Posted by: Fred ||
08/30/2006 00:00 ||
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From Rantburg's Ernesto Watch Center.... ;)
The front end of it is hitting here in Central Florida. Think big ol' rainstorm and you have the general idea. One bolt of lightning so far. Some things have shut down, but not everything (the Tsar's company is open for business as usual, and could have even had furniture delivered to the new house today if we had wanted it to be....I opted for a drier day in the future....).
Patrick AFB and the local Coast Guard sent all of their cool toys out of here yesterday, but the shuttle looks like it was heading back to the launch pad for another attempt on the 6th. Went to the beach yesterday evening, and it was a surfer's dream. A little less than half of the beachside condos even bothered to put their shutters up (probably just wanted to see if they worked...)
We're expecting up to 6 inches of rain here, but since we're at a bit of a deficit anyway, it *should* be not that big of a deal. If it keeps coming down like it has been (moderate, not really heavy), that will help.
That's it for now. Off to watch the Weather Channel for live shots of their reporters bravely facing the elements here. ;)
#2
...As of now, those of us on the SC coast are working on the assumption it will be a very small Cat 1 when it gets here - the forecast track takes it directly over my home. Will keep everybody posted.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
08/30/2006 11:16 Comments ||
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#3
We're no longer in a hurricane watch area here. It's now a tropical depression (category below tropical storm) warning area all the way from Sebastian to Cape Fear, NC. Right now, we're getting drizzle, and virtually no wind. There's normal traffic on the roads, UPS is making their delivery rounds, and people are out walking their mutts.
And why hasn't FEMA delivered enough Prozac to South Florida already? It's more of the Bush administration's incompetence and lack of compassion, I tells ya.
/moonbat
Posted by: Mike ||
08/30/2006 12:47 Comments ||
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Blondie-
I'm keeping my fingers crossed - I lived 90 miles inland for 13 years and all we got were a couple close calls. Moved to the coast 3 weeks ago and now we're talking direct hit. :)
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
08/30/2006 13:35 Comments ||
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#7
Ok, back from taking the Rantburg Storm Chaser TM out for a spin. There is some steady rain, but nothing out of the ordinary for a heavy storm. The storm damage? A couple of palm fronds on the road.
Expecting more of the same all night. The center is about 40 miles south of us right now.
If this keeps up, the Weather Channel is going to bug out and head for Mexico's Hurricane John off of the Pacific Coast.
------------------------------------------
And Mike, don't know what to tell you about your luck after moving to the coast. ;) Be careful up there!
Posted by: Fred ||
08/30/2006 00:00 ||
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No surprise here - MadMoud engages in rapprochement wid Germany ergo attack SPAIN to outflank FRANCE. And now you know why Osama = Joe is "obsessed" with Whitney. Time to go to Subway and buy a Cold Cut Combo.
#3
The ongoing monitoring procedures push the illegal migrants to dare and run the risk.
In 2000, 72 corpses were found out whereas the survivors mention 271 death cases.
The same reports stress that 3286 corpses have been found out in Gibraltar coasts between 1997 and 2001, this means that more than ten thousand migrants died in the straight during the five years
Where are those Vicente Fox video's.....and pamphlets entitled.... "Illegal border Crossing For DUMMIES!" The needless dying must STOP!
LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) - The assembly rewriting Bolivia's constitution, bogged down by infighting, delayed voting Tuesday on a motion supported by the president that would give it supreme authority to draw up a new framework without having to answer to Congress or the courts. The assembly began earlier this month, and elected delegates have one year to create a new constitution for the South American country.
Disputes between delegates from President Evo Morales' Movement Toward Dictatorship Socialism party led them to put off voting on the measure, seen correctly by some as a major power grab by the populist leader. A vote could come later this week. Morales, a communist leftist elected as Bolivia's first Indian president in December, envisions the assembly as a means to undo the centuries-old dominance of the European-descended minority and to create more opportunity for the poor, indigenous majority.
