Exaggeration for money

Stories are beginning to come out about how the Gulf of Mexico is already healing. According to many experts, the oil spill was supposed to ruin the gulf waters for years to come. It seems they underestimated the power of Nature. I am not surprised. Were the original claims of devastation greatly exaggerated to get more money from British Petroleum? Or were the scientists and environmentalists just being inept?

Potential disaster

Well, now that the oil leak in the gulf has been capped, the big worry is whether there are other leaks underground, out of sight. If the cap is kept on, the leaks could get larger and unstoppable. British Petroleum appears not to care. They want the cap left on for public image reasons. The government wants the cap off so as to avoid a (potentially) much bigger disaster. Who will prevail?
Ahora que el derrame de aceite en el golfo esta tapado, la preocupacion es que tal vez haya mas derrames invisibles bajo el subsuelo. Si la tapa se queda puesta, los derrames podrian hacerse mas grandes y sin solucion. British Petroleum quiere dejar la tapa por razones de imagen publica. El gobierno quiere quitarla para evitar una catastrofe mayor. Quien dominara?

British Petroleum

From a recent news story: “NEW YORK – Nearly seven miles below the Gulf of Mexico, oil company BP has tapped into a vast pool of crude after digging the deepest oil well in the world. The Tiber Prospect is expected to rank among the largest petroleum discoveries in the United States, potentially producing half as much crude in a day as Alaska's famous North Slope oil field. The company's chief of exploration on Wednesday estimated that the Tiber deposit holds between 4 billion and 6 billion barrels of oil equivalent, which includes natural gas. That would be enough to satisfy U.S. demand for crude for nearly one year. But BP does not yet know how much it can extract.” I find this rather scary. Drilling that deeply into the Earth’s crust – does that not harm the environment somehow? I do not know, but I have a funny feeling about this. I don't think this topless woman likes it either.

Duh!!!!

From a recent news story out of Yahoo!: “Oil prices tumbled below $40 for the first time since the summer of 2004 Wednesday despite an announcement from OPEC of a record production cut of 2.2 million barrels a day. Markets had already priced in a vastly reduced flow of oil and traders focused instead on troubling economic data that points to a long and severe recession. Demand for gasoline over the four weeks ended Dec. 12 was 2.7 percent lower than a year earlier. Meanwhile, the dollar suffered its biggest one-day decline against the euro after the Federal Reserve cut a key lending rate target to historic lows. That would typically lead more investors into the crude market because oil is bought and sold in dollars and you can get more bang for the buck. But investors in this harsh economic climate are holding onto their wallets like never before, betting there's not enough global demand to support higher crude prices, said Gene McGillian, an analyst at Tradition Energy. "Oil prices should be a lot stronger," McGillian said.” This goes to show that speculators control the price of oil - speculators and middlemen and nobody else. Demand dropped 3% but prices dropped 70%. Explain that to me please. A weak dollar should mean higher prices but it does not – explain that to me. I have said from the beginning that speculators control much of the markets. Right now, they are scared to death and do not want to lose any money if they can avoid it. Regardless, that beautiful woman on the left does not care – she’s dead. We are not. Don't you wish you could stay 35 forever?

CUBA

Well, ladies and gentlemen, it is quite safe to assume that the new administration will open a huge doorway to Cuba. Now, the big thing here is to figure out which industries will most benefit from the new policy. I would say practically everything. The trick will be to get the banks to finance the myriads of new ventures that are being planned (as we speak.) Good luck to all of you and try not to stuff your faces with too much turkey.