Newt Gingrich Is Full of Crap

Okay, one of the things Newt is promising he'll do is bring gas down to $2.50 and make us less dependent on "foreign oil" (and here we'll continue to include Canadian imports, because we really can't quit the Canadians without making us more dependent on places like Venezuela, African West Coast countries, and the dreaded Middle-East). About every price fluctuation of $10 a barrel translates to $0.25 in gas prices. Light sweet oil is about $106 a barrel right now. Current average gas price is $3.80. Okay, so to get to $2.50 a gallon oil prices per barrel would need to be reduced by approximately $52. Sounds doable, right?

Wrong. That gives us a per barrel price of $54. To keep oil flowing from the Canadian Oil Sands the price per barrel needs to be above $70. Let's say they're making 15% profit at $70, that gives us a break even point of $59.50 a barrel to mine that oil (if they'll continue to pump the stuff for costs, anybody believe they'll do that?). Canada accounts for over 20% of all our imported oil (they are by far and away the largest single contributor to our imported oil).

All that "domestic oil" that people are salivating over? That's shale oil which costs even more to produce (notice not much is being made from shale oil). Deep sea oil drilling? Not really economical for below $60 a barrel (for what we're exploring now, all the cheeper oil is being produced). PRetty much all the new oil we're looking for in the US has a bottom base price of around $60 (median, some areas are as low as $30, some as high as $80 with most being on the upper end).

So, let's say Gringrich is actually able to wave his fairy wand and make gas $2.50 a gallon (let us not discuss the over control of the market that would be necessary here, and how antithetical that control is to conservatives). Domestic oil exploration ceases. Canadian oil imports dry up (which might be good for Canada who still imports much of their oil, oddly enough). And we'll be at the mercy of countries that actually do hate us.

So, still think Gingrich has great ideas? He's farting in the pews and everybody is thinking that someone delivered roses.

Unless we have a severe program for conservation, somehow make cars that get over 80mpg, or everybody stops driving and our economy crashes to the ground, we aren't going to see $2.50 gas anytime soon. If ever again.

And before anybody says, "but if we produce more domestically…", look, oil is sold on a world market. Doesn't matter where it's produced. The only difference is that we'll stop making other countries rich from our oil habit. At best we can hope for is $2.80 a gallon. And unless we stop speculators (which is the real reason oil prices are above $80 a barrel), we won't see that either. And does anybody believe that with the current political environment that we'll be able to reign in commodity speculators?

Scenes from a Saved Daylight Sunrise Commute

Linkee-poo, some get drunk on demon-rum and some get drunk on glory

Happy birthday to the Girl Scouts, fine purveyors of sugar-crack cookies since 1917.

Terri Windling shares several songs from some of my favorite performers (Alison Krauss and Sarah Jarosz, the last I'm just discovering). Also, they're good examples of why I love folk music, the full range from story, to jamming, to evocative. All we need is a train song and we'd be complete. Whenever I listen to good folk I want to write fairy stories steeped in deep mountain forest green and lit by blue moon light. "I buried my heart in a willow tree, you came along and gave it back to me." Fuck yeah. And now I really yearn to write a short that's been banging around my head for a few years based on "The Demon Lover."

And here is where I realize it's been months since I've listened to folk music. Time to rectify that omission. Time to feed the beast.

The Collected Cat Rambo. Congrats on that deal, Cat.

If you've been anywhere on the internets with past weekend, you can't miss the passing of Jean Giraud (aka Mobeius). If there is one person who is responsible for the look of SF post 2001, it's this man.

Jay Lake waxes rhapsodic about characters with backstory. Notice he's not saying you need to include all the backstory, but that older characters come with history and preconceptions. While younger characters also have those, if you look at the world, younger people are more flexible than older folks. Sometimes we have things so fixed in our minds because of our experience, it's hard to see around those boulders. The easiest way to get these in the story is to make oblique references (like the mission briefing in Return of the Jedi), but the better way is to show how those experiences shape the character and their response. Or, as I say at work, this ain't my first time to the rodeo.

Any advanced civilization is indistinguishable from nature. It's a take on Clarke's Law, and not one I agree with. While our future seems to turn on more biological integration, I wouldn't say everyone would make the same choice (hell, even we are having a discussion, in a sideways manner, about that direction - note the political consternation over biotech, greenhouse emissions, stem cell research, medical advancements). (Grokked from Tor.com)

Vince brings to us examples of why being on Facebook may not be a good idea, especially if you're a douchebag.

