Carnivale.

Then we shall fight in the Shade

I've never been one for politics (besides my service to Caesar), but I feel like I owe something to the blog and to our nation, to have a say in the current matter. First off, McCain is going to win whether we like it or not and everyone who thinks otherwise is in fantasy land, because its always the same people on top (shady, willing to get down for oil, lets take over the East, lets go to war, lets take over the world, fix the economy and the media, yada yada yada). But I don't think that this is such a bad thing if the Republicans man up and do it the right way when McCain is elected. All they would have to do is propose a plan, in which we pull out our troops for a few years and fix the economy so the market rises giving the mass populus a false sense of content. They need to keep the Dems in House and work with them in exploring alternative energy/ modifications to health care, etc. all the crowd favorites. But behind the scenes we should be doing extensive recon on Iran and possibly China, with the hopes of future oil and political/socioeconomical conquest. Thus, after a few years of "yay things are peaceful in America" we can really eradicate the threats to humanity as well as use the resources in the East to globalize our research into energy, science and medicine, which needs to be taken to new levels if we're going to advance as a race and put everyone at optimum ability.

Something to Ponder...

What would YOU do for a Klondike bar?

Why Berlin?

Look, politics of Obama v. McCain aside - let me ask you all a question. Why Berlin?

Yes, Kennedy. Yes, Reagan. But that was the Cold War, and Berlin was the microcosm of how the Cold War was pulling the world apart.

We are in a new era - America not longer worries about Communism or the Russians. We worry about 1) Terror and 2) Globalization. My votes for the speech should have been:
1. Middle East (I couldn't pick a country... what do you think?)
2. China or India

An Inconvenient Truth

Web addresses on the blogs---They're not links, you realize. We have gmail for that, and everyone checks it roughly 30 times a day (median value). So spare us. Now I know what you're thinking---some of these websites are cool and unique and make the blogsite look witty and light--not alot to read, not much to think about--everyone's a winner--Stop right there. You're taking away the whole essence of the blog, escaping the task of writing an opinion or a story and using it as a forum for one's thoughts and feelings. Pictures will make the site cooler not web addresses; I don't want to take the time to scroll through our beloved blog to see some http shit. Once again, that's why gmail exists. And here I am comforted by the fact that the address actually serves a purpose. It's a link. Come on, we've addressed many critical issues (rising gas prices, chad not picking up his phone, ANWAR)---and in my first post I'd like to remind the contributors that we owe more to CREWUBANTER than this tom foolery. Plus, clicking, dragging, copying, pasting---Homey don't play that. 

Weigh-in

In case you wanted to weigh in elsewhere, here's a chance:

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/07/18/cnn-politics-and-politics-cnn-swag/#comment-1369750

CNN posed the question, what does this election mean to you? what do politics mean to you? any kind of combination and any answer i'm sure is acceptable...AS LONG AS IT'S TEN WORDS OR LESS!

check it out.

Thug Life...

Check out this trailer...

http://youtube.com/watch?v=AZ07JO-SaBc

especially minute mark 2:00

Thanks.

Oil shale

Moss's mention of oil shale got me reading... here is a relatively well-balanced article from the WSJ. Now, commies like me still think it's a) a pipe dream and b) going to ruin the environment to ever be cost-effective

But hey - decide for yourself:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121633718791563829.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

And, while I'm still not 100% convinced we can't develop this technology, I just think NIMBY will crush this from ever happening. Extracting oil shale can produce acid rain, kill plant life, etc. And, for the record, NIMBY suggests that - even if people believe China and Cuba are stealing our oil and they generally believe in off-shore drilling - they still would not vote for it. Great example - despite overwhelming support for nuclear power in polls, no local governments can ever get them approved. Plus, your own RAND report cites this as a reason why this shit will never happen. (on ANWR, the point is not one about NIMBY - you are right, but that is because 75% of them would vote for it anyway. ANWR is a separate debate anyway)

So, instead of complaining about Congress, take your fight to the Streets my friend.

PS - Your point about economics is fair - my argument is wrong, as I re-read it. I would not advocate free-market economics in this case, as there is a market failure: an unregulated economy would yield no incentive for environmentally safe products - we learnt that the hard way. Now, if the debate is that this level of environmental protection is not worth oil prices, that's different - but you at least got to discuss it. Now, this Parcells plan - let's talk about that.

Dickipedia

Wikipedia for dicks -

http://www.dickipedia.org/

NOTE: Our friendly neighborhood Spiterman hasn't quite made the list yet, but hey - that's the beauty of Wikis - user-generated content. Who will add him?

There's a Beverage...

Look at the terror in some of these faces, it's pretty funny... and for #9, the caption should read: "Hey, there's a beverage at hand, mann"

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/chi-080715-baseball-hit-photogallery,0,3603638.photogallery?trackmisses

Look out you College Freshman -- There's a new kid on the block

So I got pretty banged up last night at the Hook. I went to K-rich’s for some activities afterwards and was not in good shape, so once i could feel my feet well enough to get up off the couch, I walked to my bldg, got up to my front door and realized I forgot my keys. So pissed.. I considered banging on the door until my Sleezy E woke up, but i felt bad, so i went to find my key at the front desk.

I go downstairs and the guy down there goes into the room with all the keys and disappears. How long does it typically take Gto get a key out of there? usually about three to four seconds. This guy is in there for ten minutes. I’m sitting in a leather chair down there and I’m not doing well. All of a sudden… uh oh… teqiula’s coming back up… so I run outside and there’s some J.O. is sitting on our steps. I lean over the rail and Ralph in the bushes but some of it sprayed on the kid sitting there and on the steps. So, I’m like shoot, this kid's yelling at me, the doorman is going to come out soon and see what happened, so I gotta get out of here. I just started walking. I was really embarrassed, I couldn’t even go into the Market nearby on so I went to some deli a few blocks up. Get a water and sit down on a stoop around there for like ten mins.

