Phila Refineries closure will cause shortfall in NE Energy

Here we go!

With gasoline, however, the Northeast would be short 160,000 barrels per day this year and 240,000 barrels per day next year if the refineries shut.

The Philadelphia media have been covering the closing of the last refineries in the Philadelphia region.No one else. An EPA report yesterday blandly tells us that we are in for a shortfall and dire effects. In an interview this morning with the Mayor of Eddystone, where one Sunoco refinery is located, he put the blame directly on the EPA. Sunoco has been mandated to install a $200 million dollar scrubber as well as other improvements to comply with new Regs. This is a well written piece by the Delaware County Times reporter, and I encourage everyone to read the whole thing to understand what our government is doing to us. Earlier I did a post on the U.S. refinery business and if time, check out Philadelphia Refineries coming to an end which included what they are doing elsewhere.

“It’s going to be an economic hit to our region,” he said of the closure of the ConocoPhillips Trainer and Sunoco Inc.’s Marcus Hook and Philadelphia refineries. “The question is: ‘What’s the scope of it and what’s the duration?’”

The U.S. Energy Information Administration warned of price spikes in its full analysis of the refinery closure impact released Monday and U.S. Rep. Patrick Meehan, R-7, of Upper Darby said questions it raises can be used during a congressional hearing in three weeks.

“A higher-price environment could persist for months, if not longer, until infrastructure changes can be made,” the report read. “Replacing lost volumes presents a challenge in terms of both logistics and alternate supply sources, but the challenge posed by logistics is significantly greater.”

With gasoline, however, the Northeast would be short 160,000 barrels per day this year and 240,000 barrels per day next year if the refineries shut.

Potential pipelines serving the region are at near capacity now and tankers would need Jones Act waivers to allow them to serve the region as the few with that designation are already contracted.

The EIA released the 27-page report entitled “Potential Impacts of Reductions in Refinery Activity on Northeast Petroleum Product Markets,” stating that price volatility would be linked more to delivery of supply than unavailability of product. EIA GOV Report

“A higher-price environment could persist for months, if not longer, until infrastructure changes can be made,” the report read. “Replacing lost volumes presents a challenge in terms of both logistics and alternate supply sources, but the challenge posed by logistics is significantly greater.” Full story at Delco Times

Obama to cut military benefits

Onward and upward by the administration’s effort to cut our military. I caught this on Mark Levin’s program last night. The end result is to push the military into Obamacare. Simply enough of this man attempting to destroy the morale of our brave men and women. Enough of courting the Federal unions by leaving them unaffected.

The Obama administration’s proposed defense budget calls for military families and retirees to pay sharply more for their healthcare, while leaving unionized civilian defense workers’ benefits untouched. The proposal is causing a major rift within the Pentagon, according to U.S. officials. Several congressional aides suggested the move is designed to increase the enrollment in Obamacare’s state-run insurance exchanges.

“Would you stay with a car insurance company that raised your premiums by 345 percent in five years? Probably not,” said the congressional aide. “Would anybody accept their taxes being raised 345 percent in five years? Probably not.”

Administration officials told Congress that one goal of the increased fees is to force military retirees to reduce their involvement in Tricare and eventually opt out of the program in favor of alternatives established by the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare 

The disparity in treatment between civilian and uniformed personnel is causing a backlash within the military that could undermine recruitment and retention.

As part of the increased healthcare costs, the Pentagon also will impose an annual fee for a program called Tricare for Life, a new program that all military retirees automatically must join at age 65. Currently, to enroll in Tricare for Life, retirees pay the equivalent of a monthly Medicare premium. More from  Free Beacon

Obama delivers, high energy policies a success.

Obama has delivered on his pledge. He said that energy prices would skyrocket, he has delivered. In case you missed this yesterday, here it is. A candidate that could have been but wouldn’t run. Why the candidates are not pounding on this, beats me.

Governor Mitch Daniels (R-IN) on Obama’s failed energy policy:

“Let’s give the president credit for one domestic policy that worked. He wanted higher gas prices and he got ‘em. He said it. Secretary Chu said $8, about what they pay in Europe, would be great. Secretary Salazar said if it went to $10 he still wouldn’t be for allowing drilling in many of the places where we know there is an awful lot of domestic production. And, so they’ve gotten the doubling of gas prices and perhaps worse is a conscious policy of this administration.”

Governor Daniels was on FOX News Sunday with Chris Wallace this morning.

 

Windows 8 computers have “kill switch”

While we are worried about SOPA, 1984 continues. I will stick with an Apple, but for how long will that be safe from prying government eyes? Google is following our every move like a Blood Hound. Our cell phones on or off provide a constant tracking device. Something to think about on a Saturday.

