain. It depends on whether the price is temporary or it continues to surge upward, analysts said.
4 bucks a gallon? It's in sight
If you thought gasoline prices were scary on Halloween, just wait until Thanksgiving or Christmas.By then, if close watchers of oil and gasoline markets are right, prices could be close to the record levels set in May. "You could be paying that by the time you sit around your Christmas tree," said Stephen Schork, publisher of The Schork Report, a daily energy newsletter.
North Carolina: The highway challenge
The committee needs to take a fresh look at transportation policies and priorities. Is it important to speed up bridge replacement and maintenance of existing highways? Undoubtedly. So, where will the resources come from, particularly since it’s also important to complete important new projects like Greensboro’s Urban Loop?The largest source of funding, the gasoline tax, has been capped because of the strain rising fuel prices put on motorists. The committee should decide how much emphasis the state should place on toll projects and alternative revenue sources.
Cyprus: We can’t tighten our belts without government help
OIL PRICES are expected to pass the $100 mark per barrel in the coming days. Already, motorists are feeling the pinch, with fuel prices rising by two cents a litre this week.Households will also suffer as the weather gets colder, with the cost of heating fuel increasing. And soon the extra transport and manufacturing costs will filter down into retail prices, affecting each and every one of us as we do our shopping.
China warns transport firms after fuel price hike
Transport companies must not take advantage of this week's 10-percent fuel price hike in China to raise their own prices excessively, the nation's top economic planning body said on Saturday, warning it was watching closely.People would be encouraged to report illegal behaviour, such as price gouging and hoarding, which would be dealt with by the law, the powerful National Development and Reform Commission said on its Web site (www.ndrc.gov.cn).
China to raise fuel surcharge on domestic flights
China will raise the fuel surcharge for passengers on domestic air flights this month, easing the cost burden for airlines after a 10 percent rise in jet fuel prices, the official Shanghai Securities News said on Saturday.
Dominican Republic: Government absorbs most fuel price rises
The Dominican government says it has decided to absorb part of the costs of this week's fuel price increases due to the emergency situation the country is experiencing as a result of Tropical Storm Noel. Gasoline prices have experienced only a slight increase, while propane will be sold at the same price as last week.
Officials say Delaware can fix looming energy problems
The nation's energy and pollution problems require a new push for solutions on par with the Manhattan Project of World War II, panel members at a wide-ranging University of Delaware forum said Friday.Behind the urgency are rising concerns about reliance on imported oil and mounting evidence that greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel use are changing the world's climate for the worse. Solving the problem, officials said, will require a massive shift to clean and renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind power, and a massive decrease in use of conventional fuels.
Does the “car of the future” have a future?
So will a “super car” or a “FreedomCAR” or a “hypercar” or any of the other revolutionary new cars that have been proposed ever get built? Iain Carson and Vijay V. Vaitheeswaran, the authors of “Zoom: The Global Race to Fuel the Car of the Future” (Twelve; $27.99), answer this question with a qualified “yes.” Carson, who covers the transportation industry for The Economist, and Vaitheeswaran, a writer who holds an engineering degree from M.I.T., are “techno-optimists,” as opposed to the “eco-pessimists” they sometimes deride. Yet their argument rests on an account of global trends that is nothing short of terrifying.
Kerr-McGee Ruling Roils Capitol Hill Energy Debate
A federal judge's decision made public this week limiting Interior Department power to demand royalties from offshore oil producers when oil and gas prices are high could intensify Democrats' efforts to raise industry taxes and give Interior the muscle it needs to require industry payments.
Asian LPG rises to record on crude oil, gains in freight rates
Asian liquefied petroleum gas rose to a record on gains in crude oil prices. Propane for delivery to Japan jumped 7.2 percent to US$815 a metric ton, including cost and freight. Butane added 7 percent to US$840 a ton.
Tajikistan’s Much-needed Electricity Stalled in Uzbekistan
When the Tajik and Turkmen presidents met in Dushanbe last month for a Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Dushanbe, they announced that Tajikistan was going to import electricity from Turkmenistan to help to solve its winter energy crisis.Tajik President Emomali Rahmon said that Ashgabat, Dushanbe, and Tashkent had reached an agreement to deliver electricity from Turkmenistan to Tajikistan through neighboring Uzbekistan starting on November 1. The Turkmen electricity, however, has not arrived.