I didn’t want to go back and ask for the key again and I knew this guy would be upset, I just didn’t want to see him again. So, I called Chesa B-Racea(sp?) like 50 times, because he livees right there and I would have rather slept on his couch then face this guy in my bldg again. Wick didn’t pickup...obviously.. So I had no choice but to return home. i stopped at the Market on my way and got a 16oz. tallboy for the guy and walked around the corner to see him out there mopping. I felt so bad, I apologized and gave him the beer. He was really cool about it and didn’t care and was waiting with my key in his pocket and kept saying, "it’s fine" "It happens" "I got it" blah blah blah. So then I stumbled in to my apt and passed out.

So yeah, that sucked.

I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice chianti.

First of all, please do not say Republican agenda vs. Democratic Agenda. There are multiple views, multiple agendas, and this discussion does not subscribe to either/or language in my opinion.

1. ANWAR is in federal protected land, which means drilling there is federal decision. A pipeline is already built out there and can be utilized. The other thing about not in my own backyard is the argument that comes from There Will be Blood. In the movie, he sucked dry other land from taking the oil from adjacent properties. Cuba and China are drilling off the Florida coast. Do we think that this same issue will not occur to the United States? Also, please look at the Pickens Plan. Freedee turned me onto it and I believe it discussed how to lower costs, still utilize oil, while working on innovations on technology.

2. There is an argument that the US only has 2-6% world oil supplies and it will not effect prices. This estimate of 2-6% of the world's oil supplies does not hold up to scrutiny. In oil shale alone, found in the Green River Formation in parts of Utah, Colorado, and Wyoming, the U.S. has approximately 800 billion barrels of recoverable oil, or over three times the proven reserves of Saudi Arabia. This comes from a midpoint estimate in a 2005 RAND study done at the request of the Department of Energy, and a higher end estimate puts the number at over one trillion barrels. Furthermore, there are vast areas of the United States and its outer continental shelf where it is illegal to even look for oil. Exploration routinely yields additional resources far larger than initial estimates. Resources from oil shale and additional oil resources that are likely to be discovered are not included in the estimates of American oil supplies. This is where estimates and speculation become a reality. Plus, speculation does not only rely on facts and figures, but a mentality.

3. Classic free-market capitalism would dictate, actually, that when the technology becomes more economical and efficient and profit worthy for companies to sell new products, the demand from the public will become such that either major car manufacturers will either die out or change due to the demand for superior products. The idea that we need to take 2 steps back before taking a step forward is counter-productive. Why not use oil that is available, release corporate taxes and incentives for oil industry to have monopolies on energy consuming products, and allow the free market to let innovative small businesses produce products and see if they can compete. If it is the desire of the public to go greener with more renewable energy, and the government does not impede, trust in research, development, and innovation will create the product.

Three thoughts on the problems with offshore drilling

1. McCain and most Republican politicians endorse lifting the
Congressional ban of offshore drilling, BUT most defer to still
allowing states to ban offshore drilling. And, California and Florida
(where all the oil supposedly is) would not vote to lift their bans -
classic NIMBY ("Not In My BackYard"), you like the idea, as long as
someone else's beaches get the oilspills. So, no new oil, folks.

(To force states to lift offshore drilling is quite intrusive from the
government too - shouldn't people be able to decide?)

2. Speculation argument is neither true nor does it impact short-term
gas prices. Current 10-year futures on oil are at $100/barrel, i.e.,
they account for future supply increases. And, even if that drops, the
only people who can take advantage are commercial airline companies.
So, it is unlikely to believe gas prices will far - either from
immediate supply or speculation reasons.

3. (More philosophical) Classic free-market economics dictates the
only way to get the country to shift to greener, cleaner, non-oil
technology is price pressure. Add to that the fact that it's been
proven true in the past, and what we have before us is a unique
opportunity to actually push forward the agenda for newer innovation
in energy independence. I mean, Ford and GM are pushing hybrids... who
would have ever thought? Even if all the Republican arguments are true
and gas prices fall, I would argue that's a bad thing - it's only a
short-term solution, and it would put us 10 years back in energy
innovation.

Nancy Pelosi

Let's ease into this blogging right here by keeping everything real light, fluffy, and happy-go-lucky. I plan on doing this like those sour patch commercials... mean as fuck but you can't help but forgive me if I piss you off.

So anyway, I am working away a couple days ago while having Nancy Pelosi's phone number displayed on gchat (by the way it is 202.225.0100) She is one of the many clogging the Congress from functioning worse than Candlelite working on my man Chesa's stomach and everyone should call her and tell her so (please explain to her who Chesa is as well). So Mr. D Calc posts this:

"does anyone think it's funny that gatherNOmoss is posting Nancy Pelosi's # on his gchat status? in case that grabbed your interest, here it is: ♫Nancy Pelosi's #: 202.225.0100 gatherNomoss--is that her cell? are you giving it to Pelosi, ya sick fuck?"

Needless to say that yes I am giving it to her, but the point is that:

1) It's not funny that China and Cuba are drilling 50 miles off the Florida coast for oil while we are paying 4 dollars a gallon and importing 70% of our oil.
2) One thing led to another and commie finger pointing began almost as much as when we're trying to figure out who slobbered on the blunt (Boz, KTB, Chesa... you know who you are).

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