Thursday, September 29, 2011

Ahh Sox....

Well it was an ugly and slow, not a quick and merciful death.  But with 2 WS championships in the past decade it was not nearly as bad as 1978, 1986 or 2003, not even as bad '88 and '90.  The team had no heart or drive this year so newbie fans should quit their whining.

Speaking of which, I found this crowning moment of "dumbness" in the Boston.com comments last night:
without a doubt, francona is the dumbest coach that ever coached baseball.  I don't think anything was surprised that the red sox lost.  francona's dumbness leaves the players open to getting worn down and giving up.  I don't think there is a team in the league that gives up when they play against francona.  Because they know sooner or later francona will do
something stupid to allow them to get back in the game.  francona is dumb dumb dumb.  And the announcers on 103.7 won't allow anyone on the airways criticize francona. such dishonest broadcasting.
This is what happens when parents let the kids stay up too late. Capitals son, use capitals.  What's more pathetic is that this yutz has cut and pasted this in the comments for weeks.  In the end the comment is a perfect example of someone who is celeberity (aka player) worshiper.  Francona has two championships at the helm, that's how dumb he is.  He may even know how to properly write in English.

Marcellus News for Pennsylvania Update: Sep 21-28

EQT Receives Federal Clearance to Begin Long-Planned Marcellus Shale Pipeline Construction Project
As part of its ongoing Marcellus capacity expansion, Equitrans will begin construction of its project "Sunrise" which is comprised of the installation of approximately 41.5 miles of 24-inch-diameter pipeline and 2.7 miles of 16-inch-diameter pipeline that runs from Wetzel County, West Virginia to Greene County, Pennsylvania, as well as a new compressor station near Jefferson in Greene County. The Sunrise pipeline system will generally parallel existing Equitrans facilities, thereby reducing its environmental footprint, and is expected to be operational before summer 2012.
DEP reorganizes to oversee Marcellus drilling
A bureau of environmental cleanup and brownfields will be created to emphasize revitalization of industrial sites, he said. A new bureau of conservation and reclamation, which will include staff assigned to restoring streams affected by acid mine drainage, will consolidate water management functions.
Penn Virginia-Aqua to Supply Water
The operating units of Penn Virginia Resource Partners L.P. (PVR - Analyst Report) and Aqua America Inc. (WTR - Snapshot Report), yesterday, joined hands to build and operate a private pipeline system to supply fresh water to natural gas producers drilling in the Marcellus Shale in north-central Pennsylvania.  The joint venture formed between the two companies is named Aqua — PVR Water Services LLC.
Federal Court Rules on Drilling In PA National Forest
A fed­eral appeals court rul­ing may open the door to more Mar­cel­lus Shale drilling in Pennsylvania’s Allegheny National For­est. It also sheds light on the con­fus­ing issue of sur­face and min­eral rights. Because of the way state law is writ­ten, sur­face and min­eral rights are sold sep­a­rately. That means a per­son can sell land to the state or fed­eral gov­ern­ment, and still main­tain con­trol over whether or not drilling can take place there.
Marcellus Gas Producers Face 'Chaos' From Land Law Ruling
A Pennsylvania appeals court ruling has raised questions about who can claim ownership of natural gas embedded in the Marcellus shale formation, potentially putting in doubt the legitimacy of thousands of drilling leases.
The state's Superior Court said Pennsylvania law governing ownership of oil and gas rights isn't clear and a lower-court judge should solicit expert opinions in a case pitting current landowners against the heirs to an 1881 deed.
 DiGirolamo co-sponsoring Marcellus Shale tax bill
State Rep. Gene DiGirolamo, R-18, is trying to push through a law that would enact a 4.9 percent tax on drillers for natural gas through Marcellus Shale formations in Pennsylvania.
DiGirolamo is teaming up with state Rep. Tom Murt, R-152, on the effort and the two lawmakers have e-mailed all other state representatives seeking co-sponsors for the bill. The two say their proposed law is a “compromise among the various pieces of legislation seeking to institute a severance tax or an impact fee on deep natural gas within the state’s Marcellus Shale formation.”
State law still fuzzy on vital mineral rights

