You are looking at posts that were written on May 12th, 2008.
Posted on May 12th, 2008 by Mark.
Categories: News.
If George W. Bush were seeking re-election, he might have a shot at convincing his buddies in the Saudi royal family to toss him a bone when it comes to oil production. A million or more barrels of additional production per day could see some real benefits when it comes to the cost of tanking up. Since the Saudis are about to lose their foot in the door that was there affiliation to the president, there is no real incentive for the royal family to increase production. They’re making money hand over fist and they seem intent to keep it that way for as long as they can. Case in point their reluctance to actually produce at full capacity. Mr. Bush reminds us all why it is that he was a failed oil man when he illustrates his lack of knowledge when it comes to Saudi Arabia’s production capacity. Asked about whether or not he would discuss oil production with the Saudi king when he meets with him this week, Bush answered:
“Of course I’ll bring it up to him,” Bush said in a CBS News radio interview. However, he added that the capacity of the Saudis to raise production — and thus help lower prices — is limited.
“When you analyze the capacity for countries to put oil on the market it’s just not like it used to be,” Bush said. “The demand for oil is so high relative to supply these days that there’s just not a lot of excess capacity.”
Really?
However, Saudi Arabia has considerable additional production capacity. It’s pumping a little over 8.5 million barrels a day, compared with about 9.5 million barrels a day two years ago, and has acknowledged the ability to produce as much as 11 million barrels a day.
Oh my… it seems that Mr. Bush missed the memo or slept through the briefing where this was undoubtedly explained to him. Since the Saudis are intentionally keeping production at levels that are less than they were even two years ago, one has to assume that this is a calculated maneuver. Will this president be able to negotiate from a place of strength to get relief for struggling Americans? What do you think? I’m going to go with a solid, heck no, on that one! Maybe we should withdraw from Iraq just to put the burden of containing the Sunni vs. Shiite problem into their cash ladened laps. If I were the president they’d be asking, “How much oil do we have to produce to keep you in Iraq so that we don’t have to fund a proxy war with Iran?” I would not be begging these people for a hand out. Unfortunately for us, Mr. Bush is a puppet and they are his masters.
Posted on May 12th, 2008 by Mark.
Categories: My Life.
We got a call this weekend. It was the bro asking if we were interested in taking on two adult bearded dragons that a friend was wanting to give to a good home. We’re suckers for lizards around here… so of course we said, “YEAH!” Bearded dragons are especially loveable lizards, if they’ve been hand reared and handled they make wonderful pets… and they aren’t icky… they’re actually beautiful. While they came named, hence the title including Moe and Joe, I have taken to calling them Lopez and Garcia. Don’t ask me why… I just like the names. Lopez has a shorter, lopped tail (lizards sometimes lose parts of their tails if they get scared or caught on something or just grabbed wrong… I did it myself once to an iguana)… so that’s why the name seems to fit. Garcia is just a bad dude, trampling Lopez whenever the mood suits.
You never really know what you are going to get when you get a new pet, but these two lizards are so cool. Both of them have personality and they love to be handled. I swear they try to follow you around when you have them out. No running here… more like, “Hey where are you going?!” Then again these two are so HUGE that there isn’t much that seems to bother them. A couple of bad asses is what we have here!
Here are a couple of pics.
Bath time… gotta keep a playah looking clean. A little warm water goes a long way. In the beginning we just loosen some dirt and debris from the scales and from between the toes. We also used a soft toothbrush to get in the nooks and crannies. I swear, these two have been at the spa for a couple of days. There was no thrashing or trashing, both of these guys are well behaved and really dig the attention. I know you can’t really see the size from this pic, but these two are massive. We went to the local lizard/fish store to grab these guys some crickets (did I tell you they eat live bugs)… and they had a “large” bearded out on one of the employee’s shoulders. The so-called “large” bearded was a wee thing compared to these two!
Moving day… playahs need a pimp crib. Here is a shot of the habitat. Fresh sand (these are desert dwelling lizards after all) and some cubby holes and climbing areas. We have a big piece of wood that we can toss in there if they need something more to perch on… but we’re going to see how things go with what’s in there. This tank is MASSIVE… but these two are so big that they make it look tiny. The more you toss in there, the less room they have to turn and chase the crickets they eat. Still they need places to bask in the light. Lucky them, they get morning light from the window that they’re at… as I finish off this post they are rising and waiting patiently with their heads high… for that morning dose.
So far, so good with these two. I really like that they have one another. We’re always a little paranoid to put a couple of lizards together… but these guys seem to have a system. Here’s to hoping that they are members of the family for a good long time. Thanks to Mike and his family for a job well done with these guys and for entrusting us with them from here on out. They’re great lizards guys and we love the heck out of them… again thank you!
Posted on May 12th, 2008 by Mark.
Categories: Editorials, Entertainment.
I’m a talk show junky. I listen to quite a few of them. Not all of them are political (I’ve even started listening to Stern again), and I don’t really discriminate right or left. I like to get a taste of opinion from all sides. The other day though, I was struck by something that Sean Hannity did, and it seemed just a wee bit ironic. A gentleman called in to say that his cousin had been killed in Iraq. He was calling in to say something about the war… but he didn’t get to say much. Sean was quickly trying to move things along to his “do good” moment. While the guy was trying to make his point, Sean was asking if the soldier was married. His cousin on the line said, no he was only 18. Hannity asked if he had family, as in a mother and a father. Yes came the reply. Then came the part of the call that seemed so ironic and so tacky (at least in my opinion)… Sean told him that he was going to send him a $2500 gas card to give to the parents of his dead cousin, making sure to give proper credit to the sponsor who had provided the gift.
Now I know that I am a cynic, and that maybe I was the only listener out there that cringed when he did this, but it’s stuck with me all weekend. There was just something so illustrative about it all. While I understand that Sean was just trying to help out, it seemed like such a metaphor. People have been screaming about war for oil in Iraq, and here’s Sean giving a dead soldier’s family a gas card.
I would have liked to have heard what the cousin of the dead soldier had to say. Unfortunately, after being told that he would be getting this gas card the guy just kind of stammered through whatever his point was. I think he was just trying to say that while he’d been angry about the death, he’d come to understand that we had to fight “them” there, so that we didn’t have to fight, “them” here. I’m not sure about that, but it’s kinda where I thought he was going… but I think he had more to say about how he’d come to that viewpoint but of course we were too busy fitting the “plug” in, while making this tacky, if well meaning offering.
Ugh.