This post is fascinating. I had no idea we were scaling back our futures and contracts with Saudi oil producers. This has all been done very quietly and it started in 1991. The trend continued unabated during both of Clinton's terms and, I suspect, will continue even further now that Iraq is producing oil for US consumption. The author does not point to any other market forces that may account for the decrease in US consumption of oil. I know China has been consuming massive amounts of oil (along with everything else) for the past 5 years. A trend that will doubtless continue for the forseeable future. What I don't know is where they get most of their oil. I imagine most of it is from the Former Soviet Union. They are also ramping up production of pebble bed reactors in hopes of reducing oil consumption in favor of domestic energy production. If they do, it's a boon for the US because the world price will drop accordingly. If, however, pebble bed reactors do prove to be the small, stable, safe powerplants they are hyped to be, it may well be the next step forward for energy and a great leap away from fossil fuels.
Quarantine 2008 has ended
Fair warning: possibly graphic post and not for the squeamish. So it all started Friday night. Wife and I had a long day (as usual) and had finally finished with dishes, laundry and the rest of the normal daily grind. The baby had been fussy most of the day and had spit up here and there. Mostly we thought it had been switching from formula to milk which can sometimes cause this type of thing. By the time kid #4 rolls around you tend to let these things slide. If this were #1 we'd have called in a medivac at the first sign of vomiting in a 1 year old. He finally calmed down and we got him off to sleep. We watched a bit of The Wire and retired (very) late. About 10 minutes later #2 wakes up crying complaining of a stomach ache. I ask if he has to go to the bathroom and he says no, it's not that. His stomach really hurts. OK, into my bed and I'll get the heating pad for a bit. We get him settled and he calms down. Knowing that he tends towards the dramatic, I s...
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