I doubt it'll actually change much, or that Cuccinelli will actually be hurt by it, but the VA Supreme Court has finally shut down his witch hunt against Dr. Mann. It always amazes me that the people who scream the loudest about government waste and frivolous lawsuits are typically the very ones who waste government resources and file frivolous (and groundless) lawsuits. It's like the alcoholic who decries the availability of alcohol at the corner bar and then dares you to stop them before they drink again. (Grokked from Tobias Buckell)

Linkee-poo skates through a Sunday

Robots being put to good use. Like getting close to predators feasting on their prey. Now this is a robotics technology I can get behind. (Grokked from phiala)

Oh, God says global warming is a hoax. Okay, great. Glad we have that settled now. But wait, considering God also told Bachmann and Perry to run for President, I'm not all that unsure that God isn't an unreliable narrator who is just fucking with us. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

Unions take a hard look at their strategy. Just in case you thought that Obama was giving everything to labor or that labor was doing all those horrible things the republican governors said they were doing. Part of the ongoing fight in labor about where to focus our resouces. (Grokked from thc1972)

In what comes as no news to those of us who live by the lakes, Great Lakes ice coverage falls 71% over 40 years (and that's not including this past year where I don't think Lake Erie, the shallowest of the lakes, failed to closed at all). So is that a bad thing? Only if you like to swim, want to avoid toxins in your fish, and just wait until you see the annual invasion of the Canadian Air Force this year. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

How bad is the US private insurance system? It's so bad people are upset their own countries may be about to imitate it. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

Outing

Yesterday was a beautiful day. So we spent it outside. Where did I go?

The Cleveland Aquarium. After hearing about how Clevelanders wouldn't support an an aquarium. It was one of the reasons why they pulled Sea World out of Aurora. So, imagine my surprise when it was an hour wait to buy tickets.

And then we went to the West Side Market. Just for kicks.

Linkee-poo out and about

Spent the day outside and not on the internets. Hopefully will have pictures tomorrow.

Todd Wheeler goes the self-publishing route with Mad Endeavor Books. Good luck, Todd.

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday, it's fairy tale on fairy tale action. Or at least the battle of Snow White Retelling Trailers. I'll agree with most of what the reviewer is saying about these, however I've also seen "Snow White and the Huntsman" before. At least if I mix several movies together. And the T2 mirror? Puh-leaze. Look, mirrors are magic doors. No need to "spice it up." Also, the exploding into fractals, yeah, seen it. But wait, Julia Roberts is the old witch/fairy? Sigh. Watched her career all the way through maiden, matron, and now crone.

Well, so much for "personalized medicine" being the cancer killer. Now, it works for some cancer, but like all cancer therapies, doesn't translate well to other cancers (or even cancer patients). (Grokked from Jay Lake)

Sometimes I really hate my profession. While it's probably not much worse than having booth babes sell your merchandise, putting QR codes on their butts feels like a line has been crossed somewhere.

On the politicization and misinterpretation of science. At least as to how it relates to the Gulf Oil Spill. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

And in the latest whackaloon aspect of this campaign, apparently federal lands and national parks are on the chopping block. Holy crap. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

Linkee-poo doesn't know where this is going, but guesses it'll do the driving from now on

The 5 things about publishing that surprised David B. Coe.

In my story (that has been accepted, but I have no contract, cough, cough) War Stories, the bookend POV character says that it's better to talk about what you've seen and done in war. "Because all those old guys who fought the last great war came back and kept their mouths shut. The demons they carried home ate them from the inside." Reference for some of those "old guys" I knew who informed that part of the story. My great uncles fought in the war. I know some things of their service, but not their full stories. In January we buried the second to the last one of them. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

"Minimum of four years book publicity experience." I'm out. But, hey, if you know someone who wants to move around in the world of publishing, maybe you know someone who could be a Sr. Publicists at Tor/Forge Books. Maybe it's even you.

Ikea instructions for Stonehenge. (Grokked from matociquala)

In case you every really wanted to know what paranoid sounds like, here ya go. I have to admit I only got halfway though (or less, it's really damn long) before giving up. And now I'm wondering if this person is checking linked sources and my photo will appear in there as part of the code. Because, BTW, if you translate my last name in German (it's Slavic) it means "The Book of Life." And I'm named for two saints. Code much? (Pointed to by John)

Of relation to the newly uncovered War on Women, the women's economic opportunity index. Damn those socialist countries like Germany and Austria for making us look bad. (Grokked from Jeffery Beeler)

You know, dilithium crystals make anti matter experiments so much easier. And with that, Steve punches his geek card to be valid for the next month. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

Anti-government extremists groups proliferate when the President is a Democrat? Not to mention African-American? Shocked, shocked I am… Good thing the conservatives quashed that DoHS report on the rise of conservative militia groups and the threat they pose. It's good to know conservatives are consistent in their reality denial.

