Friday, July 25, 2008

Damned if You Change, Damned if You Don't

There's been a lot made lately about how both Presidential candidates have been flip-flopping, the fact that it brings in to question their character, integrity, etc.. And, yeah, folks, I will in fact admit that it's getting irritating - the opportunistic aspects of it, in particular. But, really, hasn't it gotten past the point where we ought to be shocked/outraged by it? I mean, it's what they all frigging do. Hello! They start off by appealing to their bases in the primary and, later, once they get the nomination, move to the center in the national campaign. And, yes, folks, it's a formula that apparently works. I mean, they wouldn't be doing it if it didn't, right?......................................And, besides, when did it become such a mortal sin to change one's mind - in general? I mean, wasn't that one of the criticisms of Bush, for Christ - that the douche-bag never, EVER, changed his mind? I don't know, to me, sometimes changing one's mind actually makes some sense. McCain, for example, he had this one policy for off-shore drilling when the cost of gas was $1.50 (a gallon). Now that the cost of gas is 4-something, he has another. And, no, folks, I'm not even saying that this new position is necessarily the correct one - only that I can more or less understand it, that's all......................................It's like, why does everything so have to be defined as evil; the two candidates' every association, every single vote they've ever frigging cast, etc., etc.. I don't know, to me, if we really and truly wanted to locate the genesis of evil, we just might want to start with that bathroom mirror. That would be as good a place as any, in my opinion.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Will:

What is wrong with these people???
Even I would never have guessed was gonna happen. Talk to ya soon

IrOnY RaGeD said...

Hi Will,

Regarding McCain flip flopping on oil you're absolutely right. It's one thing to change your mind when facts change and another entirely to change positions depending on what group you happen to be speaking to.

Not too long ago I would've bet money on the Dems winning this election, but OIL is gonna be what's driving the issues now.

Right now we NEED EVERYTHING we can do. That means Nuclear, Wind, Solar AND OIL.

And much like the lefts claims that even if we drill we won't see any results for 10 years or more, the SAME is true for alternative energy sources.

And regardless of their claims, OIL is the one thing we can do right away. Note how prices dropped the minute Bush rescinded the executive order banning drilling offshore and in ANWR.

Prices WILL start to come down IMMEDIATELY because no commodities trader is going to want to be the last one holding a contract for oil at $140 a barrel at a point in the future when drilling begins.

Secondly, I don't believe that 10 years thing anyway. Sure it MAY take 7 to 10 years before full production occurs, but I'll bet the first wells could be up and running in less than 1 year.

And too, counter to their claims, MUCH is being done on alternative energy under the Bush administration. I know for a fact (I've seen them with my own eyes) that wind farms are going up all over Illinois, Indiana and Missouri.

Since I work in an agricultural related field I also know that bio fuel plants for ethanol and bio diesel are being built all over the midwest. (lefties used to think that ethanol was a good thing until studies came out showing it produced as much "greenhouse" gases as oil if not more)
You just can't push and push, and then when production ramps up say "hey wait a minute".

I don't think Solar can be done efficiently terrestrially. I read once of a plan to put huge Solar arrays in geostationary orbit and beam power down to sub stations on earth with tight microwave spot beams. (Of course I wouldn't want to be a bird that happened to fly through one of those...LOL)

One of my first jobs out of high school was at a nuclear plant here in Illinois. I had friends that had come from working at Three Mile Island. At the time Bechtel was offering HUGE amounts of money for people to assist with the cleanup by coming in and taking your lifetime dose and then getting out. So I feel pretty secure about nuclear power as well.

Will "take no prisoners" Hart said...

Voltron, do you agree with the Pickens plan? It sounds like he wants to do everything, too. I really don't see this as a partisan issue anyway. Marcus, I'm partly to blame. I shouldn't be engaging them so consistently. It's like with the squirrels, bro. If you keep feeding them, they never go away.

IrOnY RaGeD said...

Will,

No on the Pickens plan.

First we don't currently have the infrastructure availible for wind energy although it does appear to be coming along nicely.
Add to that wind is inherently unpredictable. On days with no wind you get no power, or days when there's too much wind they have to stop them so they don't destroy themselves. Even on days within acceptable limits the power generated would fluctuate with the given wind speed.

So while wind can help, it's not reliable enough for everyday use as a main supply.

As to using natural gas for automobiles, there is no infrastructure at all for that purpose (save a few old facilities from the 70's) and would have to be built from the ground up.

If you really want to get off coal or oil powered generation, nuclear is the only way to go.

Änd the only real alternative to gasoline right now anyway is electric. That may be good when battery technology improves, but if you wanna take a long trip and do it quickly, it's still gasoline.

Not to mention that electric will be a hard sell for auto enthusiasts who love the music that flows from the tailpipe of a big v8.

Remember Hydrogen? Still no infrastructure for it.

Pickens is heavily invested in his own windfarm and is trying to recoup with our tax dollars.