The Saudi Monarch's Visit to Another Kingdom
When you look at the kingdom's billions in petro dollar reserves any moral reservation the West may have about doing business with the Arabian kingdom seems trifling indeed. Its huge (although rapidly depleting) oil reserves and the untold amount of Saudi cash invested and recycled as petro dollars in Western banks, property and even some strategic sectors make the kingdom an ideal place to do business for the British. The United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia do around 3.5 billion in bilateral trade annually. Furthermore, Saudi Arabia is one of the largest markets for Britain's arms exports and infrastructural projects.
Kazakhstan Wants Kashagan Talks to End By Nov 30
Talks between the Kazakh government and Italy's Eni SpA-led Kashagan consortium about production delays and rising costs at the giant Kashagan oil field have to end by Nov. 30, Interfax news agency quoted a senior Kazakh official as saying Friday.
Kyoto? No way. Now about those tax cuts ...
Every time I walk by the pond, I think of global warming and drought, and of Stephen Harper and his message of despair. Of his claim that we have no hope of meeting our Kyoto target, and that it's not worth the effort of even trying to meet it.Well, last week the news about global warming took another turn for the worse.
Total boss on why oil production will never top 100 mb/d
Christophe de Margerie has a reputation for forthright views and blunt speaking, but this week the chief executive of Total excelled himself by dismissing the IEA’s oil production forecasts as unrealistic, while coining an aphorism worthy of Donald Rumsfeld.
Why oil at $100 may be desirable, after all
Oil is all set to reach the once unimaginable $100-mark. But the long-term positives for the global economy from this price surge may outweigh the collective pain we all endure on our visits to the fuel station.
Shallow-Water Driller Sees No Comfort in $100/Barrel Oil
New offshore drilling rigs face an uncertain market, and the prospect of $100-a-barrel oil may actually be hurting their chances of finding work, Jon Cole, chief executive of Scorpion Offshore Ltd. (SCORE.OS) said Thursday."It's actually stunting demand for our rigs" by encouraging governments to exert more control over reserves, which discourages new investment, he said, speaking on a panel at the International Association of Drilling Contractors' annual convention.
PdVSA Won't Seek Partners for Former Exxon, Conoco Fields
Venezuela has no plans to find new partners among foreign oil companies to jointly operate the oil fields left behind by Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) and ConocoPhillips (COP) earlier this year."No, no, there are no plans to get new partners. That's not being considered and we're not open to that. We like having those fields in the hands of Petroleos de Venezuela," Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez said Thursday in remarks to the press.
France and Britain ready to lay out eco-friendly tax cuts
In a bid to solidify Europe's position as a leader in the fight against global warming, France and Britain this month will lay out an ambitious plan to subsidize environmentally friendly products through Europe-wide tax cuts.
U.S. Climate Bill Would Pay Farmers to Store Carbon in Soil
U.S. farmers can turn their dirt into cash under climate change legislation that pays them to bury pollution blamed for global warming.
Nordic nations sound alarm over melting Arctic
"The Arctic and the world cannot wait any longer," environment ministers from the five nations said in a joint statement after talks in Oslo. The five all have Arctic territories."The climate is hurtling towards a turning point after which irreversible processes will have been set in motion," they said of the Arctic thaw.
Lomborg: A better way to spend Kyoto's trillions
Kyoto will save about 140,000 malaria deaths over the century. At one-60th the cost, we can tackle malaria directly and save 85-million deaths.
From Burma to Beijing: Asia's sensitive petrol politics
China's announcement Thursday that it will raise the price of fuel risks angering its poorest citizens. Fuel prices have sparked unrest in several Asian nations.
Alaska upping ante for oil companies
If oil companies want to continue taking Alaska’s oil, state officials say they need to up the ante.In fact, Gov. Sarah Palin wants 25 percent off the top of all profits the companies make in Alaska, up from 22.5 percent and the second hike in as many years. In a special legislative session, oil giants are warning lawmakers that another increase will make the business climate look unstable.
But after Western oil companies have been effectively kicked out of Venezuela and Russia, these could just be hollow arguments.
Given EWG's findings of a 2006 oil peak and a halving of oil production by 2030, and ASPO's declaration that the facts best fit a scenario where all liquid fuels peak around 2012, severe economic discontinuities can now clearly be seen to be unavoidable.