Mineral extraction has been a principal industry in Pennsylvania since the mid-1800s. One would think, given vast practical experience in the extraction of oil and coal, that legal issues regarding drilling leases and mineral rights would be settled.
Not so, according to the state Superior Court, which has directed a court in Susquehanna County to conduct a hearing that could upset an unknown, but certainly substantial number of drilling leases.
Spin overtaking facts in Marcellus Shale debate
Some insist Marcellus Shale natural gas is a huge economic boom for America, while others are certain it's an environmental catastrophe.
Gas drilling from the Marcellus pollutes groundwater, or it never pollutes groundwater. It's cleaner than coal or oil, except that it's dirty. It provides a boost to hard-hit rural economies; but then again, maybe it doesn't.
The one point of agreement? Scientists say advocates on both sides increasingly spin every shred of research to fit their own views, and ignore the bigger picture.
Drillers Face Methane Concern
Many water supplies in northern Pennsylvania have long contained detectable levels of methane, because of poorly constructed water wells and the unusual geologic features here. But the contamination in Ms. Vargson's existing well is among the first cases that state regulators have attributed to natural-gas drilling, prompting a normally competitive group of drilling companies to work together to fix the problem.
Maker of 'Gasland' honored at Manayunk festival

Documentary filmmaker Josh Fox has reaped praise and criticism for his film Gasland.
Now, he's won what he calls a very timely award.
The Manayunk Development Corporation honored Fox this weekend with its My Eco-Champion Award during the second Manayunk EcoArts Festival. 
Scarnati Wants A Marcellus Bill By October; Ready To Play Ball To Get One
Sen­ate Pres­i­dent Pro Tem Joe Scar­nati is grow­ing impa­tient. He doesn’t want to wait any longer to pass a com­pre­hen­sive bill deal­ing with nat­ural gas drilling. On the state House’s first day back in Har­ris­burg since June, the Jef­fer­son County Repub­li­can set a dead­line. “I want it moved in Octo­ber,” he told the Penn­syl­va­nia Press Club, refer­ring to a bill cre­at­ing a drilling impact fee, and impos­ing safety and zon­ing reg­u­la­tions. “I am tired of being here, hold­ing the bag year after year, try­ing to get this done.”
 Range Resources, Cabot Dismiss Impact Of Pennsylvania Shale Case
In a move aimed at calming anxious investors, Range Resources Corp. (RRC) and Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. (COG) said Monday that ongoing litigation over shale gas rights in Pennsylvania is unlikely to have a significant impact on their operations.
Both oil-and-gas companies issued statements playing down the effect of a legal dispute being reviewed by a Pennsylvania appeals court. However, the case, Butler vs. Powers, could have broad consequences for the ownership of thousands of leases in the state's portion of the Marcellus Shale, a rock formation underlying several states in the Northeast that has become one of the most prolific sources of natural gas in the U.S.
W. Pa.'s Consol Energy in $193M Marcellus deal
Consol Energy Inc. says it has sold a $193 million stake in its Marcellus Shale holdings in southwestern Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
Consol, based in Canonsburg, announced the deal with Antero Resources Appalachian Corp. of Denver on Monday. Antero will receive royalty interests of approximately 7 percent in 115,647 acres located in nine counties.
Curriculum revised to meet demand in shale industry

Nine career and technical education centers in Pennsylvania have revised their curriculum to accommodate the demand, and three others plan to, according to a survey by the Pennsylvania School Boards Association. Twenty of the state's 62 career and technical education centers, or CTCs, responded to the survey.
"We're trying to start new adult programs that will get people out working," said Christine Scalise, adult vocation training coordinator at the Forbes Road CTC. "It looks like there will be jobs far into the future."
Marcellus shale science target of $2.5 million NSF grant
A science- and energy-based program focusing on Pennsylvania counties with natural gas exploration and production, and developed by a multidisciplinary team of Penn State researchers, is part of a $2.5-million grant from the National Science Foundation.
"Marcellus Matters: Engaging Adults in Science and Energy" aims to enhance the public's understanding of science, engineering and energy through community-based activities that promote "doing" science, develop local expertise on energy issues and draw on residents' knowledge of their environment.
EPA Holds Hearing on Natural Gas Drilling in Pennsylvania
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency held a public hearing in Pittsburgh, Penn. on Tuesday night in a move to advocate its proposed rules to reduce air pollution from oil and gas drilling operations in order to comply with the Clean Air Act.The EPA proposal, which would apply new pollution control standards to approximately 25,000 gas wells that are hydraulically fractured in the U.S. each year, would require drillers to implement a new technology that would allow them to capture and sell gas that would normally go to waste.
 Upper Devonian may hold as much gas as Marcellus Shale: Range executive
Upper Devonian, found at shallower depths than the Marcellus Shale that sits around 6,500 feet deep in southwest Pennsylvania, may hold "probably an equal amount of gas per section...as there is in the Marcellus," Ray Walker, a senior vice president of Range, said late Tuesday at the Independent Petroleum Association of America's Oil and Gas Investment Seminar in San Francisco. His comments were webcast. 
 News Nearby: Judge to Rule on Marcellus Shale Home Rule Charter Question Next Week
Washington County Common Pleas Court Judge Paul Pozonsky said Wednesday he plans to rule by the end of next week on an injunction request filed by Peters Township to not place the Home Rule Charter amendment, proposed by the Marcellus Shale Awareness and Action organization, on the Nov. 8 election ballots.

