Dave Mancuso dot Com

Currently Listening to: Currently listening to:
“Cinecast #40: Top 5 Bleeding Hearts” by cinecast@cinecastshow.com

Well, actually last week it was 6.
I dont’ seem to be able to sleep well at the rental no matter how long I sleep. I think it’s a combination of too many carbs in thge diet and that road noise of living with I-283 in my back yard!

I slept better at Kevin’s over the weekend, although I missed my family. Good visit, though. We should make it two days insteadof one sometime.

Armed dolphins on the loose in the Gulf o Mexico from Katrina?

I’m just kind of stunned. Well, if you can laughing and stunned at the same time.

Thanks to Brad (and Slashdot) for the link.

Let me check my political leanings (as if you have any doubt).

OK, the results–I’m surprised that I didn’t come out as more economically conservative–I don’t regard myself as a Socialist at all. Actually, I’m surprised I didn’t come out as more Libertarian, but then again, my definition of Libertarian isn’t congruent with the political party (it’s much more about personal responsibility for your life and actions). Hm.

You are a Social Liberal (76% permissive) and an… Economic Liberal (31% permissive) You are best described as a: Democrat Link: The Politics Test on Ok Cupid

Or at least, we won’t after our current banana becomes extinct in a few years. It’s already happening. And the weird thing is, it’s happened before, just before I was born. Seems a little Matrix-like to me, at least if you equate Zion and bananas…

From McSweeney’s, a familiar piece on the things that the new generation will never understand…

Because they did it already. We’re now officially into our strategic oil reserves.

But, as the article says:

“The government’s oil “is not going to be of much help unless we get refineries running again,” said Adam Sieminski, global oil strategist at Deutsche Bank AG in New York, before the announcement. “Releasing oil from the SPR right now would be actually inappropriate because there would be no place to put it.”

On the other hand, supporting my belief that our economy is bult on mob psychology (or mass psychosis, however you misuse the terms):

““Whether it makes a physical difference or not is irrelevant,” Goldstein [president of the Petroleum Industry Research Foundation in New York] said. Government statements about the national stockpile had “a very important psychological impact because they came out early.”

Maybe my recent biodiesel obsession is more of a good idea now…if we can’t drill for fuel, maybe we should grow it instead.

As a result of Katrina, we’ve lost over 20 major oil production rigs so far (confirmed).

This means that we have a significant dip in oil production.

Gas prices in my town were $2.59 per gallon in the morning, $2.69 at noon, and $2.79 by five pm–all at the same gas station. Elsewhere it had already jumped to $2.89.

It’s almost a virtual certainty that we’ll need to dip into our national oil reserves. Even so, we’re looking at an instant recession. The formerly looming threat is now reality.

Here’s more on the oil rig story–they literally can’t find the rigs from the air searches. They’re gone.

From the article:

“We are looking at YEARS to return to the production levels we had prior to the storm. The eastern Gulf of Mexico is primarily oil production…
Loss of the MARS platform alone cost us 95,000 barrels a day for a year or maybe more.
YEARS, people. I know what this means – hope everyone else gets it too…”

And from the comments at the above webpage:

“In Hazleton, PA…There was panic buying in progress when I passed on my way home. Vehicles were lined up at 10-deep to access the two pump islands. Of course, the gas being pumped there was the same that sold a day before for $2.55. An immediate tight supply driving the price hikes? Or just jitters?”

Most of you are too young to remember the gas rationing in ’74. Think we’ll go back to odd and even license plate days? “Sorry, sir–only odd-numbered plates can buy gas today.” My Uncle Alfred was in a (typically) long line for gas then and watched a fistfight break out ahead of him in line.

WWLTV, New Orleans.

“7:32 P.M. – N.O. Mayor Ray Nagin declares Martial law in the city and directs the city’s 1,500-person police force to do “whatever it takes” to gain back control of the city. He will also enlist the aid of troops.”

Martial law. Holy crap.

Since the city is under water and below sea level, the flood won’t drain out properly. They’ll have to pump the water out to get the city “dry” again.