Soaring oil prices limit U.S. leverage and embolden our geopolitical adversaries.
Iowans to pay heavily for record-high oil
When fuel prices rise, truckers pass some of the additional cost on to their customers. Those customers, in turn, pass the additional cost on to the consumer of the goods being shipped, Sturgeon said."In the end the consumer, which is all of us, ends up footing the bill for higher-priced crude oil," Sturgeon said.
China promises safe gasoline supply after price hikes
The production of refined oil products in China is still meeting demand despite regional shortfalls triggered by rising international prices, a senior official with the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said Friday.
Russian anti-monopoly service probes into low oil production
The Russian anti-monopoly authorities said they have inquired leading Russian oil refineries about reasons that recently led to reduced production of oil derivatives and higher prices.Some media reports said this week that gasoline prices could rise 10-15% in Moscow and the Moscow Region due to technical maintenance works at three refineries in central Russia, including one in Moscow.
Halloween featured some very scary sights this year: Crude oil at $95 a barrel and gold at $800 an ounce. These frightening visions of runaway commodity prices must be terrifying to anyone who trusts the Federal Reserve to preserve the dollar's value. On the other hand, individuals who invest in oil, gold and other types of commodities can derive a ghoulish delight from the dollar's slow demise. These individuals are making money… and they are likely to make even more money, as the world comes to grips with a genuine shortage of crude oil.
Should Bush open up the oil spigot?
Criticism of how the Bush administration has been handling the SPR has been mounting ever since August, when the Department of Energy resumed building up the stockpile, even as oil prices surged. Earlier this month, seven Democratic senators complained that the buildup "sends a message to the marketplace that the Administration is comfortable with current price levels."
Nigeria to stop cash call payments to oil majors
Nigeria plans to stop cash call payments to the five majors pumping the bulk of its oil output and instead wants them to raise money from international finance markets, President Umaru Yar'Adua has said.He did not give a timeframe. Nigeria's oil industry is currently dependent on cash call payments to function and changing the financing arrangements would require the legal structure of the sector to be reformed.
The Smithsonian Institution has taken the rare step of putting on hold a $5 million donation from the American Petroleum Institute after two members of the museum complex's board of regents, including a U.S. senator, balked at accepting oil-industry money for a major initiative on the world's oceans.
Oil or gas? Prices may lead to switch
With oil topping $90 per barrel, some homeowners are weighing whether the price tag for switching to a natural gas furnace makes sense. The decision may depend on a variety of factors, including the availability of natural gas lines, an issue in the Northeast, where gas pipelines have historically been less common.
Melrose postpones bond amid turbulent market
Melrose Resources, the British oil and gas exploration company, has been forced to postpone what would have been the first euro denominated junk grade bond deal since the summer as this week's market turbulence took its toll.
The one thing airlines cannot do without
Airlines have already done away with little luxuries such as meals in an attempt to trim costs but there is one thing they cannot do without: fuel.The recent surge in the oil price has caught most airlines on the hop and they have not fully hedged their fuel requirements for next year. That will almost certainly mean higher fares for passengers, unless the turmoil in the financial marketscauses a widespread economic slowdown.
Think tank: Climate affects security
Climate change could be one of the greatest national security challenges ever faced by U.S. policy makers, according to a new joint study by two U.S. think tanks.The report, to be released Monday, raises the threat of dramatic population migrations, wars over water and resources, and a realignment of power among nations.
Bloomberg proposes greenhouse gas tax
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg proposed a national "pollution pricing" plan Friday that would tax companies directly for the greenhouse gases they release."If you really want to reduce carbon emissions, tax carbon at the source, which would mean at the mine head, at the oil well, whatever," Bloomberg told more than 100 other mayors at a climate summit sponsored by the U.S. Conference of Mayors.
Food crisis looms as climate change, fuel shortages bite
Empty shelves in Caracas. Food riots in West Bengal and Mexico. Warnings of hunger in Jamaica, Nepal, the Philippines and sub-Saharan Africa. Soaring prices for basic foods are beginning to lead to political instability, with governments being forced to step in to artificially control the cost of bread, maize, rice and dairy products.Record world prices for most staple foods have led to 18% food price inflation in China, 13% in Indonesia and Pakistan, and 10% or more in Latin America, Russia and India, according to the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO). Wheat has doubled in price, maize is nearly 50% higher than a year ago and rice is 20% more expensive, says the UN. Next week the FAO is expected to say that global food reserves are at their lowest in 25 years and that prices will remain high for years.
