I like to be right: energy prices on the rise

I like to be right: energy prices on the rise

The other day OPEC blamed the current oil prices not on the supply of crude oil but on the lack of refining capacity. Back in September I said the same thing. I am not all the way right though since right now gas in Dallas is almost $3 a gallon not because there is no oil to refine but because they can’t refine it fast enough and even if they could the ethanol that they blend to make the summer mix gasoline is in very short supply (the ethanol in the gas reduces the formation of ozone since it is partly self oxidizing during combustion.) Ethanol is in short supply because it has to be shipped from the Midwest where the corn is grown to the Gulf Coast where the oil is refined. When I say shipped, what I mean is driven, there are no ethanol pipelines, it all comes in tanks on trucks or trains. The summer mix gas in Dallas is 10% ethanol, so for every gallon of gas almost 13 oz is Ethanol, and with 360 million gallons of gas consumed in the US every day, that is a lot of ethanol, that has to be shipped in ~33,000 gallon tanker cars on trains (if you’re curious it would take ~1,100 tanker cars to move just the ethanol to blend the fuel for one day’s use.)
So if you want to place blame for the high prices at the pump, blame the EPA, since they are the ones who mandate the blend and don’t allow the refineries to mix the winter and summer blends. This too increases gas prices since the refineries have to completely sell all the previous seasons blend then clean the storage tanks, before they can start making the new blend. This reduction in inventory causes shortages and sudden price surges.
I offer this bit of proof for my theory, look at diesel oil prices, they are rising but not as fast as gasoline prices, this is because diesel oil doesn’t isn’t blended the same as gasoline, so it is not in as short of supply. When gasoline price rise because of a shortage of oil, diesel oil prices rise faster, because heavy hydrocarbons that make up diesel can be cracked into gasoline if the refineries want to, so diesel oil will be turned into more profitable products. But right now because they can’t make gas as fast as they want anyways, diesel oil isn’t diverted so the inventory is high and the price remains lower.

United Flight 93 the movie

I have now had to ignore several trailers for the United Flight 93 movie. I find the fact that they had turned a tragedy into a movie repugnant and almost beyond reproach. I am sure the people who made the movie say it is tribute to heroes, but I disagree. The people on that flight are heroes, that is not the part I disagree with, it is the “tribute” part that I take issue with. It is not a tribute it is a travesty spawned by greed and a society that thrives vicariously on the suffering of others (yes it is society’s fault too, but that is a chicken and egg issue.) It hasn’t even been a decade, the people who lost friends and family on that tragic day are still healing. Now thanks to the magic of Hollywood, they can not only be reminded of their pain, but actually watch their friends and family die on a 40 foot screen with THX sound. I freely admit I won’t watch the trailers so I don’t know, but I’d bet based on what I’ve heard about the story of that flight they will have the World Trade Center falling down in there somewhere. That way they can reopen the wounds of a whole nation, just to make a buck.

I am not even sure this movie will be good propaganda to rally support for the war on terrorism. There is too much risk of backlash for this to be a propaganda movie anyways. The propaganda movies that should work best now are:
For men: movies that put the military and service in a positive light and vilify the enemy by showing that they will wage war at any cost and cannot be negotiated with.
For women: movies that are Lifetime and Oxygen type movies, showing the human elements of war, preferably either WWII or a fake war that is against a dehumanized enemy. It also probably won’t hurt to point out to the average American woman that being a feminist in the Middle East means you don’t think a woman should be stoned to death because a man on the street saw here ankles.

The propaganda show is the Unit, since it appeals to both sexes. Actually propaganda isn’t really the order of the day since today’s media really isn’t going to help spread it. The order of the day is distraction, which is why reality or reality like TV is so popular. If people can’t be made to feel good, then at least they have something to prevent them from noticing so much.