With the rollout of the Windows 8 operating system expected later this year, millions of desktop and laptop PCs will get kill switches for the first time. Microsoft (MSFT) hasn’t spoken publicly about its reasons for including this capability in Windows 8 beyond a cryptic warning that it might be compelled to use it for legal or security reasons. The feature was publicized in a widely cited Computerworld article in December when Microsoft posted the terms of use for its new application store, a feature in Windows 8 that will allow users to download software from a Microsoft-controlled portal. Windows smartphones, like those of its competitors, have included kill switches for several years, though software deletion “is a last resort, and it’s uncommon,” says Todd Biggs, director of product management for Windows Phone Marketplace. More at Business Week H/T:Prison Planet

Obama: “I will turn Algae into Energy”

Apparently, Obama is more “Christian” than we give him credit for. Our Leader thinks that he will soon turn Algae into energy gratis his friends no doubt who will soon get a double load of our money. So the next villain de jour are the nasty energy companies that soon must be controlled. Profits bah humbug, not in Obama’s universe.

 

Charles Krauthammer responds to President Obama’s suggestion that the U.S. turn to algae for energy production.

Video here at Real Clear Politics

Partial Transcript:

“I was impressed by the president’s analysis of this situation where we have no control over the global price of oil,” Charles Krauthammer said. “We’re dependent on oil from unfriendlies. And he says, as we heard, drilling for oil to relieve our dependency is not a solution, it’s not a plan. He said we have to go to clean energy. He talks about something really revolutionary today. Algae. A $14 million grant for the development of algae. It’s not oil. His solution is algae. And because we know that the Secretary of Energy is physicist that won the Nobel Prize, the president knowing this stuff said that one of the reasons we should do this is because we can grow algae here in the United States.”

“Now, it happens that algae will grow on anywhere on earth. I looked it up while I was away for those three days. You thought I was sunning myself. I did research. It grows in oceans, in lakes and ponds, in your swimming pool when the pool man is on vacation. In snow, in ice, on soil, on turtles, on sloths, the bark of trees and rocks. Why are we drilling for oil? We are the Saudi Arabia of rocks. We have a mountain range called the Rockies and we are allowing ourselves to be dominated by these oil producers. I think he’s on to something here that is truly revolutionary. Why would you build a pipeline, the Keystone pipeline with real oil from Canada to put in real refineries and put in real existing cars when you can do algae? I think he is on to something. And I think this shows the vision, the hope and change he promised in 2008.”

“Tongue out of cheek,” host Bret Baier joked.

“I’m sorry that I brought the level of discussion so low,” Krauthammer joked back.
Real Clear Politics

Iranian born Valerie Jarrett: ‘Unemployment good for the economy’

I have this thing about Valerie Jarrett. She is joined at the hip with Obama, and spends her days, weaving her agenda with him. I still am puzzled by it, and continue the quest to understand it. She breeches again in the news, and I am once more compelled to post. Its my thing. Many bloggers have “a thing” or subject that they just can’t let go of. This is mine. Before I get to the vid of how great unemployment is for the economy, let us review her sordid past.

Iranian born Valerie Jarrett – the real center of Obama’s inner circle is a great post to start out with if you need a refresher.

Even Obama’s handlers were worried at the time of his running for President, that Jarrett could be a big liability if her background was discovered. 

…her ties to Chicago politicians and her Iranian background, and you have a potential nightmare,” says a Democrat media consultant who worked for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton. Jarrett may be to Obama what James McDougal was to Bill and Hillary Clinton.

Valerie Jarretts Father-in-Law Vernon Jarrett Head of Communist Youth

It turns out that around this time, Vernon Jarrett was a leader of the Chicago chapter of American Youth for Democracy – the youth wing of the Communist Party.

Chicago communist journalist Frank Marshall Davis was a national sponsor of American Youth for Democracy, as well as being a Progressive Party supporter.

Both Davis and Jarrett worked on the radical Chicago Defender newspaper and in 1948, both served on the publicity committee of the Citizens’ Committee to Aid Packing-House Workers

If you want to know more, just type in Valerie Jarrett in my word press search bar. Here we go with today’s news:

At the Student Summit at North Carolina Central University in Durham, NC, White House Senior Adviser Valerie Jarrett speaks about the stimulative effects of unemployment (February 21, 2012.

“Even though we had a terrible economic crisis three years ago, throughout our country many people were suffering before the last three years, particularly in the black community,” Jarrett said. “And so we need to make sure that we continue to support that important safety net. It not only is good for the family, but it’s good for the economy. People who receive that unemployment check go out and spend it and help stimulate the economy, so that’s healthy as well.”