He has called for the assembly to be declared ``original'' - or free to create an entirely new Bolivia without interference of the current government. ``We want no power to exist above the assembly, so that it can develop in absolute freedom and according to the mandate of the people,'' said Robert Aguilar, a delegate for the Movement Toward Socialism party, or MAS.
So that they can impose the dictatorship of the proletariat without further delay.
Opponents, though, say declaring the assembly all-powerful goes against the body's own bylaws, and would divide the country in two. They fear Morales could use it to shut down all branches of government but his own.
``It would be a grave political error, and a grave tactical error,'' said conservative former vice president Victor Hugo Cardenas of the National Revolutionary Movement party. Cardenas said conservatives would decry such an assembly - and any government it would create - as illegitimate, creating the ``possible danger of confrontations, which no Bolivians wish for.''
I think Morales and his thugs relish the idea.
Conservative party Podemos, which has sought to limit the assembly's mandate to merely editing Bolivia's current constitution, claims the MAS delegates plan to establish a totalitarian regime. ``The only thing Morales aspires to is the complete power to throw out the legitimately chosen authorities,'' said Ruben Dario Cuellar, head of the constitutional delegates from Podemos.
Who needs them when you have a Man of the People? If it was good enough for Cuba it should be good enough for Bolivia.
MAS holds a thin majority in the assembly, but not the two-thirds needed to control the 255-member assembly outright. To obtain minor-party support for the motion, MAS on Sunday agreed to adhere to the two-thirds requirement, meaning the opposition still will have the power to eventually block the new document from becoming the law of the land. However, some MAS delegates Tuesday were still hoping to disregard the two-thirds rule and control the assembly through their party's simple majority.
"Rules? Rules?! We don't need no stinkin' rules!"
Any changes to government structures approved by the assembly won't go into effect until the new constitution it creates is passed by a nationwide referendum at the end of 2007.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/30/2006 00:00 ||
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I vote for the naked belly party
Posted by: Captain America ||
08/30/2006 0:20 Comments ||
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What time is it Leonard? It's 18mm till exposed camel toe Gus.
Thomas Koerber, an engineering technician from Viernheim, Germany, was looking for a new job. He found it -- 4,700 miles away, in Canada.
``I looked around, found a job I liked in Canada, and left Germany within two months,'' Koerber, 39, said in a telephone interview from Calgary. ``If I can get a better job abroad, and if I'm being treated better, I'm gone.''
Koerber is one of 145,000 Germans who fled the fatherland last year amid record postwar unemployment, pushing emigration to its highest level since 1954, Federal Statistics Office figures show. Last year was also the first since the late 1960s that emigrants outnumbered Germans returning home from living abroad, the statistics office said. Even more troubling to German officials and business leaders, many were skilled workers like Koerber. The loss of such people, they say, may threaten Germany's economic competitiveness in the future.
Germany doesn't have much of a future, a 40 year-old German teacher who moved to France said Aug. 26 in a typical posting. The teacher, writing under the alias ``Kritischer Leser,'' meaning Critical Reader, said he's working fewer hours and making more money than his sister, a doctor in Germany.
For Koerber, the decision to leave was largely one of taxes. In Germany, where the highest tax bracket starts at 52,152 euros ($66,600), he would have to pay 42 percent of every euro above that level. In addition, the German value-added tax -- a kind of national sales levy -- is 16 percent, which is scheduled to rise three percentage points next year.
Other German expatriates cite what they say is the over- regimentation of the labor force. ``Life in Germany is totally over-regulated,'' said Christian Kaestner, 38, an attorney who moved from Munich to Cape Town, South Africa, in 1997. ``There are hardly any freedoms left, and you keep bumping into regulations and prohibitions.''
Government officials say the numbers aren't alarming, because many Germans move to other countries to work for a limited period of time, and return with additional qualifications.
Today's emigrants are more likely to choose Canada, New Zealand and Australia, or, within Europe, Switzerland, Austria and the Netherlands. An estimated 2,300 German doctors are working in Switzerland, more than 8 percent of the Swiss total, said the Bern-based FMH Swiss Medical Association.
