Here's A Thought Big Oil

Well heck Harvey, you’ve really created quite a mess. 

Here in Nebraska we won’t see the environmental impact of Hurricane Harvey, but we sure will feel the economic impact and it has already started.  Gas prices jumped 12¢ a gallon overnight, notwithstanding that there is a supply of gas in storage tanks and at stations.  Can you say profit-taking? 

According to Business Insider, ten oil refinery plants in the Houston area and Corpus Christi are shutting down because of the storm. They normally have the capacity to refine about 2 million barrels of oil a day.  Among the companies cited in the report as shutting down refineries are Exxon Mobil, Valero, Citgo, Shell, and Phillips 66.

No doubt the shut down of these refineries will have an impact, however why do prices at the pump jump overnight?  Also, what about the world oil reserves?

  

Okay, so with just the mere anticipation of refinery shut downs there might be a little profit-taking and no one wants to tap the reserves, right? 

This past quarter six of the major international oil companies recorded over $50 billion in combined profit for the first time.  Altogether, the profits of the six companies jumped more than 40% in the second quarter to $51.5 billion, the first time big Western oil companies have ever reached that level.

ExxonMobil stood apart even from this crowd, logging the largest ever quarterly operating profit for a U.S. company. They reported second-quarter earnings of $11.7 billion, a record for any U.S. company.

Here’s a thought big oil:  why not hold the line on a few billion in profits to stabilize oil prices so I and Joe-six-pack can afford to buy gas.  It isn't always about profit, is it?  Hell, even Budweiser stopped brewing beer at their Cartersville, Georgia plant to process 155,000 cans of drinking water to send to Harvey’s victims.

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I Couldn't Care Less

More than 500 people showed up Sunday for the unveiling of a small monument to "Unknown Alabama Confederate Soldiers" at Confederate Veterans Memorial Park in Brantley, Alabama.

The Daughters of the Confederacy and the Sons of Confederate Veterans attended the ceremony, along with Civil War re-enactors dressed in period clothing.

At a time when Confederate statues and monuments are being taken down, this new one is being erected.  As I commented in a post on 8/15, the majority of the Confederate statues and monuments were placed during two main periods.   In the first and predominate period, they were erected from 1890 to 1920 when southern states were passing repressive race laws and did so as a “poke in the eye” of the federal government.  The second spurt of statues and monuments was during the civil rights era of the 1960’s, once again done as a gesture of resistance to the federal government.

When criticized about the timing of the new monument so close after Charlottesville, David Coggins, the site's owner and developer said, “This was planned several months ago.” ”Matter of fact, the monument was ordered last year, and it's taken this long to get it in the ground and ready to unveil.”

What is the difference between this new monument and the ones that are being removed?  This new monument is on private property, while the ones now being removed were placed on public property as an anti-civil rights protest, in most cases paid for by tax dollars and maintained by tax dollars.

As I commented in the 8/15 post, there is a clear justification for removing Confederate statues and monuments based on the history of their placement and locations on public property.  What strikes me is that those who now defend these statues and monuments, sometimes with violence, have made no overtures to take them and put them on private property.  

If the governments and communities want to extricate themselves from this mess, all they need to do is to tell these groups they can have the statues and monuments, so long as they remove them at their expense and put them on their private property.  I couldn't care less if the KKK, white supremacists and Nazis drag these statues to some back woods.

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Harvey

I've been watching with interest the damage from Hurricane Harvey.  My brother from Iowa has a fifth wheel camper that he leaves in La Feria, Texas as his winter home.  La Feria is 145 miles south of Corpus Christi and wasn't directly in the path of the hurricane.

His fifth wheel isn't tied down and, as anyone who has owned a fifth wheel knows, it doesn't take much wind to get them rocking.  The other concern would be the amount of rain.  Most fifth wheels can sustain some rain, but a torrential rain may be a different matter.  

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Racist PIg

I am pleased to inform you that I have just granted a full Pardon to 85 year old American patriot Sheriff Joe Arpaio. He kept Arizona safe!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) 

TWO RACIST PIGS IN A POD

Arpaio was found guilty in US District Court of criminal contempt for violating a racial profiling court order and continuing patrols to target immigrants.

In her opinion US District Judge Susan Bolton wrote that Arpaio showed a "flagrant disregard" for the order to cease racial profiling.  "Not only did [the] defendant abdicate responsibility, he announced to the world and to his subordinates that he was going to continue business as usual no matter who said otherwise," Bolton wrote.


Since when is being a racist pig a patriot?

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Wonder What Dad Would Have Said

June 17th

The USS Fitzgerald (DDG-62) collides with a Philippine container ship off the coast of Japan cutting, a 13' x 17' gash in the hull below the water line killing seven sailors.  As a result, the Fitzgerald's commander and two senior officers were relieved of duty.

August 20th

Ten sailors are missing and five injured after the USS John S. McCain (DDG-56) collided with a tanker ship east of Singapore.

How ironic that these destroyers have the most sophisticated radar and can hit a target the size of a dime with a missile, but collide with tankers.