And this just in, velociraptor chokes on chicken bone and dies. Okay, well, it was a really, really big chicken. And technically, so was the velociraptor. I always find it interesting when researchers are faced with the obvious. Look, "predator" is not an eating strategy. Obligate carnivore is. And if you observe any obligate carnivores you will notice that they will also scavenge meat when they can (because it poses less risk to them and doesn't require great energy expenditure). (Grokked from Jay Lake)

When I was in college I attended a lecture on shipwrecks and the presenter was going on and on about how this wreck he had just finished excavating was so strange because there were personal items from all across the Mediterranean (Egypt to what would become Southern Spain). And the hold included some artworks of renown (Egyptian and Peloponnesian statuary). And they were stunned at the variety of items. I asked if they had considered the possibility of piracy and theft. Their response was, "Almost all the ships of this time were engaged in some piracy, and they were all merchant vessels with items for trade. But all these different things just perplex us." Um, pirates have always been the most egalitarian crews (pulling from all types of people and both sexes), so having a wide range of personal items seems pretty natural to me for a mixed crew (after all, at the time the Mediterranean was a vast network of commerce between nation states from both sides of Gibraltar to the Red Sea). And that they were hauling plunder for sale in foreign ports also seems an obvious fit. But the archeologist just wasn't getting it.

Alligator Quotient: Alligators on a plane. All I'm sayin'.

1, 2, 3 What are we fightin' for, don't ask me I don't give a damn

I think this is because I've heard one too many comment about this. Okay, in the wake of the Super Tuesday election here in Ohio, I've heard many people (including our own Mike Dewine, who supported Romney before he switched to Support Santorum) talk about how Romney outspent Santorum 10 to 1, but only won by 1%. And how this goes to show that, "it's not about money." Yeah, bullshit. Here's the real facts. Two weeks ago Ohio was a walk-away for Ricky. He lead Romney by 20 points in almost all the polls. And in two weeks Romney wiped that all away. A 21 point swing in two weeks. That's what all that money bought. And that's a hell of a bargain.

Now I could also talk about how the shiny "not-Romney" candidate seems so spectacular to every new electorate that bellies up to the electoral bar. Only to have that said candidate open their mouth while people are paying attention. At that point, the curve bends quickly in the other direction. This is what's called "the whackaloon effect." The "Oh, (insert not-Romney candidate here) feels what I feel, he speaks from the heart, and I'd like ot have a beer with them," sentiment quickly turns to "ZOMG, this freeze-dried whackaloon could never win in a general election, and they're pretty horrible to boot. The probably have frosted-kittens for breakfast."

Do I need to run out the list of all those who have become road kill this year? And do I need to point to the plethora of not-Mitts whom the faithful would love to run, only for those people to chuckle and say, "No more for me, thanks, I'm driving"?

So, first point is, "Yes, money is making a big difference in this campaign, and there's a hell of a lot of it sloshing around." And the next point is, "It's going to be Romney. Might as well line up to drink the kool-aid already as it's getting hot in the noon-day sun."

And here I'll make my predictions. I think Santorum will rack-up the South and Romney will be forced to choose between him and Rubio (who I don't think would actually accept the VP nod). And a Romnney/Santorum ticket is even more poisoned than a McCain/Pailin ticket (which is why I think Rubio will sit this one out and wait for 2016). There's still an opportunity for someone else to get the nod (whoever thought it would be Palin at this point in the campaign). Santorum, however, if he's not the VP will have enough candidates to make a stink at the convention (think Pat Buchanan in 92). Newt will settle for a cabinet position in a Romney Administration, possibly Sec. of State (and if that doesn't scare the ever lovin' crap out ya, you might want to think that through). Ron Paul, well, it's Ron's last hurrah. Thanks for playing, Ron. Really wish we would have put that blue reactant in the pool before you got in.

Story Bone

Just in case you've ever wondered, "how did they ever think of that"? Well, now you know. Also, if you've ever asked, "Where do authors get their ideas"? This is how. This is also why offering an author an idea that they can just write up and you'll share the profits makes those authors giggle with glee thinking of how they could probably get away with a good retort at that moment. We always have ideas. The hard part is writing them. And because the Muse demands, the latest idea.