Taking into account gross pay, taxes, insurance and the cost of living, doctors make more money in Switzerland, said Matthias Dettmer, 31, an assistant pathologist in Zurich from the southern German city of Tuebingen. He makes more than double his former colleagues in Germany, who earn what he calls a ``cleaner's pay.''
``I don't know yet whether I'll ever go back,'' said Dettmer. ``Under the prevailing conditions, it would be a hard sell to convince me that it's better in Germany.''
Koerber, who's striving for permanent Canadian residency, said there's little point trying to persuade him to return home. ``I'll never come back,'' he said. ``Guaranteed.''
Canada has an image problem south of the border. It's not that Americans have a bad impression of their northern neighbour it's that they have no impression at all.
It's little wonder, then, that U.S. visits to Canada are sitting at a record low. Same-day car visits have almost halved over the past six years, while overall visits have plunged 30 per cent. Reasons for the drop are well documented rising gasoline prices, a strong Canadian dollar and fears of increased security at the border.
The underlying factor though, say tourism experts on both sides of the border, is that Canada has simply fallen off the radar of most Americans. As other countries such as Australia are busy waging marketing blitzes, there's simply no buzz about Canada south of the border.
Continued on Page 49
Let American travelers pickle in the heat of the south, flee Killer Bees and bugs large enough to make a sandwich with, sweat, stink and parade in their tropical "paradises", I'll enjoy the clean air, beautiful scenery, vast unspolied space, and peace and quiet up north.
Posted by: Jules in the Hinterlands ||
08/30/2006 8:35 Comments ||
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#2
Hey Jules, at least I don't have to shovel sunshine! :P
#3
We're really fighting in a global warming globally competitive marketplace, in the fastest-growing industry in the world......and the resurgence of tourism in and around Crawford Texas.
#5
Well, I'll just keep voting the red side of the ticket in November in the hopes that more Americans will choose to visit [and stay] in Canada. My part for the program.
#6
Swamp Blondie...:)
To each their own-whatever floats your boat. My best friend loves sweltering in the heat and thinks I'm crazy, but I think she is crazy. Yesterday I said, "the weather is finally getting nice", while she is preparing for an onslaught of SAD as fall nears. I have the reverse of SAD; I am always cheerier in cooler weather.
No place is Utopia-people should seek out what they like. For me, shoveling is no big deal; driving on ice is the worst of it.
mcgeseek1-Lots of room left-everyone else is headed for the crowded beaches.
Posted by: Jules in the Hinterlands ||
08/30/2006 10:27 Comments ||
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Nothing about the wearying anti-Americanism of the Cretan administration that has been running Canada. After a couple of years of Harper, things will probably turn around.
The Maritimes are also a delight to visit, especially Fortress Louisbourg. And they are very happy to see Americans as tourism is the only business around. A good bookend to Louisbourg is King's Landing in New Brunswick. If you don't understand why English is the predominant language in North America after that, you never will.
#8
Nova Scotia and Quebec are mighty fine, too. If you like winter sports, try Charlevoix and Estrie (regions).
I think one legitimate reason for Canadians to worry, though, is the Islamification of major cities. That is a big turn off for Americans tourists. What the heck is happening to Toronto?
Posted by: Jules in the Hinterlands ||
08/30/2006 10:43 Comments ||
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#10
Nothing about the wearying anti-Americanism of the Cretan administration that has been running Canada. After a couple of years of Harper, things will probably turn around.
He doesnt talk about blackfies, mosquitos as big as SUVs. Government run liquor stores. And then there's the moose. Tell us about the mooses, Jules.
Posted by: john ||
08/30/2006 14:03 Comments ||
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I suspect the big problem is the exchange rate. It used to be that Canada was a bargain for American tourists: Near US standard of living at much cheaper prices. Now prices (in American $) are at least 1/3 higher. That really puts a crimp in vacation plans!
Al
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
08/30/2006 14:27 Comments ||
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Personal experience has been that trying to get back into the states has been the big hang up: the Canadian Customs folks are pretty cool, but the US guys are not. Like normal people try to smuggle racing lawn mowers INTO the States.....