Here's a story that is sort of about oil...
U.S. Navy Holds Exercises in Persian Gulf
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/03/world/middleeast/03briefs-navy.html
Do ya' think they will "exercise" their jets over Iran?
E. Swanson
UK is sending/sent their carrier.
Arkansaw of Samuel L Clemens
Hmmm...throw in the State of Emergency in Pakistan and Iraq getting ready to "deal" with Kurdish terrorists.
Just another day of fun and excitement around the Middle East.
And Citigroup is insolvent.
They can't afford to do a Merrill.
"The Federal Reserve Bank of New York, which carries out the central bank's open market operations, moved Thursday to inject $41 billion in temporary reserves into the financial system.
A New York Fed spokesman said it was the largest single day of operations since $50.35 billion was pumped into the system on Sept. 19, 2001, following the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington. He declined further comment."
That would make about $700 Billion injected by the CB's
since August.
Reuters/Elaine Supkis:
" Credit default swaps on Ambac have surged to around 620 basis points, or $620,000 per year for five years to insure $10 million in debt, from 185 basis points a month ago, according to data provided by CMA DataVision.
Its shares have tumbled nearly 60 percent since the beginning of October, 41 percent this week alone.
Ambac and MBIA both reported third-quarter losses last week caused by their writing down the market value of their respective credit derivative portfolios, which are used to insure assets including residential mortgages against default.
This is a major failure. This is deep beneath the surface of the waters, like the Titanic ripping its hull underwater, these organizations we will visit tonight are similar: they are the hull of the banking system. They are the ones who are supposed to protect the banking system from failure and they are now failing, themselves. This is serious."
http://elainemeinelsupkis.typepad.com/money_matters/2007/11/elaine-meine...
Arkansaw of Samuel L Clemens
One of TOD staff noted yesterday that Citigroup's balance sheet is worth $2.3 trillion, while the FDIC's is worth only 2.3 billion. Doesn't bode well if it comes to a bailout.
I think Citi's still sending me bills, for money they'll never be able to get (I'll never have) so that's several thou still on the books that really doesn't exist...
Hey it ain't much but I'm doing my part, are you?
Arrgh. I typed that wrong. It should be Citigroup 2.3 trillion, FDIC, 50 billion. Better, but not by much.
I bailed out of Citi long ago. They plecked me off by charging me trick fees and outrageous interest rates when I was a poor student. Then I read about all the things they do to try and make your payment late, even if it was mailed on time. So they can charge you late fees, of course. I decided then and there that I would never carry another Citi credit card.
I'm sure that there a lots of good people that work for financial institutions, but one of very few good things to come out of the financial meltdown and Peak Oil is that a lot of the bloodsuckers are going to be out on the street.
I'm sure you know what the credit card industry calls people who don't carry balances on their cards: "deadbeats."
:-(
I was a gratuitous deadbeat until last month - four years I'd had the card, $2,300 limit, and I have 41,000 "points" - that would be $41,000 cycled through it over the time. Every once in a while a $500 balance would sneak through, but it wasn't often.
Now work is slow, I'm hurt, payment is late, and the $410 rebate I am due can't be applied to my balance due to my card's "status". If I have the $200 to bring it current then I can get the $410 I've "earned".
Capital One has "earned" a good snipping once I retrieve my $410 and pay off the balance ...
I still have fresh memories of 1999, $10 oil and how tough it was to pay all of the bills on time. Matter of fact, I'm still in the $10 oil office I moved into in 1999--crowded, but functional--and I'm driving the same Toyota that I was driving at that time too.
Once you have been through the wringer a couple of times, old habits die hard. Besides, as I said before I suspect that conspicuous consumption is going to become both stupid and socially unacceptable.
I understand the $10 oil office. I moved mine then as well, but fixed a pot of $8.00 beans this last week. My (new) wife doesn't understand, thinks $87.00 beans, where you just eat the steak and asparagus and leave the beans for another day, looks better. All the same, we spent yesterday building a new fence to keep a neighbors calves off our pretty good pasture so we can use it for our own horses and cow.
Now, about those durn horses. She can't accept that we may need them to get to the wells if gas gets really tight. I hope that we can get enough gas for the pumpers so I don't have to double up - don't think the horse wants that either.