I'm processing an image for one of our HALO/HAHO products and thinking, "You know how you can get the bends by coming up from depths too quickly? Since the atmosphere is just an ocean with looser organization of the atoms, I wonder if you would get the bends by rising up in the atmosphere column too fast? And at depths divers use helium mixed into the oxygen, is there something other than nitrogen that you'd use at altitude?" I think it's possible. We don't know it because we've never been able to rise faster than a ballon to any great height without also wearing a pressure suit or in a pressurized cabin. Which in this scenario is cheating. You don't get the bends on the way down (well, really you do, that's when the nitrogen seeps into your blood stream in higher than normal concentrations, but it's compressed so not gas bubbles, yet), so parachutists wouldn't have them. What if we or an alien were moving in an atmosphere with a different density, would that cause problems?

Unfortunately I don't know the answers here. If you use this, you'd have to do the research. Or ask your neighborhood rocket scientists.

Linkee-poo knows it's a hundred years to Macondo

For those six of you who haven't heard, if you're in the Northern Hemisphere, and you have clear skies tonight, you might want to keep a sharp eye out for auroras. We're getting hit with a major electrical storm (CME - coronal mass ejection) today. This is after another large one rang the Van Allen Belt's bell on Monday/Tuesday. Of course, in NE Ohio, it looks like cloud cover tonight. Sigh. But I did finally get to see the Northern Lights earlier this year.

Want to write near future military scifi? Then http://defensetech.org/2012/03/06/seven-deadly-trends-for-ground-vehicles/">knowing what keeps the DoD up at nights might be a good place to start. That's a presentation that outlines seven trends that military ground vehicles will have to deal with in the future. Note, we're still pretty much fighting the last war with all of those.

John Scalzi comments about the "collusion" action by the DoJ. JOhn pretty much wrote what I would have (except for the hanging a dog in the fight at this point). So just go read him.

More proof the world is weirder that our imaginations. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

Robot UAVs play the Theme to James Bond. (Grokked from Tor.com, I think)

"And this is the point. There is no Left left in America. There is only the moderate Right, which is most Democrats, and the merged Religious/Financial Right, which is most Republicans." A view from across the pond on our American politics. When a president passes a health care bill mostly written by the Heritage Foundation only 15 years before is then excoriated for it being "socialist", well, you know just how far to the right we've gone. The car of state needs an alignment adjustment. Unfortunately, while the fringe-right aren't driving, they're pulling heavily on the arm that is driving. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

While the conservative propaganda machine churns on about how global warming is a hoax, on the other side of the island Kiribatians are in talks with Fiji to buy land so they have land to live on now that their island is being over washed because of rising ocean levels. IIRC, there's another island state which has already negotiated a homeland settlement in Australia and is currently sending their college age students tho the Aussies to help with the transition. Good thing we're not falling for all this panic talk here in the US. That would mean we would have to do something other than "Drill, baby, drill." We won't discuss the coral reefs dying because they can't grow fast enough to compensate for the ocean's rise and are getting deeper and deeper. (Grokked from Tobias Buckell)

Good thing we have that Equal Pay Act so we don't have to deal with women lawyers being paid $0.77 on the $1. Hey, it's an improvement. When I was a kid women in the workplace were lucky to make $0.63 on the $1. So everybody can slack off now, like the conservatives tell us there's no problem here anymore. (Grokked from Chia Lynn)

Tweet of my heart:
Well, not really:
@kaimac: I need a freelance non profit online marketing person for a six week assignment, starting ASAP. Know anyone? PLS RT

Let's see, they want someone who is an online marketing professional to do some freelance. And, oh, they need to both to be available instantly and for the next 6 weeks and they need to work "non-profit"? Now, I'm hoping they meant they needed someone who has experience working with non-profits. In that case, what they really need is a writer.

Alligator Quotient: I remember the sun. Haven't seen it in days.

Linkee-poo with a very special Charles in Charge episode

I have a number of political links from yesterday, so I thought I'd put them in their own linkee-poo and clear the baffles for a less spittle flecked linkee-poo later today. Sounds like a Good Idea™ to me.