Sunday, September 25, 2011

Sunday strange surreal and stupid is back!

Hmm if the are more obese than hungry, maybe there's solution to both problems...

Why go Florida when you can hit the beach in Lake Havasu?
So this woman apparently stands on the tracks to light a cigarette?

So I guess chimps are big Ayn Rand fans.
But not as bad as college Republicans.

Somewhere Glenn Beck is saying "why didn't I think of that?"  BTW, aren't these people supposed to be Communists?

Well if he pretended to be in combat then he can pretend to have combat stress right?

The hunter is now the hunted,by the other hunters?

Well at least Somerville, MA has this bit of fluff going for it.

Not enough for his on own post, but Rick Santorum is still an ass.

Aye, the Jamesons was a wee bit strong.

Friday, September 23, 2011

BoSox: It's the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine!

(apologies to the late R.E.M.)
Before I went to Maine in the last week in August the Sox were on top of the world. While there I watched a few games on NESN, but nothing untoward was noticed. We ruched back to PA ahead of Irene, had to deal with that and then the start of my class, then Lee's remnants and the weeklong loss of internet. As a result I did not pay much attention,but when I did I noticed that things were starting to slip. Of course now the Sox have entered into a September death spiral that's become top news nationwide.

And it doesn't bother me.

As others have noticed,this team has no heart, no fire in the belly. But for me it, a classic Sox collapse may help clear out all the phony fans that climbed onboard after '04. Let me get one thing straight, if someone genuinely got interested in  baseball because of that year and became a Sox fan I have no problem with them.  But in Boston and New England way too many people, particularly college students and newcomers, decided the Sox were the latest in thing. They snatched up all the tickets, covered themselves with paraphernalia and loved to scream "Yankees suck"all the while having no idea why the rivalry even existed. I knew someone from my URI day who back in '95 used to bash baseball relentlessly. Suddenly in 2005 he was Mr. Sox Fan.

The test of a true fan is one who is there through thick and thin and who doesn;t excuse the players when they lie down on the job.  For me then, this collapse is a blessing in disguise.

Oil Prices and Production

Euan Mearnson the on OilDrum counters Daniel Yergin's latest denial of of the existence of peak fossil fuels:

In order for production to grow beyond the 82 mmbpd plateau the oil industry must add more than 4.1 mmbpd new capacity every year from an ever degrading pool of resources. To reach 110 mmbpd in 2030 would mean adding more than 4.1 mmbpd each year to 2030 reaching an additional 5.5 mmbpd new capacity in that year. Where is this new capacity going to come from? Yergin cites a list of new discoveries and new play concepts. But it has always been the case that new discoveries and plays have been developed and produced, and for the past 7 years these have been inadequate to provide new production in excess of declines.
In other words, the idea that difference between declines in conventional oil resources and consumption and increasing consumption have yet to materialize.  The article uses this fascinating graphic:
From The Oil Drum, click for a larger version.
The relationship between price and production is not simple supply and demand and increased demand and price does not immediately lead to increased production, the complexities of which are part of Mearn's piece. More importantly, if look at the overall production trend you see a steep rise until ~1980 followed by a slower rise and eventual plateau, the brief early-90s glut indiced dip does not obscure the overall trend.  This strongly suggests we are in a high plateau with no idea what the downslope will look like, in terms of either production or prices. But for the laisse-faire fundamentalists out there take heart - nobody is anything to control this journey.

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Another Thing...wait, what?

Last night I saw a trailer for a new version of The Thing.

You cannot improve on the 1982 version, all you need to know about that one is Kurt-Fuckin' Russell and gore galore. Plus I first saw it on the messdeck TV of the cutter Diligence where audience "reaction" was a major part of the experience, I remember a cook named "Steamer" Derrigan saying, "If I saw that I would spend the rest of my life in a bar in Key West  doing shots going 'oh shit, oh shit."