Very Glad I got away from Capital One..
Scary the way their hooks got in..
Snip 'em as soon as you're able.
Bob
SCT and possibly others,
There is NOTHING like divorce to wake one up to reality.
I have been in and out of divorce court, lawyers, arguing, hassles and all the rest of it for three years..
One finally develops a very tough layer of new skin and a different outlook on the world and society and the other sex.
No more,,I promised , never again,never would I allow anyone to paint me into a corner again or put me in a box situation.Never.
I will be responsible to no one ever again except myself.
When I left the military I wished to marry and raise a family. Due to strange shifts in our American morals and society that went topsy turvy.
I finally discovered one fact..the word 'love' is naught but a codeword..designed to screw over people. Used by miscreants and bullshitters simply to use other people.
Never shake the hand of someone you don't respect.When anyone starts a big line of bullshit, turn, walk away and don't look back. Never listen to the twaddle on 'reality shows', Oprah or Dr. Phil and the like..Believe nothing unless you can prove it to yourself.
Pay your bills , sleep well and find some friends you can really trust.Never loan them money though. If you do them a favor and they never repay the favors? Lose them. If you go to church...never never never go forward. Make your promises and vows to 'yourself'. Not to others. If you say you are going to do something,,then do it. Live in the country and own your property,free and clear,and then you have real freedom and can do exactly as you like..Screw the rest.
airdale-good dogs,well trained make excellent companions
It wasn't just society-at-large's understanding of energy that was broken.
Society's understanding of how humans function socially and developmentally was also broken, and thus the system of law is broken. Society's understanding of sexual relationships and gender roles is broken.
The deep, fundamental, systemic flaws in our civilized way of life have always been masked by our exploitation of human and natural resources which fueled our growth.
"I will be responsible to no one ever again except myself."
This philosophy is part of what has brought us to where we are today, and will be increasingly unsustainable with the decline of cheap energy. No man is an island, entire unto itself. There is no community of one.
But there's nothing wrong with enlightened self-interest.
"No man is an island, entire unto itself. There is no community of one."
Some nice homilies..worthless since they are not being applied to 'self' like mine are....your speaking of community and you cannot control community...whereas I can ,and you can to, have control over and of yourself...
Community might take your life if it doesn't think you are doing as they like...
Thats why we live in a land that has plenty of freedom yet community constantly strives to limit that individual freedom.
For instance..one used to have control of one's children..a father or mother had the right to chastise and punish wrong or bad behaviour(the family is NOT a community)..and the community had no right to interfere...years ago the 'community' took more and more control of my offspring..to the point that they were no longer under me or my wife's control...
We now see the evidence of that stupidity. Dumbed down children, children who have no real future..and the list is long.....
I know you will disagree but that matters not a whit..I am in charge of myself. As long as I do not take away others rights then I have all my own personal rights.
Perhaps called libertarian but I don't consider myself aught but a normal person who desires his own right to chose his lifestyle.
Go ahead and think that when TSHTF that suddenly , very suddenly all the aberrant behaviour that we see in our society is going to change overnite and we will all love one another and just have common hugfests.
You will die as the grouphugs fail to produce a livelhood and those in charge take what you have.
Good luck with that...I think your a youngster with rose colored glasses...more and more I see this on TOD of late.
Its wishful thinking.
When the kids are not small they're no longer your children, they're her children, and if she isn't really capable prejudices are such that they become the state's children.
Mine are lucky. When my wife was incapable mommy's money and the strong Jewish community frowned at her misbehavior and the nanny held things together. I've met some other fellows caught in this trap and the poor children ... well ... someone should be beaten ... repeatedly ... and I'm not sure who. A shotgun and bow season on the so called "family law attorney" would be an excellent start at correcting the problem, and instead of criminal charges a small bounty from the county agent like they used to give for pocket gopher feet ...
airdale:
I think that Robert Frost had it just about right:
"Good fences make good neighbors"
Mending Wall
i have a balance on a citi card at 4.99% until paid in full. there have been a few times i sweated the payment being late but i have never paid a late fee. it is best to send the payment as soon as the statement is recieved, of course this requires some cashflow management (and if one is living paycheck to paycheck, forget it). besides not paying any late fees, the amount of interest you pay is reduced. not much, but the interst saving is more than the interest paid on a typical checking account.
and of course you cant "use" the card as long as you have one of these loans.
