Oil

Cross posted on my Xanga site, another "active blog".

Today, gasoline at Costco was $2.99.99 for a gallon.
Many people think big oil is to blame and are angry that their profits are rising.
Well, if we want to lower the price of we have two choices:

1. Find more oil

2. Use less oil

Ok, there is a third, do some of both.

If we are serious about number 1, we will allow drilling in Alaska, allow drilling off the coast of California and Florida and in Colorado. All have oil reserves but those reserves have not been allowed to be tapped for environmental reasons.

PLEASE NOTE I DID NOT SAY THE REASONS WERE GOOD OR BAD, BUT THOSE ARE THE REASONS. Sorry for the shouting but the above send many environmentalists into a tizzy and wanted to hopefully prevent someone spamming me.

If we want more supply that is where the oil is. If we (as a society) are not willing to increase supply then we shouldn't complain about the price of oil.

If we are serious about number 2, we will repeal some of the restrictive laws such as seatbelts for each passenger and encourage families to use mopeds for travel. Impossible for 4 people to ride on a moped you say? Its done daily in parts of Asia, Africa and South & Central America. Too risky? Well there is a trade off between safety and oil usage.

For those who say force the car companies to build smaller cars, well they do offer smaller cars, which car did you buy last? Small cars are available but if we don't buy them the auto companies are less likely to build them. Don't like small cars because they are under powered and unsafe in an accident? Well there is a trade off between the size of a car and the amount of steel it has in it and the chance of not getting killed in an accident. When a Mini Cooper and Ford Excursion meet, the Ford wins.

From what I've seen on the road so far, many people are picking the safety of larger cars over smaller cars because they value the lives of their families over the expense of gas. That is the market place at work. If gas rises to $5.00 a gallon (or more in Europe), then people will start to change their habits when purchasing new cars. Already people are buying fewer SUV's then in prior years so the market is working (and GM and Ford are hurting because most of their profits came from the large SUVs).

For people who say we need to be energy independent then we will have cheap oil, I'll I can say is dream on. Norway is an oil exporter. Gasoline there is over US$8.00 a gallon. Part of the cost is the tax but the locals still pay the world price for oil, else the oil producers will sell their oil to someone else. If the government puts a price cap on the price of oil, then we will have a return to the gas lines of the early 1970s. Price controls will lead to shortages, they always have.

So higher prices will be with us for a while, how do we solve it? Find more oil or use less?

Grim Reaper comes calling for F-14 training unit

From PilotOnline.com.

Yes, I stole the headline, but it says it all. The last training squadron of the F-14 is getting rid of the plane next month.

There is another blog you might want to check out. At FlightJournal.com, there is a long article comparing the F-14 to the F-18E/F. The authors DO NOT like the F-18 and think the Navy is making a big mistake in not upgrading the F-14.

Its worth reading the article, but remember, the authors are advocates, not impartial so their arguments would need to be verified.

I'm still sad to see the F-14 go, but how much of that is nostalgia for the plane and how much is concern the F-18 cannot do the job of the F-14 I cannot say.

Last Deployment - not mission

The last two active squadrons of F-14's have departed for their last deployment. When they return, the squadrons will transition to the F-18 Super Hornets.

Rob, the absentee owner of this site, started his working career with the F-14 (civilian contractor not pilot). Now he is working on other planes, but still not from the cockpit.

I've read the reasons for making the transition, but every time I read the stats on both planes, excluding the cost per flying hour, the F-14 is the better plane. Maybe the reason I'm so luke warm to the F-18 is because in the late 70s and 80s, the early F-18's were mediocre while the F-14 was doing its job day in and out. In that time there was a lot of bad press about the F-18, being too complicated to fly, to expensive to produce among others. The main problem I read and heard about the F-18 however was its limited range. The plane seemed to need a tanker to accompany it on any mission over 50 miles. I know that is an exaggeration but that is the main thing I remember from all the Aviation Week articles I read back then.

I'm not sure, but the F-14 could be the only plane in the Navy (or Air Force or Marines for that matter) that has been in combat and suffered zero losses.
F-14 no losses in combat that I am aware of
F-15 May have lost one or two during Desert Storm, I can't remember but thought did.
F-16 Pretty sure we lost one during Desert Storm.
F-18 no losses in combat that I am aware of.
F-117 one lost in the Balkan operations.
A-7, A-6 these were operational during the Vietnam war and did lose some planes.
B-52, this was operational during the Vietnam war and did lose some.
F/B-111, same as B-52
B-1 and B-2 no losses in combat that I am aware of.

Of course since this blog has not been updated for 9 months, I may be talking to myself here but if anyone else is reading this, please let me know what mistakes I have made in the above list. That there are mistakes I do not doubt.

The Washington Post has a story about the final deployment, but of course they call it the last mission. The F-14's last mission won't take place for about a year. Safe flying.

Katrina

Well, if you have been online at all in the last few days, Yahoo, Google, Amazon, Ebay and others have links for places to donate to help those in need due to Hurricane Katrina.

There are also many blogs that are working to raise funds through organizations.

If you are looking for good organizations, two of the many are
Samaritan Purse and Salvation Army. Click on the links to donate. The Salvation Army Link will take you to their US home page and can click on the link there.

Jan 7, 2005

Three stories today.

CNS News: Coverage of Military Tsunami Response Betrays Media Bias by Scott Hogenson

LA Times: Democrats in Denial ... by the editors (that makes this very important to read)

Commentary: Americanism—and Its Enemies by David Gelernter

Have a good weekend and happy birthday dad.

Welcome 2005

Wow, this blog is if not dead, is definitely on life support. December 14 being the last post and no comments either. The various contributors being busy with other things or figuring it was fun for a while but have more important things to do.

So postings will be slower this year then in 2004 and will have to be more then just links to news stories. That means we, the contributors, will have to spend more time to write stuff, since we all have day jobs and none of us are writers by profession (as if you couldn't tell). :-)

Anyway, its raining in So Cal again. Its great that we need the water, but it would be nice if it would stop for a week or so, so the ground could dry out and then the next storms rain would go into the ground instead of running to the sea. Yeah, this is small potatoes compared to the disaster that took place in Asia last week. If you want to donate money to help those who were hurt by the tsunami, I would recommend World Vision, but there are other organizations doing good work as well.

And finally, here are a few news stories that might be of interest.

The Toronto Sun compares the US government rapid response in getting people and material to those who need help compared to Canada's government response. The American Thinker has a poem written about the US response to natural disasters. Ok, both are pro American in bent, but that doesn't make the stories untrue.

The last article is from the American Thinker and it discusses how the EU can become a single state (nationalism) and how anti-Americanism is part of the equation.

News Roundup

Well its been a long time since I've done this but here are some stories I've seen today that think are worth reading over lunch.

The traditional yule fear factor, James Lileks talks about how the word Christmas is becoming the un-word for the season. Because other holidays are celebrated at this time of year, stores seem to be reluctant to wish people a Merry Christmas so as not to offend anyone.

This falls under the Oops category. One of the electors from Minnesota made a mistake on their ballot and cast an electoral vote for John Edwards instead of John Kerry. None of the electors admitted to the mistake and once the vote is made, it can't be changed. It will become a footnote in history that John Edwards received 1 electoral vote in the 2004 election. But just think if the election was tied at 269 for Bush and 269 for Kerry. This mistake would have cost Kerry the election.

And finally, an interesting article on ethics.

THIS year witnessed the beginning of an ethical revolution. Voters in Australia and the US overwhelmingly endorsed the proposition that doing good is radically different from feeling good. This U-turn away from sentimentality is also taking hold in Britain.