Jay Carney: ‘GOP to blame for stopping Keystone Pipeline

Jay Carney gives us insight at yesterday’s presser on how Obama is going to play the failure to approve the Keystone Pipeline. Now this is a novel approach. Blame the GOP. First, here is a refresher to remind us who is behind this fiasco:

Earlier we posted that Warren Buffett the winner in the Keystone Pipeline debacle, now it looks like he was not the only winner.The  Rockefeller Brother’s Fund in a coordinated, 4-year, $28 million dollar campaign was on the march to defeat it. First, dear Warren:

Warren Buffett’s Burlington Northern Santa Fe LLC is among U.S. and Canadian railroads that stand to benefit from the Obama administration’s decision to reject TransCanada Corp. (TRP)’s Keystone XL oil pipeline permit.

With modest expansion, railroads can handle all new oil produced in western Canada through 2030, according to an analysis of the Keystone proposal by the U.S. State Department. (Chuckle time)!

The keystone pipeline is actually just one of several oil sands pipelines targeted by the Rockefeller Brother’s Fund. Ezra Levant calls it industrial sabotage and, based on their own Power Point, that certainly seems an apt description. Heritage  From Rockefeller Fund sabotages Keystone pipeline approval

Jay Carney– The GOP made us do it!

Video over at Real Clear Politics

Transcript of Presser:

White House press secretary Jay Carney first says Republicans “forced” President Obama to deny the permit for the Keystone XL pipeline. Later in his press briefing, Carney says Obama didn’t turn down the pipeline.

“In terms of Keystone, as you all know, the history here is pretty clear. And the fact is because Republicans decided to play political with Keystone, their action essentially forced the administration to deny the permit process because they insisted on a time frame in which it was impossible to completely approve the pipeline,” Carney said when asked about the pipeline by ABC News’ Jake Tapper.

Later in the briefing, Carney says it is the Republicans’ fault.

Jake Tapper: “How can you say that you have an all the above on approach if the President turned down the Keystone pipeline? And you blame the Republicans for making it political.”

Carney: “But the President didn’t turn down the Keystone pipeline. There was a process in place, with long precedent, run out of the State Department because of the issue of the pipeline crossing an international boundary, that required an amount of time for proper for review after an alternate route was deemed necessary through Nebraska at the request of the Republican Governor of Nebraska and other stakeholders in Nebraska and the region that needed to play out, to be done appropriately. You can’t review and approve a pipeline, the route for which doesn’t even exist.

“The Republicans were the ones who unfortunately decided because they were looking for scalps, I guess, or wins in a situation where they somehow found themselves on the wrong side of cutting taxes for 160 million Americans last December. They decided to play politics with this decision and attack the payroll tax cut extension. Even though it was made clear by the State Department that doing so would make it impossible for them to conduct the review responsibly, they did it anyway knowing what the result would be.”

More at Real Clear Politics

Santorum and Satan

Santorum and his issue with Satan speech given at Ave Maria. You will need speakers probably to hear it, the transcript can be found below the video.

 

Transcript:

“This is not a political war at all. This is not a cultural war. This is a spiritual war. And the Father of Lies has his sights on what you would think the Father of Lies would have his sights on: a good, decent, powerful, influential country – the United States of America. If you were Satan, who would you attack in this day and age. There is no one else to go after other than the United States and that has been the case now for almost two hundred years, once America’s preeminence was sown by our great Founding Fathers.

He didn’t have much success in the early days. Our foundation was very strong, in fact, is very strong. But over time, that great, acidic quality of time corrodes even the strongest foundations. And Satan has done so by attacking the great institutions of America, using those great vices of pride, vanity, and sensuality as the root to attack all of the strong plants that has so deeply rooted in the American tradition.

He was successful. He attacks all of us and he attacks all of our institutions. The place where he was, in my mind, the most successful and first successful was in academia. He understood pride of smart people. He attacked them at their weakest, that they were, in fact, smarter than everybody else and could come up with something new and different. Pursue new truths, deny the existence of truth, play with it because they’re smart. And so academia, a long time ago, fell”. Continues over at  Right Wing Watch

Here is how the Catholic University summed up Santorum’s speech that day.

Here is a link to the full speech- http://mrctv.org/audio/full-santorum-speech-ave-maria-university-august-2008

Euthanasia or Murder in the Netherlands?

How often do doctors kill patients without their consent in the Netherlands?

This post from the National Review brought back memories of the course I took with Biomedical Ethicist Art Caplan, entitled, no less than Biomedical Ethics. The course for the most part was debating who, what,where, and when do we pull the plug. An example of the game goes like this: There are six people in a cave with oxygen for only 5. If all six remain breathing, all will die, but if one dies, all will live. How does one make the decision of which one shall die? By now you are getting the drift.