At this point, I don't pay any interest. I've been a "deadbeat" for years, and I'm trying to keep it that way. (Though I sometimes wonder if runaway inflation will make me wish I ran up some debt.)
I like the Discover card. They've always been very good to me. Like when a massive blizzard shut down the northeast, they forgave the late payment when I called to explain. The mail simply wasn't moving. (That "rain nor snow" crap is just that, crap.) Plus, they give you cash back. Sometimes as much as 5% for special items like gasoline.
And they've got some really nice designs. So nice I actually ordered some extra cards, just for the pretty artwork. (I'm currently carrying the baseball one.)
Anyways, now I almost always pay online. You have more control over when the payment is credited, and I figure it's probably better for the environment, too.
I was always really good about not carrying a balance on a CC, always good about paying stuff down, paid off my student loans, etc., but when I got a small biz it all changed.
Imagine someone falling into a gambling addiction, or the kind of mentality that takes normal Americans and turns them into home-ATM junkies. It always seemed more money was coming in, it seemed if I needed money all I had to do was work a bit more or (and this may be crucial) find a "big deal", which in my case meant finding a few to several grand's worth of equipment or parts and cashing in big on those.
Completely idiotic behavior. I saw it in a lot of ebay addicts actually. One guy I know has to use up the equity in his house and hit rock bottom and then and only then will he attain some sanity again. At least he has more of a safety net than I do (I think).
This kind of addictive behavior is puzzling. It explains why lottery winners often end up much worse off after a few years, and why normally frugal medical students go wild and get into financial trouble once they're full-fledged doctors. An author was fascinated with this and ended up writing the book "Affluenza" about this.
On a somewhat related note...
A few weeks ago I rented a U-haul to move some of my stuff to a new location where I am currently working. When I went to fill the truck with gas the pump automatically shut off at $75.00 even though the tank was not quite full.
After the third time this happened I asked the attendant on duty why this was. She replied that the credit card companies started doing this some time ago. Another customer at the counter told me that I could call the CC company and have my "limit" changed.
I found this a bit amusing since I travel a lot with work and it is not uncommon for me to have 2 or sometimes 3 thousand dollars a month in business expenses on the same card which are promptly paid at he end of the month when I get my expense check.
Since credit card companies get a fee from the business for conducting the transaction one would think that they would want the CC holder to use the card as much as possible unless there is some other reason they don't want just anyone buying lots of gas....
I am not buying the credit card fraud angle because if any purchases are outside of normal spending patterns they will deny the transaction until the purchaser's ID has been verified.
I can say that this policy was not in effect a year and a half ago (using the same CC) when I moved across country using a much larger truck with a much larger gas tank!
I posted this article last June.
It is a fraud protection measure, by the credit card companies. However, not all gas stations comply with it. And there's no limit if you go inside to pay. It only applies to pay at the pump.
They claim it's been in place for a long time, but people only started to notice it when the prices went so high. They're bumping up against the limit, when they never would before, no matter how empty their tanks.
I reckon most folks are aware of it, but with a bit of discipline you can freeload off the 'perks' of a number of cards without paying them anything.
Some give you 3-5% back on gas and groceries, many will give you 1% rebate on everything; getting an airline affiliate card generally will get you 20k bonus miles for charging less than 1k on the card, and most of them will give you the first year at no fee. So take the perks, take the bonuses, take the flier miles, use their money to 'float' your bills until the payment is due; and they also supply an extra level of protection if a transaction goes bad.
The same adaptive mechanisms they use to screw people over work both ways. And by changing airline affiliate cards every 6 months you can get a free RT each year just from the 'starter bonuses'.... in case you need such.
There are various lists online which compile the current deals. You'd think nobody would offer me a card anymore, since I haven't paid a penny in fees on one in two decades, but they all seem to think they'll be the ones to break me; they're compulsive gamblers.
This is probably a highly temporary situation, but you never know.
Surviving on a pittance is great fun even if you have a bit more than a pittance, and probably good practice.
I'm asking this both for my sake and my mother's sake. We both have IRA and brokerage accounts at Smith Barney in Dallas, where our broker is a vice president. Smith Barney is owned by Citi. We have a variety of stock and bond funds, a few common and preferred stocks, and a couple of limited partnerships. Is there any possibility of Wall Street-Bush legal chicanery that would prevent me from cashing out those accounts?
