Saturday, November 10, 2012

Cab Thoughts 11/10/12

47 of 53 landmark cancer reports can not be reproduced according to an Amgen report.

Gas demand in Europe is down about 7%, but EU carbon emissions so far in 2012 are up 10%. With the fracking bans in Europe and the Germans' closing nuclear plants, coal combustion and imports of US coal surge. With U.S. fracking and gas cheap, CO2 emissions are down to 1992 levels. The CO2 purists just will not accept half a loaf. It would be wonderful for the American economy to take advantage of this madness, develop their own natural gas, put it in trucks as fuel, decrease American petroleum use by 85% and use the trucks to drive coal for shipping to Europe.

Oliver Luck is among many who plan to shave their heads in support of Coach Pagano and his fight with leukemia. He, and those others, may have a political future. Symbolism always trumps reality.

Lincoln received 39.8% of the popular vote in the 1860 election. The remaining 60.2 percent was split among three other candidates: Stephen A. Douglas (29 percent), John C. Breckenridge (18 percent), and John Bell (13 per­cent) . There were two 'third-party' candidates -- Breckenridge and Bell. As a minority president his power was greatly diminished and the Civil War started as a chancy and uncertain effort. On the other hand, this lack of consensus created one of the greatest leaders the world has known.

Every 4 years about 3 million people age into the voting group and 3 million Americans pass away so in the space of just 4 years, the voting age population changes by 24 million, 48 million or about 30% in 8 years.

After December 31, 88% of households will pay higher taxes. The average family, $3,500 more. High-income earners can expect to pay an additional $14,100 to $121,000, or more.

Those of us who are cynical about alternative energies will have to come to grips with a surprising stat: While jobs grew in the economy 2.3% over the last 12 months, solar employment jumped 13% over the last 12 months. Solar industry employment increased from about 105,000 to 119,000, according to the solar jobs census taken by the Solar Foundation.

Baltimore is rolling out a surveillance system that, in addition to video, will record conversations. The police had an interesting take: Captain McCollum, commander of the MTA police technical services division, said that the audio is needed because he wants to take away a witness' choice not to get involved.

The United States has the highest percentage of single-parent families (34% in 1998) among developed countries, followed by Canada (22%), Australia (20%), and Denmark (19%). 13 percent of families were headed by a single parent in 1970.
real social experiment.

John Hayes, the British Energy Minister, said that Britain can “no longer have wind turbines imposed on communities” and added that it “seems extraordinary” they have allowed to spread so much throughout the country. His objections seem to be esthetic but reliability seems to be a concern as well.

From a Brit journal for the fleet industry: "Swapping to greener tyres offers the quickest return on investment for carbon-conscious fleets, according to a new report, recouping the additional cost three times quicker than an engine start-stop system and five times quicker than buying a hybrid." These small steps make more of a difference than the big, hopeful steps, it appears.

The hostility towards oil companies is curious. The ten companies with the largest oil and gas reserves in the world are all government owned. They own 71% of proven reserves. BP, ExxonMobile and Chevron combined have drilling rights, rights, to less than 2% of proven reserves.

Underpants Gnomes are little guys in the South Park series who have a business where they steal underwear. Their business plan is: 1. Collect underwear, 3. Profit. Urban Dictionary defines it as: A business model in which a company may have great offerings, but does not necessarily great profits due to a lack of strategy or how the business is run. An example: Petroleum companies are facing fines of $6.8 million for failing to meet a 2011 federal quota to blend 6.6 million gallons of the renewable fuel cellulosic ethanol into petroleum products. That is not much compared to the 180 billion gallons of petroleum fuel consumed annually in the U.S. but compliance is difficult because......... there is virtually no cellulosic ethanol made. Next: Federally funded unicorn ranches. The Chinese have great regard for the powdered horns.


If we can influence the temperature of the earth, it is surprising we had no options regarding the hurricane that hit New York.

The 17-nation Eurozone now has unemployment reported at 11.6 percent, its highest level in 17 years of collecting data.

The federal government has a program that granted $11 million to provide business attire for 400 low-income job seekers in Detroit, Michigan. That's 27,500 dollars per person. An audit of the program showed that it provided clothing to 2 people.

AAAannnnndddd a graph.....
Chart of the Day

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