Buck Butler’s Doggone Miracle

Posted on December 6, 2013 by MN Gordon

Not long ago, about the time of the financial crisis in 2008, the U.S. faced grim prospects of an interminable energy crisis.  U.S. oil production had peaked in 1970 at about 9.6 million barrels per day.  It had been in long, slow decline ever since.

Even worse, increasing reliance on Middle East oil had put the U.S. in a delicate geopolitical predicament over the years.  Greater and greater military action was needed to secure energy supplies.  Dependence on foreign oil was becoming more and more precarious.

But then something remarkable and completely unexpected happened.  After a 28 year slide down to about 5 million barrels per day in 2008, U.S. oil production reversed.  Instead of production decreasing…suddenly, it was increasing.

According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), domestic crude production totaled 7.8 million barrels a day in the week ending October 18, the highest mark in nearly a quarter of a century.  This turn of events and its ramifications are quite astounding. Continue reading →

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Albert Einstein’s Eighth Wonder of the World

Posted on December 3, 2013 by MN Gordon

“It’s a stupid way to run a country,” remarked Maya MacGuineas over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.  MacGuineas, head of the Campaign to Fix the Debt, was commenting on Congress’s failure to operate within a budget.  “Change comes from two possible things,” added MacGuineas, “a crisis or leadership.”

Regrettably, for as long as we can remember, the nation’s finances have been guided by crisis.  Moreover, each crisis has been met with a quick fix and the swift kick of the can down the road.  We find this to be downright insulting.

Particularly since Congress is incapable of doing what most honest, hardworking, Americans do to manage their personal affairs.  Spend less than they make.  Or make more than they spend.

In fact, the last time Congress even passed a budget resolution was 2009.  Otherwise, they just blindly spend money without any real limits.  Unfortunately, this will probably not change anytime soon.

At this point, all the Congressional budget panel can agree on is that something must be done to replace some of the automatic sequestration cuts. Continue reading →

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As Good As It Gets

Posted on November 29, 2013 by MN Gordon

Searching for ordinary ideals of Americana is like looking for consistency in the Affordable Care Act statute.  They simply don’t exist.  The valued conviction of one American vastly differs from that of another.

One may celebrate adventures in mysticisms.  Another may find inspiration sitting in a NASCAR grandstand.  While a third struggles to free himself of the orthodox hobgoblins that suffocate his soul.

In the more respectable newspapers, the story of the national struggle is told with delicate regularity.  The news is professed from the locus of the two party political system…any diverging views are carefully sifted out.  What’s reported is only what the story editors allow to pass through their particulate filters.

We’re told a never ending Marxian tale of the evil rich exploiting the noble poor.  Even worse, we’re led to believe that clowns like John F. Kerry know exactly what the heck they’re doing.  Plus we’re led to believe that what they are doing is in our best interest.

Occasionally the madness is too immense for even the major networks, and their carefully scripted plots, to ignore. Continue reading →

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What You Need to Know about What’s Going on with Natural Gas

Posted on November 26, 2013 by MN Gordon

Here’s a notable factoid for you.  Americans now pay 42 percent more for electricity than they did just 10 years ago.  This trend appears to be accelerating too…

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the price of electricity hit a record for the month of October.  This marked the 11th consecutive month where the average price of electricity hit or matched the record level for that month.  Moreover, the last 10 successive months have each notched record levels for their respective months.

Specifically, the average price of electricity was 13.2 cents per kilowatt hour (KWH), up from 12.8 cents in October 2012.  Ten years ago, in October 2003, the average price of electricity was just 9.3 cent per KWH.  You can view average price data for electricity, and other items, at the BLS Consumer Price Index-Average Price Data site.

What’s interesting, however, is that these increases in electricity prices are moving in the opposite direction of most other prices.  Somehow electricity prices are going up while overall prices are flat or going down.  Here’s what we mean… Continue reading →

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