Blue Cheese and the immune system

Yes, that is a weird title, but it is catchy! Ok seriously blue cheese does effect the immune system and it is positive effect too. Actually eating pretty much any fungus (possibly even those little mushrooms at the salad bar) has an effect. The effect is caused by glycoproteins the fungus produce. When foreign proteins (antigens) enter the blood stream through the intestines, the presentation to the immune system generally has an immunosupressive effect (unless the reaction causes anaphylactic shock). This is why raw honey harvested in the area you live helps with pollen allergies. However, the glycoproteins from the fungus (blue cheese is blue because there is mold growing in it, yes that is on purpose!) are presented to the immunosystem differently. Remember fungus is very sneaky, and hard to get rid of (think about how long you have to use the cream to get rid of athlete’s foot or nail fungus) so seeing proteins produced by fungus in the blood (yes your immune system can tell) is very alarming to the immune system. Even though the fungus that produced the glycoproteins is harmless and dead, the glycoproteins it made put the immune system on alert, especially the cells that are in charge of surveillance. These cells begin to actively hunt (and hunt is the right word) for anything out of the ordinary (as I said fungus infects are sneaky since they are generally only in outer most layers of cells (skin, nail bed) or actually external (trush and yeast infections). (A brief tangent: women shouldn’t laugh cause they get athlete’s foot too, and men shouldn’t laugh cause uncircumcised men can get yeast infections too.)
Now then while the immune system is hunting for a phantom infection, it might find a tumor or viral infection, that under normal circumstances it had missed. This is source of most medicinal mushrooms anticancer properties, the mushrooms produce proteins that really irk the immune system but since there is no infection the tumor becomes the whipping boy. So, eat your blue cheese, perhaps you’ll live longer. (Please note if the cheese turns blue or any other color on its own, don’t eat it! And you can’t just cut the fuzzy part off and eat the rest. Many molds produce toxins and secrete them into the food; these toxins can make you sick or dead!!!)

Clinton Family Values

If anyone can remember that far back, remember the big scandal about how a company based in Dubai was going to buy some port facilities here in the US? Well Senator Hillary Clinton was out raged that America would allow foreign and possibly hostile powers to control such a vital interest. So, in true grandstanding fashion she sponsored legislation to block the sale of ports and other things that are vital to national security. Now this isn’t a bad idea, since it is always a bad idea to sell stuff you need to people who might use it against you.
(Now alas up to 40% of the more than $8 trillion US national debt is in foreign hands, which means if one or more of the major debt holders which include China and OPEC tried to sell or call in the debt a big chunk of debt, they could devalue the dollar and bring the US economy to its knees. Well why haven’t they done it? I mean it is clear that China wants to be the new superpower. Because destroying the US economy would bring most of the world’s economies to their knees as well. So until China can support the rest of the world’s economies and prevent the war that would result from such a move, it is a foolish move to make. In the meantime it is a much smarter move for our trading partners to keep buying our debt since we use the money they give us to buy stuff from them. This weakens us as it strengths them, plus keeping America a super power for as long as possible benefits China immensely cause they can sell us lots of stuff and they don’t have to send their armies all over the world to keep the peace.)

Ok enough of that tangent.
The reason this is called Clinton Family Values is because guess who was working for the people in Dubai, to ensure that the deal went through, and received a $300,000 check for his efforts? You guessed it, the former president, husband of the honorable Hillary Clinton, William Clinton. Unless they don’t talk at home, assuming they even live together anymore, don’t you think Hillary might have known in advance about this deal? The better question is why, now that it is out that Bill was playing for the other team aren’t the Clintons being smeared all over the news for playing both sides? Interesting the way DC works, isn’t it?

A review: Coca Cola Blak, and abit about caffeine

Yesterday I was at Target when I saw an interesting looking new Coke product call Blak (there is an accent mark over the a that looks like the Coke wave symbol). Thinking it was $1.99 a picked up a 4 pack, since the only product description is “Carbonated Fusion Beverage” and I was curious. Only after paying and looking at my receipt, did I realize it was $4.99 for a 4 pack of 8 oz bottles, but I was still curious. Tonight I tried it, and for anyone who doesn’t already know, Blak is a mix (fusion) of coffee and diet Coke. Here is the weird part I am torn as to what I think about it. On one hand the first sip is disgusting, but then it changes and it has a taste similar to the bottled Starbucks Frappacinos (which I am ashamed to say I have tried) with an odd but not totally unpleasant diet Coke finish. Strangely the taste improved as it got warmer which is true for Diet Coke in general. Being a true experimentalist I poured some out into a clear glass so I could see what the fancy but totally opaque packing hid. There is a reason it is bottled the way it is (small bottle means you can drink it in one sitting but has a screw top so you can carry it with you and you don’t need to transfer it into another container), they don’t want you to pour it in a glass or to even see what you’re drinking. The contents of the bottle are a sickly/milky, translucent, brown liquid, which is wholly unappealing. Now here is why I think I have grown fond of Blak. Most people soda based caffeine doesn’t give them a buzz, cause the caffeine is an additive and so it isn’t taken up well. In coffee, tea and other “naturally caffeinated” beverages there are compounds loosely called polyphenols, which make the caffeine more bio-available. This means the caffeine really can get into your system and do its thing, so even a soda junky like me can get a nice buzz off coffee or Blak since it contains “coffee extract”. The extract also gives Blak chocolate and fruit notes.