My father (1925-2005) served on a destroyer escort in WWII, the USS William T. Powell (DE-213).

I sure wonder what dad would have said about these Navy collisions.

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Honor

Trump Defends White-Nationalist Protesters: 

'Some Very Fine People on Both Sides'

He who has lost honor can lose nothing more. 

Publilius Syrus

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Confederate Statues Analysis

In recent years there has been a resurgence demanding Confederate statues be removed. This has led to the Alt-right and white supremacists pushing back.  The 2016 presidential campaign and election has brought the hate groups back to the surface, including every day nationalists (America first). 

I’m fairly certain I know from history what the white supremacists want.  Since the formation of organizations like the KKK, they have been explicit about that.  But, I wondered why so many advocates for civil rights are now taking a stand against the statues and monuments. 

Relying on federal, state and local databases, the Southern Poverty Law Center documented over 1500 Confederate memorials and sites in the United States.1  Not only statues and monuments, but also nearly 200 schools named after Confederate persons.2  Indeed, today ten U.S. military installations have kept Confederate names.3

So, what is the history of Confederate monuments and statues in public places?  Are the calls for their removal justified?  An analytical review of these memorials does justify their removal. If you look at the timing of the placement of the majority of the monuments, there are two discernible spikes.  

Post Civil War, the first spike occurred after the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Plessy v. Ferguson4  which upheld the previous decisions that racial segregation is constitutional under the separate but equal doctrine. This came at a time during reconstruction when numerous Southern states were passing repressive race laws.  The wounds of the Civil War were raw and one way to make a racial statement was erecting statues and monuments of the Confederacy.

The second spike occurred during the civil rights era of the 1950’s and 1960’s. It was also a time of resurgence of white supremacist groups like the KKK, Arian Nation and Nazi Party. Civil Rights laws were being forced down their throats and their response was to put up more Confederate monuments.

Supporters of the Confederate monuments cite the historical Civil War importance of the monuments and Southern heritage.  Taken in context, this justification is specious since the majority of monuments were put in place in response to racial events in our history. "Stick it to them," as it were.

I understand historical context and national heritage. The Southern Poverty Law Center report excluded approximately 2,570 Civil War battlefields, markers, plaques, cemeteries and similar symbols which reflected historical context.  However, the statues and monuments that were erected during divisive times in our history were done so to make a bigoted racial statement.  For that reason they should be removed.  

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1  https://www.splcenter.org/sites/default/files/whoseheritage_splc.pdf

2  https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/nearly-200-schools-are-named-for-confederate-leaders-is-it-time-to-rename-them/2015/06/24/838e2cc0-1aaa-11e5-93b7-5eddc056ad8a_story.html?utm_term=.9a57450e72e2

3  http://time.com/3932914/army-bases-confederate/

4  http://landmarkcases.org/en/landmark/cases/plessy_v_ferguson

   

Some Things Never Change

Virginia Gov. Declares State of Emergency 

as White Nationalist Rally Turns Violent

Bolstered by the campaign and continued rhetoric of not-my-president Trump the alt-right has converged into a collective hate group.

Remember David Duke?

When extreme nationalism is used as political rhetoric the results are always the same.  

Some things never change.

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Nuclear Game Of Chicken

With his approval rating in the 36% range, not-my-president Trump has escalated his sporadic and reckless rhetoric against North Korea.  Today, disregarding the UN sanctions, he ramped up the saber rattling when he said, "They will be met with fire, fury and frankly power the likes of which this world has never seen before."

One thing for certain, which not-my-president Trump likely knows, is the blind patriotism of Americans to historically support a president who takes this country to war. 

With poll numbers taking a dive, is this a strategy of not-my-president Trump?  Will he take this country to war to stir the patriots and raise his job approval rating?  

Why usurp UN sanctions? Why no diplomacy and where are the diplomats?  Why not take advantage of China's and Russia's vote to sanction North Korea?  Should we start building bomb shelters?

What we effectively have is two crazy heads of state playing a nuclear game of chicken. 

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Thump Arpaio?

Yesterday former Maricopa County Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who was ousted in the 2016 election, was found guilty in US District Court of criminal contempt for violating a racial profiling court order and continuing patrols to target immigrants.

In her opinion US District Judge Susan Bolton wrote that Arpaio showed a "flagrant disregard" for the order to cease racial profiling.  "Not only did [the] defendant abdicate responsibility, he announced to the world and to his subordinates that he was going to continue business as usual no matter who said otherwise," Bolton wrote.

Arpaio is scheduled to be sentenced on October 5th and, unfortunately, he could be sentenced to jail for only up to six months.  It is unfortunate because his blatant flaunting of a United States federal court deserves more time.  Much more.  As part of his sentence Arpaio should be required to live under the draconian conditions he implemented as sheriff, including wearing the pink underwear.  Likely he will get probation.

And, isn't it ironic that this US District Court decision comes on the heels of not-my-president Trump telling law enforcement officers to abuse suspects, which every law enforcement agency is now disavowing?  So, according to not-my-president Trump, federal marshals should thump Arpaio a few times if they haul him to jail?

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