#17
"Smug condescending attitude towards people from the States is, however. Montreal's not that far from me but I'll spend my money elsewhere, thanks."
Yeah but they don't count. After all, they're French.
#20
John, like I said, no such thing as Utopia. Never saw a moose, though I bet they could put a big dent in your car...
ST9559-? I don't get your "tap ass" comment. I have been to Quebec and Ontario; my mother has visited British Columbia, Alberta and Nova Scotia. I am a woman, BTW. And an American citizen (only).
Posted by: Jules in the Hinterlands ||
08/30/2006 17:01 Comments ||
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#21
Jules, I suspect "tapped ass" is one of the many things they never say in front of ladies, which is why you and I don't know what it means. Clearly it wasn't meant to be polite, though. (ooooh - another chance to expand our vocabularies!)
#22
We were camping all around Southern BC for most of this summer, it was almost deserted everywhere. We met one American couple (at a resort in Fernie BC) in all that time. And when we got to the Upper Flathead river, we thought we owned the place. Magnificent country. A few miles South, Glacier National Park, Montana.
By the way, according to my GPS, the border line at the old Flathead border station is about 200 yards inside Canada.
#23
The only way to describe it is 'Indescribably Beautiful'.
Not just Banff, try Jasper, Lake Louise the Fraser River Canyon and so many other incredible places. I canoed all 100 miles of the Bowron Lakes circuit. It was almost more fun than sex. Then there's the Canadian beer ...
Some see the glass as half empty, others as half full. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) sees it as overflowing. Briefing reporters yesterday on Democrats' prospects in the midterm elections, Schumer, chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, had trouble thinking of a single race Republicans will win.
How about Nevada, where Democrat Jack Carter trails Sen. John Ensign (R) by 21 points? "Jack Carter has done a very good job. . . . Nevada is moving up on our radar screen . . . We are getting more and more enthusiastic about Nevada."
And Arizona, where a poll found Sen. Jon Kyl (R) 18 points ahead of Democrat Jim Pederson? "We're feeling better and better. . . . Our candidate Jim Pederson is running a great race. . . . The public seems to like what he says."
Or Virginia, where no conventional poll has found Democrat James Webb leading Sen. George Allen (R)? "We think we have a good chance of winning in Virginia. . . . We regard it as a very, very good chance of a Democratic pickup."
Those who handicap Senate races say the Democrats could gain four or five seats -- just short of the six needed to gain control of the chamber. But the irrepressible Schumer, whose position requires a certain amount of cheerleading, yesterday outlined a November conquest in which Democrats pick up nine seats. "We're doing amazingly well and better than we ever thought," he pronounced.
To judge from Schumer's presentation, the Democrats will achieve this extraordinary triumph by employing an extended series of mixed metaphors. Schumer himself may have set a record in that department yesterday as he painted the electoral landscape:
"This administration is shrugging its shoulders. . . . It's like 'The Wizard of Oz' -- it showed the man behind the screen. . . . You know which way the winds are blowing. . . . There have been very few bumps in the road. . . . The wind continues to stay at our backs. . . . The idea that there should be no check and balance, no congressional oversight, just isn't flying. They want to try to bring back the 2004 playbook. . . . They're trying to find a new rabbit to pull out of the hat, but so far they've gone back to the old chestnuts."
Chestnuts? In the same hat with rabbits? With the wind at their back on a bumpy road? "They're going to bring up the same old chestnuts in one form or other, and it's not going to work," Schumer continued. "Digging the hole deeper makes a difference. . . . The real way they can get well is a change in course. That's what America wants, a new direction. . . . We have an uphill road in the sense that the map is a tough map, but we're feeling very good. . . . The meat-and-potato issues are the Democratic base. . . . There's a big wind at Democrats' backs. . . . The national winds tend to blow better in Senate races, but we have a tougher map."
Okay, so it's definitely windy, and the Democrats have meat and potatoes, not chestnuts. But why would Republicans change course if it's the Democrats who have a tough map?