Hospitals have Ethics Committees. I was on one of those committees for a time. It was an unforgettable experience. There are Committees in place for just this sort of thing.

Rationing is indeed coming. Nameless, faceless people will decide which drugs and to whom they will be given. Here are links to how this will be done :

 The Obama Rationing Plan- why seniors fears are real,  Read Here. And “ Principles for Allocation of Scarce Medical Resources” by Ezekiel Emanuel. Lancet Article.

Now on to the post: “Murder in the Netherlands”.

What a slippery slope.The very first step, how much easier it will get when there is a shortage of treatments. Of course I am sure the physicians are more than happy to report the number of “without consent”.

One-quarter of assisted suicides, according to this survey. But only slightly less than 2 percent of all deaths are euthanasia/assisted suicides:

In 2005, of all deaths in the Netherlands, 1.7% were the result of euthanasia and 0.1% were the result of physician-assisted suicide. These percentages were significantly lower than those in 2001, when 2.6% of all deaths resulted from euthanasia and 0.2% from assisted suicide. Of all deaths, 0.4% were the result of the ending of life without an explicit request by the patient. Continuous deep sedation was used in conjunction with possible hastening of death in 7.1% of all deaths in 2005, significantly increased from 5.6% in 2001. In 73.9% of all cases of euthanasia or assisted suicide in 2005, life was ended with the use of neuromuscular relaxants or barbiturates; opioids were used in 16.2% of cases. In 2005, 80.2% of all cases of euthanasia or assisted suicide were reported. Physicians were most likely to report their end-of-life practices if they considered them to be an act of euthanasia or assisted suicide, which was rarely true when opioids were used are without the consent of the patient, according to doctors’ report. From  National Review

Eugenics: the skeleton that rattles loudest in the left’s closet

Having suffered through a weekend of unbearable news, and watching Santorum start his long ride into obscurity, what could I post about today. In desperation, I somehow stumbled upon History 2 channel mega long program covering the beginnings of our great nation on Sunday. Washington of course, was the central character. After about six hours of it, I did feel somewhat renewed in energy. With all that these early men and women sacrificed, can we not do all that we can? This brings me back to Santorum. While I share most of his personal beliefs, that is what they are. Personal. But unfortunately, he is unable to frame the issues in a positive way. The left will make him look like a Conservative nut case. I do know what he means. If the State had its way, his daughter Bella, would not have received the necessary care that would keep his daughter alive. That is a true fact. So I will give him a shot at support. Here is why.

Please check out the “Complete Lives System” espoused by Rahm Emanuel’s Physcian brother and Berwick to understand how the rationing will occur.  The Obama Rationing Plan- why seniors fears are real,  Read Here. And “ Principles for Allocation of Scarce Medical Resources” by Ezekiel Emanuel. Lancet Article. Rahm Emanuel’s brother. You will not sleep well tonight

To follow-up on my premise, I snagged this from “The Guardian”. Just a reminder of what this whole thing really is all about:

Socialism’s one-time interest in eugenics is dismissed as an accident of history. But the truth is far more unpalatable.

Eugenics went into steep decline after 1945. Most recoiled from it once they saw where it led – to the gates of Auschwitz. The infatuation with an idea horribly close to nazism was steadily forgotten. But we need a reckoning with this shaming past. Such a reckoning would focus less on today’s advances in selective embryology, and the ability to screen out genetic diseases, than on the kind of loose talk about the “underclass” that recently enabled the prime minister to speak of “neighbours from hell” and the poor as if the two groups were synonymous.

Progressives face a particular challenge, to cast off a mentality that can too easily regard people as means rather than ends. For in this respect a movement is just like a person: it never entirely escapes its roots.

It is eugenics, the belief that society’s fate rested on its ability to breed more of the strong and fewer of the weak. So-called positive eugenics meant encouraging those of greater intellectual ability and “moral worth” to have more children, while negative eugenics sought to urge, or even force, those deemed inferior to reproduce less often or not at all. The aim was to increase the overall quality of the national herd, multiplying the thoroughbreds and weeding out the runts.

Such talk repels us now, but in the prewar era it was the common sense of the age. Most alarming, many of its leading advocates were found among the luminaries of the Fabian and socialist left, men and women revered to this day. Thus George Bernard Shaw could insist that “the only fundamental and possible socialism is the socialisation of the selective breeding of man”, even suggesting, in a phrase that chills the blood, that defectives be dealt with by means of a “lethal chamber”. Full Story :Guardian UK

Just in case you missed this: