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If you are wondering why the price for a gallon of gas keeps going up, keep reading. It is no mystery, no short supply, no pipeline disruption, no civil unrest in Northern Africa or the middle east. It is none of those things. Simply put, the value of the dollar is going down, fast. Globally, oil is traded in dollars. Say it with me. “That same gallon of gas now takes more of these dollars as these dollars have less value than they once did.” One of the reasons is the lack of interest in US savings bonds.
Same with food costs. Notice at the grocery store lately? The only thing going down is your home’s value compared to what you owe the bank for it, if you still got your house. Nice bailout, folks.
With the Japan crisis and the big dip in available parts from there halted, the supply that was in the system is depleted and that is going to impact jobs here and our ability to build things. JOBS, people, JOBS. Globalization and its inherent interdependence does have it’s drawbacks. Some of what won’t be coming for a while from Japan are little things, really, but necessary things. Semiconductors, circuit boards, RAM chips, hybrid car parts. Small in the scheme of things, but it is always the little things. Like the price of a loaf of bread. Small if you have plenty, huge if you are hungry. Japanese markets haven’t been buying US Bonds as they now need the money for the clean up and rebuilding process. It is just out that the nuclear crisis is no smaller than Chernobyl and will take months to years to encapsulate it as best they can. Basically, Japan needs the money. Sorry for the bond market.
And the world is watching the US House of Representatives threatening to not increase the debt limit, is screaming about debt that was solely incurred in two separate cost-plus-no-bid-sweet-ass-deal-never-gonna-let-this-end-cause-we’re-getting-rich wars, both based on lies, not declared officially as war, and paid for with supplemental monies not included in the budget until President Obama. It doesn’t seem to actually matter who is spending what. It will take more of it sooner than later. The rest of the world knows this, and they are pulling their investments out, or at least not making new ones. Even the news that we finally got our main guy Usama bin Laden hasn’t helped much.
 Water or Wind? As we watch from the comfort of our homes the death and devastation in Japan, our thoughts are quickly reminded of the same devastation here. Tornadoes continue to clear acres of the Midwest, debris scattered and piled, like pictures of the tsunami or much of New Orleans, still. The Gulf Coast oil spill continues to sicken and pollute, but it seems all but forgotten to many Americans. We simply have moved on. How much did BP pay their executives recently for a job well done? Look it up. I don’t want to waste the type on that many zeros. The money, not the men. Continue reading From the comfort of our homes, for now.
My goal for this year is simple. One word. Discipline. No doubt a challenge more enormous than I can fathom, but it will come. I will be the creative force I know myself to be. I will paint. I will draw. I will prepare. I will cook. I will sing out loud. I will have discipline. I will be by own disciple. I will write it all down. I will start small. I will do something new and I will do something familiar every day. I will be the change in myself I want for the world. I am the only somebody that can change me. The money will find me if I find myself first. The world will change if I change myself first.
Mistakes I will note and analyze. Then change. One. Then another. Every day will be spent.
Deliberately. Disciplined. Change.
It seems that the Tea Baggers all have a woody for the idea of taking over the country. It does appear that many governorships are changing hands, but the Senate is not really in play. If the House of Representatives does become Republican controlled and they get it all to themselves for two years, no doubt their lack of ideas on improving the country will do more harm than good for the party. It won’t be good for the economy or job creation or national security or anything else that matters, so let them have it. And remember, trickle down economics is a nicer way of saying “Piss on the little people,” for those of you paying attention to who is paying for the ads on television.
 The storm that was Hurricane Alex continues to dump torrential rain into Mexico as Texas starts to dry out, but the real news is the effect it is having in the gulf itself.
The churning wave action created by the storm surge created massive, oil coated waves which made it necessary to assume there will be many more interruptions in the attempt to stop the gushing oil. People are removed from the gulf when the wind and the waves get dangerous. And that happens a lot this time of year, considering that Alex was the first June Hurricane in 15 years, and the predictions for this hurricane season are quite daunting.
The best plans sometimes don’t work out. Having no plan, as it appears BP had no plan for a blowout, never works out. So it begs the question. What is the plan if a hurricane is coming right for the spill site? Do they have any?
The massive 8.8 earthquake in Chile has created a Tsunami wave headed for the Hawaiian Islands.
This is not a drill. This is not a test. This is an emergency and you should head for higher ground if you are on an island in the Pacific Ocean
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