Schumer was having too much fun to explain. Forty reporters, desperate for some late-August political news, crowded around a conference table at DSCC headquarters. Schumer entered wearing cotton trousers and an open collar. "I guess nothing's doing," he surmised correctly when he saw the big crowd.
The senator, no stranger to news conferences, savored his 40-minute Q&A, resting his elbows on the table, removing his right loafer and jiggling his leg under the table as he spoke excitedly about Democratic prospects as if they were marathon runners.
Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.): "Bob Menendez is running a great race."
Ohio candidate Sherrod Brown: "Sherrod Brown is running a great race."
Tennessee candidate Harold Ford: "Harold Ford is running a great race."
For the record, Schumer did not say that Pennsylvania candidate Bob Casey is running a great race. "Bob Casey is a great candidate and will be a great senator," he said.
Schumer bestowed his most generous praise on Claire McCaskill, who is challenging Sen. Jim Talent (R-Mo.). "She is just wonderful -- I just respect her so," Schumer gushed. "She is a wonderful person, a very, very smart political leader."
Maryland presented a problem for Schumer because the Democratic primary hasn't happened yet. "We have two very good candidates in Maryland," the resourceful Schumer improvised. "Extremely strong candidates. . . . We feel very good about Maryland."
Amid such unbounded optimism, it would have been churlish to point out that the experts regard this as overly exuberant. While political forecasters such as Charlie Cook and Stuart Rothenberg have switched in the past few weeks to predicting a Democratic takeover of the House, there are no such forecasts for the Senate.
Except Schumer's. Asked if any races were not going well for Democrats, he was stumped. "Hmmmm," he replied.
"How about Maine?" a reporter offered. Polls show Sen. Olympia Snowe (R) leading Democrat Jean Hay Bright by 50 points, and Democrats have likened Snowe's popularity in Maine to that of Jesus.
"Yeah," Schumer agreed. "Maine isn't going very well at all."
Posted by: Bobby ||
08/30/2006 8:44 Comments ||
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#2
Granted being a senator assumes that you're a self serving media whore, but Chuck takes it to an absurd level.
The way the NY media fawns all over his most inane bloviations probably has something to do with it. That and the fact he is a jackass.
#5
Why, oh, why do the simps in New York & Massachusetts keep returning morons like Chuckie and Fatso to the Senate ? Don't you want some reasonable person there to represent you ? (I'm afraid of the answer)
#7
Dhimicrats remind me of Al Jiz. They make wild claims like they invented the question mark but get real fuzzy about specifics. Hugh Hewitt had a LLL pollster on (Steve Rothenberg) yesterday and after listening to his rant I didnt feel that the Democrats were about to take over anything except maybe Connecticut (plus or minus).
After close to a year of intense debate, the Indian government has decided it does not want the Chinese investing in, or managing any Indian port.
The first company to bear the brunt of this decision will be Hong Kong-based Hutchison Port Holdings (HPH), the largest independent port operator in the world. The company has been waiting for security clearances before it could go ahead with its bids to build container terminals for Mumbai and Chennai at Rs 1,200 crore and Rs 494 crore respectively. The decision also eliminates future Chinese participation in 13 ports planned across the country at a cost of Rs 61,000 crore.
In many ways, the move is reminiscent of the US Senates decision early this year not to allow Dubai Ports (DP) to operate in many American states, including New York and Philadelphia, citing security concerns. Although DPs entry had President Bushs backing, the proposal was shot down by the US Congress, sparking a storm of protest across the world, with allegations of bigotry and racial discrimination.
The salvo that ended the debate in India was fired last week when the government sent a confidential note to the chairmen of Mumbai and Chennai Port Trusts. Citing 'security concerns', the letter informed the heads of both ports that it had rejected applications from HPH.
Sources said the Kaidi Electric Power Company and Chinese Harbour Engineering Company, which have bid for Vizhinjam port in Kerala, will also meet the same fate as Hutchison.
Both Mumbai and Chennai ports had postponed the container terminal projects for over a year because Hutchisons application was pending before the government. Following the government note, they have decided to go ahead with the bidding.
"We have informed the others to submit their bids for building the container terminal by September 15," said P Mohana Chandran, secretary, Mumbai Port Trust.
