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Wow, today really strikes me as a Monday. I’m pretty exhausted after all the festivities and such yesterday heading into the night. Plus, work is always kind of a draining thing.
So yeah, today was one hell of a nutty day.
Ken Lay, Dead at 64: Now this is pure speculation, and pardon me if this sounds a bit tinfoil hat-ish, but I would not be surprised if his “massive coronary” was something…erm…how do I put this…sub-accidental. Being faced with losing his fortune and dying in prison was probably too much for him. It’s a shame, really, that he won’t face his sentencing.
Portugal v. France, World Cup Semifinals: France won the match and a date with Italy in the World Cup final 1-0 thanks to a penalty kick earlier in the game. Portugal squandered a couple golden opportunities to tie late in the game, and that ultimately sealed their fate. There’s something really lame about losing a match on a free kick. Oh well.
Sanctions, Coming Soon to a North Korea Near You: There is unprecedented world unity against North Korea after their infamous missile tests yesterday. Japan’s calling for Security Council action, and the U.S. has sent an envoy to step up the pressure for North Korea to come back to the six-party talks to try to resolve this issue via non-violent diplomacy. The world is holding their breath…
Yet Another Oil Record: Oil closed over $75 today for yet another record high close. I wish every time there was a fear that computers would break a little more frequently around CofC, they’d increase my pay. We in Charleston should be thankful though: Gas prices are relatively low around here (in the $2.70-$2.80 range) versus the rest of the country, which according to the CNNMoney article averages about $2.93 nationwide.
Baseball: San Diego, L.A., and Colorado share a three way tie for first in the National League West. Again, no one’s running away with the division this year, but the teams are better. Those late-season divisional matchups are going to have a lot riding on them, for sure. Atlanta’s managed to cut their deficit in the cellar of the NL East (how often have we been able to say THAT in the last 14 years?!?!?!) to a cool 13 and a half games. Perhaps losing Leo Mazzone was, indeed, the straw that broke the camel’s 14-year division title run. Finally, vote early and often for Francisco Liriano of the Twins and Chris Young of the Padres in the Final Vote competition on MLB.com so they can each join their respective squads in the All-Star Game next week. They both deserve it.
Well, off to Wal-Mart tonight for a little food shopping and then who knows what else. Until next time…
J
Discussion of Case of the Mon…erm…Wednesdays is now closed
World Cup: I mentioned in another comment that the penalty kicks are basically free points. Of course, one could argue that it’s part of the game to prevent the other team from being able to to a PK though. Which makes sense, actually, but still, losing because of a free point really isn’t fun. I’m looking forward to the Italy v. France match though.
North Korea: I was flipping through channels, and the low 30′s (on basic cable with Comcast) is c-span, msnbc, fox news, cnbc, and then there’s cnn. The missile launching is on all of them at some point or another. I saw one of the guys (on Fox, unsurprisingly) mentioning that World War III is actually likely. Great, way to scare the [bleep] out of half the country, Fox.
Oil: My father was in St. Louis, MO last week and said it’s 2.99 for regular there. Most of New England is above 3.20ish, California of course is about the same. There was a Representative that brought a bill to the House that re-wrote the permit rules/regulations for running an oil refinery. There haven’t been any new refineries built in over 30 years, and less than half of the refineries in the country are still operational today. Re-writing the rules/regs. is necessary because like most laws, they’re so confusing that nobody understands them at all and you just give up.
The Representative is hoping that after making the wording simple to understand, more refineries will open up and even create the possibility of states and even counties having their own refineries. The reason our gas prices are so high is not just because of the price for crude barrels, but we don’t have the capacity to meet our own demand, so we have to buy already-refined products, at a higher cost. If we can build/open more of our own refineries and get the capacity to 90% or less, I can easily see the prices dropping 75-150 cents/gallon. This also makes it better for when another natural disaster happens, it only affects the counties in the warpath instead of half or all of the country like last year.
Other: I know your new format for entries is still kind of Beta right now, but I like it. You should keep it. ::thumbs up:: Also, Is there any way I can contact you without posting replies in here? Just wondering.
More refineries are a good short-term solution, but the smart investment for the long-term will be alternative fuels and further research into hybrid-electric vehicles. I’m glad to see Ford’s renewed commitment to flex-fuel vehicles, for example — they can make more efficient vehicles using existing factories and processes without having to install a complex electrical system which is proving to be a bit of a maintenance bear for some Prius owners. I am totally psyched about flex-fuel technologies as a great stepping stone toward cleaner burning fuel. It’s not just a price issue, but it’s also a serious environmental problem that we should tackle sooner rather than later.
NBC’s reporting North Korea has a few more missiles lined up to test. They clearly wish to remain isolated. Not a good sign at all. I was having a conversation with a friend at work tonight about what kind of psychotic fantasyland Kim Jong Il has created in North Korea. I may make a blog post about it.
Italy and France seems like a pretty unlikely World Cup final but I’ll definitely take it. It’s been a fantastic tournament.
You’re the third person to give me props over The New Format, and I appreciate it much! I’m still tweaking exactly how I want to do it. I’m also working on bringing back the forums so you can contact me there. I’m just waiting to see how the phpBB Group responds to upgrades from phpBB 3.0 beta 1.
Speaking of oil and such, my mother just informed me that the local news stations are saying the prices are going to break $3/gal by the weekend, so I’m going in a few minutes to fill up to the brim whilst it’s still 2.62 up the street from me.