Yeah, I know that the John Carpenter version was a remake of the (quite different) 50s version which was itself an adaptation of a short story, but there is a difference.  Unlike thirty years ago when an occasional remake of a B-grade or slightly better movie would be made, today all the major studios can come up with is vastly inferior remakes and movies inspired by video games, all aimed for a quick buck on opening weekend.  This new movie is supposed to be a prequel, but when have any of those ever been good? Besides the company behind it is the ones who did the crappy and forgettable Dawn of the Dead remake, obviously people without a spark of originality in their souls.

Sunday, September 18, 2011

Round-up of observations during the down time.

I had my doubts about Elizabeth Warren, in part due to the reasons cited here, although that article is a bit inaccurate in its demographics.  But it seems like she is making the right moves wooing the working class natives, but ironically that may hurt here with Cambridge/Amherst liberals.  One thing that is often missed is that there is antipathy in Ye Olde Ivory Tower in Massachusetts towards local blue-collar types for reasons rooted deep in the Bay State's past. You see Harvard was a seat of Yankee power and culture, one that looked with horror at the invading Celtic hoards. Deep in the subconscious cultural psyche of the Yard and much of New England this bigotry remains, explaining the aversion towards populism. I mean for God's sake they didn't want the Kennedy presidential library in Cambridge because of this.

The Rs in Pennsylvania want to do away with the winner take-all allocation of electoral votes, instead going by congressional district.  Now I think this a better system, but of course they are doing it only because they believe it benefits the party and not the people (and Ds oppose it for the same reason), proving once again that the entrenched parties are the true obstacles to fair elections. The irony is that it may not benefit the GOP!

Ta-Nehisi Coates is great, Andrew Sullivan picked up on this where he lambastes liberals who bash Obama and others for not doing enough while not doing anything themselves:
People who talk of primarying Obama need to pick smaller targets--and thus elicit bigger results.

But being taken seriously involves actual work. It means a poverty tour that doesn't just bark (Obama the black mascot) but bites (voter registration in swing districts.) If you don't like the current iteration of America, you need to remember that you are America. The failure to build a more progressive America isn't merely a testimony to dastardly evil, it's a testimony to the failure of progressives.
Depending on whose metric you use, 2011 was had the lowest or second lowest amount of Arctic Sea ice. The previous record year? Way back in 2007...move on, nothing to see here.
Satellite measurement of Arctic Sea ice from NSIDC. Click for larger image.
And the worldwide temperature anomalies from GISTEMP for August:

Nearby the old school house in Philly it was the wettest August on record...before Hurricane Irene! So it wasn't even due to the tropical systems, which are random, uncommon events here. Put that in yer pipe...

Seems like more people who aren't survivalists of treehuggers are accepting Peak Oil, including those who plan to make a buck off of it in true Randian fashion.

Speaking of Rand-holes, the cheering for Ron Paul's let 'em die type comment at the Tea Party debate was the most authentic fascist moment in recent American politics.

Ahh, but this is all depressing, let's talk about the Sox...on the other hand let's not.

Pats won, that's good.

Friday, September 16, 2011

We're back baby

Verizon finally fixed the line to the Old Schoolhouse.  I have been catching up on other on-line and offline items, but will have new posts over the weekend and then hopefully back to a real schedule.

Sunday, September 11, 2011

Verizon outage

Most of my blogging is from the olds school house itseld, and since last Wednesday we have had no phone or internet.  I have posts ready to go, but the shirt time I can get in-line from the UD campus is taken up with other matters.
During a T.S. related downpour last Wednesday I lost my connection. I later found the phone/DSL line, which crosses the road from our property, broken.  Apparently it was sagging and likely was snagged by a passing semi.

The big problem is that Verizon will not repair it until the upcoming Wednesday.  They blame the lack of respense on the need for repair crews in the worst hit flood areas in the Susqhehanna Valley.  Maybe they should apply some of their record profits to hiring more linemen.

I will try to post tomorrow evening.  Right now I am on an air-card that is supposed to be used for SB's work.

Friday, September 2, 2011

Midway and Aleutian Battles in Pictures

A slideshow of images from the WWII battles of Midway and the Aleutians in The Atlantic demonstrates how pictures can tell a story.
But images only tell part of the story.  The picture above is showing the destruction from Japanese bombs on Midway atoll. While the image provides a sense of what it was like that you won't get from reading an account of the battle, it lacks insight to the who, what and why of the events.  At the same time it shows something missed in many accounts. Note the birds in the foreground. These are nesting albatrosses or "gooney-birds" as the marines and Sailors call them.  Nothing, not even falling bombs perturbed them. Although the birds were a danger to aircraft operating from Midway, those stationed there admired their tenacity and refusal to budge.
In short, words and pictures alone can impart knowledge in different ways but taken together they work create a synergy, something more than just the sum of the two.