Chennai Port had shortlisted four bids including the one from Hutchison Port. "We are analysing the repercussions and will arrive at a decision in a few days," said a Chennai Port official.
Meanwhile, L&T, which had tied up with Hutchison Port for bidding on both projects, has now tied up with Manila-based International Containers Terminal Services to stay in the bid.
Posted by: john ||
08/30/2006 00:00 ||
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Good move. The ChiComs are up to no good
Posted by: Captain America ||
08/30/2006 0:19 Comments ||
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Yeah, but now the chinese will have to throw a public pissyfit to "save face"
But Ross Chow of the Alberta Research Council in Edmonton, Canada, says that the researchers had to apply large amounts of electrical energy for fairly small decreases in viscosity. He also says it is not clear whether Tao and Xu's theoretical explanation of what is happening is correct.
On the other hand, Chow says the effect seems to be real, and agrees that further research might lead to an economic way of using magnetic and electric fields in pipelines
The old "More study is needed" ploy!
Posted by: Bobby ||
08/30/2006 8:39 Comments ||
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#2
Not a new technique. Heating has been done for decades.
Posted by: Mike ||
08/30/2006 8:30 Comments ||
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The double-decker plane is designed to carry 555 to 840 passengers, about 35 percent more than the Boeing B747. To date, 16 airline companies have ordered 168 of the super jumbo jets.
Whotta target that'll make!
Posted by: Bobby ||
08/30/2006 8:46 Comments ||
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Bros. Judd has an article that the Russkies have ponied up some rubles:
Russians take stake in EADS
By Seattle Times news services
----
Hey, ladies and gentlemen, I'm looking for some info which I should have saved on my 'puter.
Someone here mentioned there's a site where aero afficionados (sp) go to discuss planes, and we 'merkins were having quite a jolly time trashing the Euros and Airbus. I'm looking for the link for my neighbor's son. He wants to design planes.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
08/30/2006 14:42 Comments ||
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#7
Q: How can you tell when there is aproblem with an Airbus' landing gear?
A: When it takes full power to taxi.
(Thank you and good night, you've been a great crowd and don't forget to tip your waitress)
SIHANOUKVILLE, CAMBODIA In the coming weeks, US oil giant Chevron will ferry oil and gas equipment hundreds of miles offshore in the Gulf of Thailand, and use them to reconfirm what many already believe to be true: Cambodia is sitting on a billion-dollar gold mine. Black gold to be exact.
The amount of oil Cambodia will produce in the coming years is likely to have a negligible impact on world markets. But for this impoverished country of 13 million, still recovering from the brutality of the Khmer Rouge and Vietnamese occupation, it could be nothing short of transformative. "If managed well, this could be a huge opportunity for Cambodia," says Tim Conway, a poverty reduction specialist for the World Bank.
If managed well ...
Chevron used 3-D seismic data to survey more than 2,427 kilometers, and drilled five exploration wells last year, hitting oil in four. They've been cautious in public statements, announcing only that they plan to reconfirm their finds with 10 more test wells in the months ahead.
But the government, diplomats, and the myriad aid organizations operating here have been less sanguine. Earlier this month, officials in this southern port town announced plans to construct a massive new port facility to service oil operators offshore, in anticipation of a full-scale oil boom.
Oil companies from China, Vietnam, South Korea, and Japan are all vying for offshore contracts. The UN Development Program (UNDP) identified oil as the best hope for the country's future, and released estimates widely cited in the development community. In Chevron's "Block A" alone, the first of six demarcated offshore zones, the government share of oil and gas revenues are expected to top between $700 million to $1 billion a year.
By some estimates - according to the UNDP - it's not unreasonable to believe that in the coming years, revenue from gas and oil deposits will more than double Cambodia's GDP, which now stands at about $5 billion (much of that is from foreign aid). And that's not even counting the disputed zones between Thailand and Cambodia, which could be the richest of all.