Actually I salute Coca Cola, for figuring out (or remembering) that by putting polyphenols into an artificially caffeinated beverage, they could create a much more potent (and addictive) beverage since the extract can be used to “deliver” way more caffeine then the same amount of coffee could contain. (This is similar logic to some of the tobacco companies adding additional nicotine to the cigarettes in order to ensure that smokers would find other brands “weak and unsatisfying”.) This was actually Coca Colas original product model, since as everyone already knows the Coca in Coca Cola is actually Coca leaf from which the stimulant cocaine is isolated. With small amounts of cocaine plus the caffeine and the coca leaf extract (polyphenols) as the vehicle for all the wonderful alkaloids, the “original” Coke beverage produced an eye opening jolt, and so Coke was a medicine. The medicinal proprieties were lost when the teetotalers, made cocaine illegal. Now the buzz is back and Coke knows they can charge a premium since it is an energy drink.

This buzz is actually making me consider drinking Blak again, and since I have 3 more left I will. After that for my caffeine buzz I will go back to coffee since for the same money as Blak, I can buy the ultra smooth Kona coffee, but maybe I’ll drink it with a Diet coke chaser. ;)

As seen on TV: RainX

Ok most products that are “As seen on TV” are great ideas, they’re just executed poorly. (You can’t cook pasta in a teaspoon of hot water and have it be edible, no matter what the lady says, and a sewing machine that you can hold in your hand shouldn’t be used to sew denim, or Kevlar, again no matter what the lady says!) But RainX isn’t one of the good idea, but bad products; it is as good as advertised if not better. The stuff can be a pain to apply, but it makes turning on your windshield wipers for anything but a heavy rain unnecessary. Plus, bird dropping and bug guts don’t stick (or if it is hot fuse) to the window. So if you’re driving long distance, the bug guts will just wipe off with the gas station squeegee and a little water. Here are a few tips:
RainX has to be applied to very clean windows so clean your windows twice, once to get the heavy crud off, then again to get them spotless. After you apply it says to buff off with a paper towel, well that takes forever, so pour cool clean water on the window and wipe off most of the haze then use a second paper towel to buff it out. The first time you apply it do it twice like it says, but after that once is enough if you keep up with it.

Here are a few words of warning: First don’t freak the first time it rains after you apply the RainX, it is suppose to do that (You’ll understand when you see it). Second, DON’T get RainX on the paint or your wiperblades or anything not made of glass! Third, if you have a crack or a chip in the window that you plan to have repaired or you need any glass work done on your car don’t use RainX, till after the repairs are done or bad things will happen! It doesn’t say that on the bottle but trust me on this one.

Please note: I am not getting any money from the RainX people, and I actually use RainX. However, if the RainX people want to send me money or even a T-shirt I wouldn’t say no. ;)

Hot ashes: On becoming a doctor

A while ago when people asked I compared getting a Ph.D. to being a Phoenix. The legend of the Phoenix sounds so cool. Briefly when the bird gets old it builds a nest which bursts into flames, then once the fires dies a new Phoenix is born from the ashes. That all sounds great until you think about that the Phoenix was burned alive (on the list of best ways to die, being burned alive is not at the top). Getting a Ph.D. at least in the biological sciences is very similar since you are consumed by the effort (however there is no actual fire unless things go very badly), then after your defense you arise from the ashes a doctor of philosophy.

(I had hoped it would be more like becoming a Sith Lord from the last Star Wars. Plus let’s face which sounds better Dr. Ryan or Lord Ryan?)

Well I have been consumed, and all that is left is hot ash and a few embers. Once those go out and the ash cools, we’ll see if I arise better for the experience, or if I was just burned at the stake as a warlock (Men are warlocks, women are witches.)

Why do you care? Well for the few readers of my little site, once I arise from the ashes I will start posting again. I have several half written posts but I am still finding hard to focus after my little ordeal, plus there are some other distractions in my life that are taking up a lot of time (but it is time well spent.) But rest assured my faithful reader I will return, and here’s what to expect in the next few months:

Invisible Solar Hot Water Heaters
Hypothesis or hypocrisy? A crisis for the biological sciences
Rehab for the our oil addiction, the third of 12 steps (Coal)
Rehab for the our oil addiction, the fourth of 12 steps (Methane Hydrate)