I've been saving about $1000 a month lately because of my concerns about the crumbling American system, but I kept it in my local bank, which is now owned by Capital One, because I was too nervous about whether far-away Citi could turn into a black hole in a crash. Is anyplace really safe these days?
My guess would be "no." :-(
The Catastrophist View
You might want to post your question to Stoneleigh in one of the finance roundups.
Thanks for the suggestion.
If what I've seen the last week indicates I'm going back to work, such as life is for a consultant, I'm going to do a sort of formal inventory of food, fuel, & whatnot, then I am going to keep paper money, silver, and some cash in Paypal.
There are Paypal haters here, but take it for what it is - a funny financial instrument that lets you whip up temporary credit cards that expire after one use and easily purchase trifles from Ebay. Do not hook it up to your main bank account, in fact its probably best to hook it to an account at an entirely different bank.
I would say you need to look closely at the Ferfal fellow's writings about TSHTF in Argentina. The Bush administration does not respect the rule of the law and that is the only thing that makes those accounts "your money", right?
There are days I wish things had been better for me post divorce, but on the other hand I'm grateful ... the fall others will experience came for me in 2002 and I'm all past mourning and/or thinking that "stuff" is terribly important.
Ferfal's articles a few years ago were great. The site that had archived them has disappeared, but he's begun posting at survivalblog.com. But stuff like his is what makes me afraid to keep gold bars at home.
Now I'm remember a story I wrote where a corrupt CIA guy had hidden his wealth buying weird antiques that weren't obviously hyper-expensive: Purdey shotguns, early Sinatra records, a Federal-period chair and a collection of duck decoys, one of which is actually painted-over solid gold. I'd been watching a lot of Antiques Roadshow back then.
What antiques do you think will hold their value if this entire collapse is being rigged to keep the extremely wealthy extremely wealthy? I mean, what appeals to people in mercenary-defended palaces aspiring to be barons?
$50,000 cap & ball Dragoon Colt - two kinds of security in one.
I am not so sure I am the one to answer this. My one brush with wealth was making the mistake of marrying the baby from a wealthy Jewish family some years back and those years were more about conspicuous consumption than gathering and accumulating. My own personal experiences are those of the child of depression babies where the major earner was disabled just as I became old enough to work.
This being said, if I had $50k I wanted to turn into post apocalypse mad money I would ...
Buy a $3,000 beater minivan, a baseball hat, and some tinted sunglasses. I'd leave the in transit tags in place, strategically place some paperwork to cover the VIN, and I'd be carefully converting my holdings into ammunition, weapons purchased at a premium without any paper trail, spare magazines, spare parts, and so forth.
I wouldn't do the whole $50k up this way. Those who are gun crazy believe the world will continue as it is, except for Bad Guys(tm) who will come to get them. This is like the people who put all of their excess money into life insurance and ignore having a $20 tucked into the visor of the car in case they run out of gas.
What other things have the magic three characteristics for a post apocalyptic world, with those being utility, portability, and rarity?
Silver seems a good bet, better than gold to me, as it is in smaller denominations, less valuable, and less likely to raise eyebrows.
Some here have advised the purchase and storage of alcohol. I took a look around the liquor department a few weeks back and decided against it, but some years ago I made a half hearted attempt to drown myself in the stuff. I also think that those who are thirsty will be off and brewing just like they did during the prohibition - it might not taste as good, but even guys in jail figure out how to cook up a batch of tomato jack with just a little indulgence from the guards.
I think if you had a doctor who was just a tad bit crooked you could do well stocking up on various supplies. The controlled stuff is obviously watched but there are lots of things that have shelf life and value - antibiotics and such.
I personally plan on laying in a good bit of heirloom seeds as cash begins to flow, but that is something that fits well here in the thinly populated wild lands. Your mileage may vary ...
I suspect solar panels and wind turbines are going to be desirable based on location. They're small, cheap, transportable, etc, etc. Don't skip on the control widgets, manuals, and whatnot ...
So I hope I've given you some ideas ... there are things one needs the day after TSHTF, the month after, and the year after. Just be mindful of what those will be in your area, diversify, and don't put all your eggs in one basket, as what we're talking about here is a new style of saving rather than one monolithic "investment".