Friday, March 28, 2008

Hrmmm #5

Some early morning Hrmmm before I hit the road:
  • Oil hovers near $108 record level - Three points I rarely see shared when it comes to TV newscasters. First, the price of oil is currently being driven by traders, not supply or demand. All the guys who used to make a fortune off buying/selling debt (ie: mortgages) have shifted to oil trading. Second, as the value of the dollar drops, it is going to take more dollars to buy a barrel of oil. Third, the demand for oil in the US is actually going down for the first time in a decade. None of those points get mentioned, at least while I’m watching.
  • California utility to turn roofs into solar power plants - Jolly good news here. Wish other big spenders would see it an copy the business model. For example, down here in MS we are looking at spending $5B on a “llignite” (ie: liquid coal) plant. How about we spend $5B on solar panels, instead?
  • NRG's estimate for Texas nuclear reactors still climbing - My main concern here is “There’s a total absence of the U.S. supply chain,” because we haven’t built any nuclear plants here in decades. So in order to slough off the oil addiction, we have to spend MORE money than we thought because we can’t find parts for our fancy new power plants locally. Niiiiice! I wish some big spender would see this and say: “Hey! Here’s an opportunity to supplement the supply chain, make some money, diminish the cost of building much-needed-nuclear-plants, and create some much-needed-American-jobs!!!”
  • Anti-Missile Gear Tested On FedEx Planes - WOW! FedEx with frickin’ laser beams. People need to know about this. Also, consumers need to be aware that terrorists are targeting our shipments of cookies and eBay items.
  • Chicken Genome Leads to New Vaccine to Fight Poultry Disease - A cure for a disease that costs $1B per year of damage to our poultry industry needs to be mentioned somewhere other than an obscure internet site! Oh, also let it be known that American owns the chicken genome!
  • Killer fungus threatens wheat production in western areas - A threat to the global food security might need to be mentioned after that whole chicken thing, too. I don’t know who Ug99 is, but if I catch him sneaking up on my wheat, he’s getting a foot in his butt.
  • USDA Might Limit Meat Recall Information - This won’t be seen on any major newcasts because there’d be a public revolt. It basically means the organization chartered to protect the public is going to obscure the identity of any major retailers that expose the public to tainted meat. If I find the guy responsible for this policy, he’s getting a infected chicken and a bag of Ug99 in his butt.
  • GA city moves forward on uranium-removal plan - This caught my eye because I used to live in Lawrenceville, GA, and I certainly wouldn’t have enjoyed drinking water pulled from a well that contained excessive concentrations of URANIUM!
  • UN raises alarm on AIDS epidemic in Asia - UN says “there’s an AIDS epidemic in Asia that could kill 500,000 per year,” and the US newsrooms print, “Britany’s Return to Television is a success.” Grrrreat! Maybe we can fly her to Asia?

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