Many diplomats and NGOs in Phnom Penh worry that the oil and natural gas - which could start flowing as soon as 2009 - could reverse more than a decade of poverty alleviation and transform Cambodia into a full-scale kleptocracy. Nigeria is the textbook case of what could go wrong, according to the UNDP.
Nigeria is exhibit A, allright. Much more hand-wringing at the link.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/30/2006 00:00 ||
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Sniff, sniff, and to think it only took 20-plus years to notice the "black swamps/cesspools", and not just in Cambodia either. The Chicommies in BURMA taint gonna be happy. What's JED CLAMPETT's shotgun good fer iff he can't blast a lot of Commies in the ass while discovering awl???
#5
Many diplomats and NGOs in Phnom Penh worry that the oil and natural gas - which could start flowing as soon as 2009 - could reverse more than a decade of poverty alleviation and transform Cambodia into a full-scale kleptocracy.
As opposed to the two-bit kleptocracy it is today.
Gasoline prices are falling fast and could keep dropping for months. "The only place they have to go is down," says Fred Rozell, gasoline analyst at the Oil Price Information Service (OPIS). "We'll be closer to $2 than $3 come Thanksgiving."
Now, what else is happening in November, let me think.....
Travel organization AAA foresees prices 10 cents a gallon lower by the end of next week. It reported a nationwide average of $2.84 Tuesday, the lowest since April 20.
I paid $2.56 this morning
It's good news for consumers and the economy. Continued lower prices "may act like a tax cut" and stimulate spending, says Richard DeKaser, chief economist at National City in Cleveland. He calculates that higher energy prices the first six months cut growth of consumer spending 1 percentage point.
The U.S. average for a gallon of regular peaked this year at $3.036 Aug. 10, according to OPIS/AAA daily surveys. That's slightly under the high of $3.057 Sept. 5, a week after Hurricane Katrina battered petroleum production in the Gulf of Mexico and caused fears of fuel shortages. OPIS' Rozell figures prices will jump again next spring.
Behind the current drop:
The end of summer. Driving slows, reducing demand for gasoline. And federal requirements for clean air, summer-blend gasoline end next month, making gasoline cheaper to refine and import.
Sluggish demand. Gasoline use in the first eight months of the year is up 1% vs. a year ago, less than the 1.5% to 2% growth that's typical, says Michael Morris, analyst at the U.S. Energy Information Administration. "Wholesalers are trying to get rid of product. The growth in demand for gasoline has really tapered off," he says. Wholesale prices are falling faster than retail gasoline prices, meaning stations are making more money than when prices were $3. Wholesale prices Tuesday ranged from $1.77 to $1.79 a gallon, well below the $2-plus prices typical until recently.
Petroleum traders, worried that prices are too high to last, are selling their holdings. That pushes prices down. They also believe hurricanes won't disrupt Gulf of Mexico production, OPIS senior analyst Tom Kloza says. Crude oil, which accounts for roughly half the price of gasoline, ended New York trading Tuesday down 90 cents, at $69.71 a barrel. That's the first time it's closed at less than $70 since May 4.
It's a Rovian plot, I tell you! Bush got his friends in Big Oil to lower prices before the November election to secure his re-election! Oh, wait.....
Posted by: Steve ||
08/30/2006 13:07 ||
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..Down to $2.35 for regular here as of today.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
08/30/2006 13:28 Comments ||
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You bastids! I was finally able to put $2.99 in my tank today.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
08/30/2006 13:46 Comments ||
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Think the Chinese are done for now? Even with tons of money from Walmart et al, they can't afford high price gasoline for their vehicles more than we can. at a certain point their market softens and prices drop. We bitch, they shut down.
#5
Didn't we just hear a month ago that BP's pipeline maintenance problem was supposed to inflate prices outrageously? Funny how fast these fuel-fortunes change...
Posted by: Dar ||
08/30/2006 16:00 Comments ||
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Aha! So it *was* All About Oil. I blame Bush for the uh... fall in gas prices.
Good start on restoring that CBS integrity...