"'Past experience has shown that when Hill people talk about reform, they often seek to weaken it,' (said) Meredith McGehee… who worked on Hatch Act reform… rank-and-file federal employees 'take the Hatch Act quite seriously but get disheartened when they see the upper echelons and political appointees being active.'" The Hatch Act has, personally, been a pain in the rear. But it's there for a real reason. I guess corruption is a bipartisan issue.

Well, that would disqualify almost all of the GOP Presidential Candidates. I'm so glad that the GOP is the party of "getting government out of your lives." Just think how crazy they would be if they actively accepted that they wanted to control the minutia of your life? Granted, okay, these are laudable goals, but are they really the bailiwick of a political party vetting committee? At least they acknowledge reality that they can't stop someone from getting on the ballot without their "blessing", and they're not actually going to force candidates to sign their purity pledge.

Mitt Romney on "my tax plan can't be scored," after independent accounting says it would blow the roof off the top of the deficit. Or, in other words, it's the Pie in the Sky Wishful Thinking Fairy at work again. Also, he admits that it's not really a plan at all.

Proving the axiom, there's no conservative fear-based lie that can be so thoroughly disproven that some whackjob won't bring it up again.

"Is there anybody here who thinks that makes a lot of sense?" No, Mr. President. There's no"body" who thinks that makes sense. Semi-organized slime molds with a propaganda agenda, however, think it makes all too much sense. Even after they fought so vociferously in 2004 to remind us the President can do very little to reduce world oil prices by themselves. Also note the same people who advocated for intervention in Libya, and then gnashed their teeth over how the president was getting us in involved in a war in Libya are now the same people who are advocating intervention in Syria.

Just because it's fallen off the radar screens, the 99% of us are still getting screwed while the 1% keep making more, and more, and more money.

Just in case you thought Sandra Fluke was a fluke of Rush Limbaugh going off his meds, nope. Obviously Rush is feeling more than a little intimidated by the women folk. Sorry Tracie McMillan, Rush is pretty much the definition of misogynist. He just hid it well for a long time, which is why you didn't see in when you watched the show in your High School clasess. (Grokked from Paolo Bacigalupi)

Linkee-poo is studying, shhh

I am way, way behind in my reading, sorry folks. And I also have another test tonight. So not enough time to play on the internets today. May be later tonight.

Mur Lafferty on writing strong female characters. I'm pretty sure my book survives this test. There are four women characters (one of prominence, but sadly not a main character). One kicks ass. She's #2 in security and could probably be better than the #1 (and he knows it and isn't frightened). Another runs the #1 security guy's office (if you know any good executive assistants, and I've known a few, you know this character, she really runs the show). The theirs is the more prominent character, who has her version of feminine strength. She's tough as nails underneath, and uses her sexuality as a weapon. The fourth is a minor support character whom the protagonist gets to have banter with (also, she ties in a minor plot bunny). As some reviewers called her, she plays the Miss Moneypenny role. While my character doesn't play so much of a role, I'll remind everyone that while M may send Bond on a mission, it's Miss Moneypenny who gets him there. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

Next time you cut your fingeryou may save a life. An interesting way to get samples and build the list of bone marrow donation. (Pointed to by John)

For the geek in me, this is so very cool. Give tactile feedback on tablet screens through the use of electric charge to alter friction. If you're mind didn't just go, "bwha?!", either you're more hip to this than me, or you didn't understand. Also, if this is incorporated into the new iPad (or any tablet), I expect to see an app from the porn industry in less than a few hours offering options such as "smooth", "lubed" and "goosebump". Back when Apple introduced the new display tech on MacOSX, the standard joke was that it was so good, you'd want to lick the screen. Well, this is the screen that a licks you back. (Pointed to by John)

Vince rounds up the Daily Show and Colbert Show responses to Rush's oral thrush he inflicted on the rest of us. I really suggest watching the Daily Show video if you haven't seen it. He covers a lot of topics (include Megyn Kelly's "got mine, screw you" attitude, and the absurdity of the presumptions made in the piece, and the GOP's response to the controversy). It's all part of the reasons I left the GOP long ago. And frankly, if you haven't come to the conclusion that Rush's show and brain processes aren't the "most wretched hive of scum and villainy" since Mos Eisly put in the Waffle House, I'm not sure you're paying attention. Fortunately, Peter Gabriel is paying attention. Also, in case you missed it, I did edit my Rush post to include a video from "That 70's Show" that exemplifies the conservative mind sewer surrounding this subject.

And Janiece with some more perspective on the current kerfluffle (oh which Rush is just the latest snag).

Alligator Quotient: Anybody got a snorkel? A really long one?