And Will, it SHOULDN'T be a partisan issue but it's going to be as long as the Dems refuse to let us drill. The American people aren't stupid and if the Dems continue on the path their on, Obama will lose in november.
(unless gas prices come down enough to make us forget)

It's not just cars either, petroleum is used in MANY industries that produce the goods and services we want.

We have the resources here. We need to use them.

Anonymous said...

Obviously Volt KNOWS so much more then T Boone Pickens ...... you know the guy who has made a few billion dollars in his life time.

Wanna bet T Boone has already though about your "concerns" and have had then answered by engineers, meteorologists, agronomists, physicists and other people MUCH smarter then you are.

That is probably why he is very rich and you had to ask for help in paying for your granny hips, and you still sit in a little office working for somebody else..

Anonymous said...

So while wind can help, it's not reliable enough for everyday use as a main supply.

Bet you don't KNOW a god damned thingy about storage systems for wind son.

Google it son and maybe you'll learn something besides the bullshit newsmax, brent bozell, faux noise and the clueless right wing send ya son.

As to using natural gas for automobiles, there is no infrastructure at all for that purpose (save a few old facilities from the 70's) and would have to be built from the ground up.

Yes there is son, jus' because you have been stuck on stoop[id for years don't mean the rest of the planet is.

If you really want to get off coal or oil powered generation, nuclear is the only way to go

WRONG

Brazil a GROWING economic member of the planet says so, they only have ONE nuke plant, and NONE on the drawing board, however they use a hell lot of hydro power.

And the only real alternative to gasoline right now anyway is electric. That may be good when battery technology improves, but if you wanna take a long trip and do it quickly, it's still gasoline.

Not to mention that electric will be a hard sell for auto enthusiasts who love the music that flows from the tailpipe of a big v8.


Still stuck on 8th grade fantasies eh boy?

Remember Hydrogen? Still no infrastructure for it.

Hydrogen is the one alternate that is a total loser which is why there is no real future except for niche programs.

Pickens is heavily invested in his own windfarm and is trying to recoup with our tax dollars.

No son he is one person who has made mucho money in oil BUT has the inside knowledge OU don't and knows where the real future exists.


And Will, it SHOULDN'T be a partisan issue but it's going to be as long as the Dems refuse to let us drill.

80% of the existing oil is ON parcels that already have been leased to oil corps BUT for some reason they haven't drilled yet. I wonder why?

So your lies don't hold water son, it ain't as much about partisan politics as it is about they CAN'T make money on those off shore leases UNTIL the price rises where it is, which means that if they drill they ain't gonna lower the price, they can't and maker a profit.

Land based oil from the 20th century was produced at about 5-10 dollars a barrel (in 2008 dollars)

Off shore shallow wells like Louisiana off shore are about $20 a barrel, but deep water demands a rise in prices for oil other wise it simply costs too much to operate the rigs, which cost MUCH more to build and staff then a dry ground rig, which is why until the rise in oil prices in the 70's Alaska and Gulf of Mexico off shore didn't get the attention it did until the 72-74 oil crisis. the same reason Cantrell wasn't exploited until after 73, and the Arabs didn't drill off shore until they damaged Ghwar by over producing in the 70's and had to "rest" it to allow pressures to stabilize underground.


The American people aren't stupid

Which is why the republican party brand is on the level of dog shit

and if the Dems continue on the path their on, Obama will lose in november.

RIGHT Volt, remember when tallltexan bet about that in 2006?


(unless gas prices come down enough to make us forget)

Prices always FALL in the fall son, partly because we drive less, and partly because they get to STOP using the more expensive ethanol and get to use less expensive butane in gasoline, which means it is less expensive to blend.

It's not just cars either, petroleum is used in MANY industries that produce the goods and services we want.

Yes son and they will suffer with price rising as the MORE expensive to produce oil and more expensive heavy sour crudes become the only alternative to light sweet crudes which we are running short of.

We have the resources here. We need to use them.

Where? LOCKED up in the shale in the Green River basin, which covers portions of Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming which Shell among others have worked for decades to unlock but it is just too expensive compared to the cheap liquid crude which we can just pump from under the ground, it only becomes economical in the $70-80 a barrel range(2005 dollars), and with the rise in costs of other commodes like steel, copper and other materials they construct facilities out of that price is rising;

Following the 1973 oil crisis, world production of oil shale reached a peak of 46 million tonnes in 1980 before falling to about 16 million tonnes in 2000, due to competition from cheap conventional petroleum in the 1980s.

Or under North Dakota and Montana which they knew about since the 50's but until the price rose enough they couldn't economically produce, because of all the difficulties they kept running into.

Hint son since it is DRY land and they have worked some of the "bugs" out any sane oil exec would much rather drill here then where hurricanes and ice create mucho problems they have to pay for.

That is why the oil corps ain't screeching to drill on the leases they have which contain a lot of very expensive oil to produce .... which means MARKET forces NOT evil democrats are what is keeping their feet dry son ......

Anonymous said...

Obviously Volt KNOWS so much more then T Boone Pickens

Yep Volt only chooses to live in a trailer just like will chooses to change bedpans for a living.
These here are smart guys and only the delusional paranoids can't see it.