NEW YORK - No, Katie Couric didn't suddenly lose 20 pounds. The incoming "CBS Evening News" anchor appears significantly thinner in a network promotional magazine photo thanks to digital airbrushing. Maybe next time they could have her on fire, or carrying dead babies out of rubbled buildings...
The touched-up photo of Couric dressed in a striped business suit appears on the inside of the September issue of Watch! which is distributed at CBS stations and on American Airlines flights. So I guess they figured nobody would see it?
CBS News President Sean McManus said he was "obviously surprised and disappointed when I heard about it." Of course you were, Sean...
The original picture was snapped in May and was widely circulated to the media as an official photo of Couric.
Couric, 49, said she hadn't known about the digitally reworked version until she saw the issue. The former NBC "Today" show host told the Daily News, "I liked the first picture better because there's more of me to love." What's the frequency, Katie?
Gil Schwartz, executive vice president of communications for CBS Corp., said Wednesday in a phone interview the photo alteration was done by someone in the CBS photo department who "got a little zealous." But he dismissed any notion of heads rolling over the matter. Yeah. These guys might come in handy down the road...
"I talked to my photo department, we had a discussion about it," Schwartz said. "I think photo understands this is not something we'd do in the future." Suuuuuure, boss. Whatever ya say...
He said the photo department "services tens of thousands of photographs every year" for all parts of the company and that it "does a fantastic job." Whaddya ya need, boss? Dan Rather hanging out with that Karr psycho in Thailand? Coming right up...
"The article that accompanies the picture is very responsible, very interesting," he added. Yeah? Is it fake too? How do we even know Katie Coric exists?
While expressing regret, McManus tried to make light of the matter."I've asked that three inches in height be added to my official CBS photo," he quipped to the News. Hahahahaha...wait, is he serious? We can do that you know...
Couric debuts in the anchor's chair Sept. 5. CBS has spent millions on marketing to prepare viewers for her arrival. "CBS News. Just Like You Remember It".
#1
..Am trying to remember where I read it (and it may have even been here) but apparently there is some quiet concern in the CBS executive suite as to what they may have gotten themselves into with Ms Couric. She has been making no secret of her fondness for Hillary Clinton and has implied that she will plug Senator Clinton's candidacy at every chance, regardless of the fact they're supposed to be neutral.
I'm guessing on a fast, spectacular blowout for the new CBS Evening News...
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
08/30/2006 13:42 Comments ||
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#2
So CBS's take is that if we pay you millions of dollahs we don't want no fat chicks on the air..
#5
I know this doesn't have anything to do with doctoring photos, but as long as we're on the subject of Couric:
In the heavily rotated promos for her upcoming anchor debut, Katie profers the following gem--
"I hope that when you watch the CBS Evening News, you'll not only understand WHAT happened, but WHY, and how it affects your life".
Well little miss sunshine, with all due respect, that's precisely why I WONT be watching you or any other MSM broadcast. I don't need your opinion on why, and how could you presume to know how it's going to affect me? Report the news lady. Not that I'm a big Fox News proponent, but you could learn a thing or two from their slogan-- "We REPORT. You decide."
#7
It is a common and accepted practice to clean up the photo's for featured articles in mags. This is really no big deal, unless they are news photos touched up to make a story like TU3031 talks of.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
08/30/2006 16:21 Comments ||
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#8
This is really no big deal
Unless the entire Mainstream Media's reporting veracity and photojournalistic integrity are in question. Then it becomes symptomatic.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
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Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
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LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) - The assembly rewriting Bolivia's constitution, bogged down by infighting, delayed voting Tuesday on a motion supported by the president that would give it supreme authority to draw up a new framework without having to answer to Congress or the courts. The assembly began earlier this month, and elected delegates have one year to create a new constitution for the South American country.
Canada has an image problem south of the border. It's not that Americans have a bad impression of their northern neighbour it's that they have no impression at all.
SIHANOUKVILLE, CAMBODIA In the coming weeks, US oil giant Chevron will ferry oil and gas equipment hundreds of miles offshore in the Gulf of Thailand, and use them to reconfirm what many already believe to be true: Cambodia is sitting on a billion-dollar gold mine. Black gold to be exact.
