-10 high temp. -21 low. Devils Lake, North Dakota. Water looks a little thick today. :>)

http://lakecam.gondtc.com/c...

Denhof, North Dakota

http://rwis.dot.nd.gov/Scan...

Lake Sacagawea and Missouri River at Four bears Casino.

http://rwis.dot.nd.gov/Scan...


More Links:

http://www.dot.nd.gov/trave...

Inga Barks says today:

That the Republican tax plan will bring California 4 billion dollars more revenue than the Democrat’s plan. Realizing that all California Revenue comes from either taxes or fees. How can Inga say with a straight face, that the Republican plan is not a tax increase?

I don’t care how they do it. If the  republicans propose a 4 billion dollar increase over the Democrat’s. Then that is 4 billion more dollars out of the taxpayers pockets.

Unless of course Inga plans to man toll stations at all our border fruit inspection stations.

WTI Crude at 39.02 6:24am ( it has been below 39 bucks this morning)


jf and mexico
Valero has costs just like any other corporation. They have to keep the plant running. When the storage fills up. They have to cut prices to keep the plant running.

Right now the distributors don’t want anymore fuel because the consumer is washed up. Broke.

That’s why they are getting a 1 buck 50 for what used to be 4 buck 50 gas. And they can’t sell all of it at 70% plant capacity.

That’s supply and demand.

Who are the speculators? Well Valero is one. They hedged crude a decade or more ago at 10 bucks a barrel.
That’s what they have been refining and that is what they are refining today. Today they are hedgeing crude for 2015 at 50 bucks a barrel. They aren’t refining the 150 buck spot market crude. Never have.
 So that is why the Valero stock has been running. Not because of  great management. Their actual margins are completely separate from their book margins. Absolutely no relationship at all.  

That type of speculation is fine with me.
As long as the petro  Czar doesn’t start playing with the Bernie Maddofs of the world. I have no problem with hedging or speculation. But Allowing the speculators to run up huge prices just so the refiner and producers  can book huge margins is not in the spirit of capitalism. If not criminal.
Capitalism will not work when the villager seeks to destroy the farmer. Both are a necessary part of an economy, both are necessary for the Wealth of Nations

It is the Maddofs of the world that have absolutely no capability to store even a barrel of crude that have destroyed the economy. These players don’t even own a gas can. Yet they borrow money to buy contracts, not barrels. They only have to front money for 1/7th of the contract to control the price on 40 thousand gallons of crude. And they will never be able to take delivery of a single drop.

The problem isn’t just with crude. It is with all commodities. Rules have to change. A money bags with deep pockets. Holding on to huge amount of cash. Much of it the result of tax cuts for the wealthy. Are going to have to demonstrate an ability to take delivery of the product or refrain from purchasing contracts.

This is a tried an proven rule.
Go to the court house any weekday morning. Try to place a bid on a foreclosed property without demonstrating the ability to take delivery at the bid price. See how far you will get. In fact a schill could be prosecuted in some instances.

These commodity brokers are no more than a common schill. Bent on the destruction of an economy for their own benefit.

Make money as you drive prices up. Hoard the money and then buy up the slop when the economy fails.
 

 

Crude drops below 40 bucks per barrel.

Even with tremendous cuts by OPEC and others. Stocks of ALL petro products up by much larger than expected amounts.

17 Dec 2008

Letter to the Editor by Roy Boswell.

One of the best I have ever read.

‘Our taxes made country great’,    Today Pg B9, I couldn’t find it on-line.

Easy way to find your favorite sites.

Pretty cool stuff.
 

www.allmyfaves.com/

Coleharbor North Dakota Web cam (Blizard conditions).

Link to more live North Dakota web cams at the bottom of post.

Extended weather forecast for Coleharbor

• 

  Currently: -13°F

  Light Snow/Windy

  -8°F | -17°F

• 

  Tomorrow

  Mostly Cloudy

  -12°F | -23°F

• 

  Tuesday

  Cloudy

  -5°F | -14°F

From:

http://www.dot.nd.gov/trave...

Which Union bankrupted Citibank.

The answer is none. Just like the auto industry. It was management that bankrupted American corporations.

Let’s not overlook the fact that Dodge pays 5 bucks an hour to build 55 thousand dollar, 1 ton diesel trucks in Mexico. In fact all of Dodges 2500,3500, 4500, and 5500 pickups are built in Mexico for 5 bucks or less an hour.

Does anyone wish to suggest that American workers must work at 5 bucks and hour so that Management fat cats can run American industry into the ground, with 100’s of millions of dollars worth of bonuses.?

Let’s get America’s priorities back in order.

Without consumers. Industry can not exist.

Profits can not grow. Unless wages grow at a greater rate than inflation.

Today we see the pain that is reaped, when wages fail to keep pace with inflation.

Why permit the word, “loons” in the editorial section.

Who at TBC can not expect outrage at the use of the word, ‘loons’, as a descriptor of any person, whether they be conservative, centrist or liberal.

The use of this word by Jack A Ward was without a doubt hate speech. It’s intent was to invoke anger.

Of course as a community news paper I would expect you to publish opinions from all sides.

But adjectives like, ’loons’ as used by Jack in today’s editorial page, is no different than falsely shouting fire in a theater.

TBC, should not be part and parcel to inciting a riot.

Maybe I should try slipping the word, *edit*, past the editorial staff. It would feel at home in this blog with regards to the decision to print Jack’s Letter.

But of course it could never work in this critique of the staff. They have never been to fawned of criticism. ;>)