About oil speculators

Is the price of oil going back up ? It was $59.90 last night in London, actually down from previous highs earlier in the week and in September. The question however remains if there's a reason for prices to continue to hold, will they go higher and if they do is this attributable to actual shortages i.e. supply and demand or speculation by a small group (oil companies too) of greedy traders watching the weather channel? Open for discussion.

I had two good wines this past week (reds of course).

The first a Biltmore Estate Cardinal's Crest Red Table Wine from North Carolina (USA). Earthy with a wood flavor at end.

The second, a gift from a very good friend, a Grand Vin 2002 Chateau Lavergne-Dulong (France) Bordeaux Superieur bottle No. 061338. Superb, rich and well balanced.

World News

Colombia - the Constitutional Court has approved the reelection process clearing the way for incumbent President Alvaro Uribe to seek a second term in 2006.

Mexico - Hurricane Wilma clobbering vacation resorts Cozumel and Cancun, one good thing, most homes and buildings are concrete, brick and mortar hence less damage than wood sstructures.

USA - Florida preparing for Hurricane Wilma. Most homes built of wood. Huff and puff more floods and damaged homes.


Brazil - state owned oil company Petrobras will invest 732 million US dollars in 96 potential new oil fields, 55% of the fields could probably be good producers of natural gas, a priority product for Petrobras.

Wilma

Newly formed Hurricane Wilma, a Category 5 storm, threatens Mexico, Cuba and Florida. The path is unpredicatable and the damage will be enormous, not only from the winds and water but from huge wave surges.

Animal News

Chile - the huemule (Hippocamelus bisulcus) is a rare deer that lives only in Argentina and Chile. It is believed that there are less than 2,000 left in both countries and efforts are underway to reintroduce these rare animals to protected park lands.

One Tall Bridge

The 21st century bridge !
This amazing construction in Southern France's route A75.


Viaduc de Millau

The World on Saturday

Pakistan - hundreds die in India and Pakistan following a 7.6 (Richter scale) earthquake, this follows last week's jolt in Peru and an underwater quake off the Pacific coast of Central America. The aftershocks still going on. At least 18,000 are expected to have died.

USA

• Delphi the largest auto parts maker in the USA filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for itself and 38 U.S. units. Wow what is wrong with US car makers ?
• the Yankees lost ! Shocker, they lost at home to LA Angels and are down 2-1. Today's game has been postponed on account of rain.

Russia - A satellite, launched by the European Space Agency on a converted ballistic missile blew up in flight. The satellite was going to be used to collect data on polar ice.

Guatemala - damages caused by rising flood waters following Hurricane Stan include mayor landslides and loss of life. Authorities expect over 1,000 may have perished.

Brazil - water levels in the Amazon region have fallen to a 30-year low, creating difficulties for river transport - in many cases the only way of moving people and goods. Experts are blaming climate cycles, not global warming, for the drought, which has also led to enormous fires.

Hurricane Stan

Hurricane Stan kills 125 in Central America. Mudslides, flooding and 4 days of torrential rains pounded local mountain villages and urban shanty towns across poor areas in Mexico, Nicaragua and Honduras. The death toll nearly doubled yesterday when rivers burst their banks in southern Mexico and emergency teams found another 42 people buried under several feet of mud in remote Guatemalan towns. Fifty people have now been killed in both El Salvador and Guatemala, including the latest deaths, and another 25 total in Mexico, Nicaragua and Honduras.

Annular Solar Eclipse of 2005 October 03

On the other side of the world and not seen since 1764 (there have been other similar eclipses in other parts of the world) residents in Madrid, Spain got to see something very special, an annular solar eclipse. This must have been awesome !

An annular eclipse happens when the Moon appears too small to completely cover the Sun and as a result, the Moon is surrounded by a bright ring or annulus formed by the uneclipsed outer perimeter of the Sun's disk.

Fly me to the Moon......

Concerning Mr. Bennett's "F"

What's worse, Bennett's "F" or his follow up ?

On September 30th, former Secretary of Education and radio talk show host (I-wonder-for-how long ?) Bill Bennett said on live radio that if "you wanted to reduce crime ... if that were your sole purpose, you could abort every black baby in this country, and your crime rate would go down." Bennett conceded that aborting all African-American babies "would be an impossible, ridiculous, and morally reprehensible thing to do," then added again, "but the crime rate would go down."...

Later in the day when he [Bennett] was asked if he owed people an apology, he replied, "I don't think I do. I think people who misrepresented my view owe me an apology." his arrogance has spoken,...all yield.

Bennett's "Morning in America" airs (or is that aired?) on approximately 115 radio stations with an estimated weekly audience of 1.25 million listeners.

Of Wines and .........

I read recently that, generally speaking, food and the wine to go with it should come from the same region, compatibility and all that, which is like saying that red wines are only to be enjoyed with certain foods and white wines with others. I suspect the writer has an interest in promoting his native region's products.

All very well, however the truth is that wines are made to be enjoyed whenever, with whatever foods or alone. The choice of red, white or rose (not my favorite, not even on a hot summer day) is very personal and varies from person to person. There are days when a Malbec tastes a lot better than a Shiraz and several Beaujolais are most wonderful on the palate. It all depends on the time of day, the company, the ambience, and if you must insist, on the food.

There is an old saying that goes "water was created by God, and alcohol was made by man." Where alcohol originated no one is quite sure, legend and mythology tell us that in Egypt, Isis' husband Osiris taught the god of grain how to make beer. In Greek and German mythology the blame falls on Bachus or Dionysus, also known as the god of sex and intoxication (the god of mystery for the more prudish). In the Old Testament, Noah was the first to make alcohol and in ancient China, princess Weechok takes the credit for making the first alcohol, while in Korea historical records mention a king that used alcohol to seduce a woman and get her pregnant. Wine itself seems to have its origins sometime in the Neolithic period around 8500-4000 B.C., -I wonder what a chateau of that vintage would have tasted like.

Juan Valdez # 1 Favorite Icon

Juan Valdez, the Candidate with Great Taste, Elected to Advertising Walk of Fame

NEW YORK, Sept. 28 PRNewswire-In a hotly contested race that pitted a mustached man and his mule against a trio of animated elves, a battery- operated bunny and a handful of dancing raisins, to name a few, America's coffee lovers voted with their taste buds, choosing substance over style and authenticity over snap, crackle and pop, to elect Juan Valdez, the front man for the National Federation of Coffee Growers of Colombia, as their Favorite Advertising Icon in the 2005 Advertising Week poll. Juan Valdez received the most votes of the 26 icons up for election, making the win the icing on a sweet week for the Federation as it also celebrates the first anniversary of the first Juan Valdez Café in the United States (at 140 East 57th Street in New York City) and unveils a giant billboard of Juan and his trusty mule Conchita in Times Square.

NEW YORK CNN-Money- Coffee farmer Juan Valdez and a spirited gecko representing Geico Insurance were crowned America's favorite advertising icons Tuesday in a contest as part of Advertising Week 2005.

Hurricane Political

A congressional committee yesterday blasted former FEMA director Michael Brown for essentially messing up with hurricane Katrina. Everyone deserves the benefit of doubt and had he acted on time perhaps he would be a hero and cashing in on multiple accolades. (CNN: Brown testified he had been "tired and misspoke" when he told television interviewers September 1 that he learned of the convention center situation only that day, saying that he actually had learned of it one day earlier.)

The damage caused by hurricane Katrina and later by Rita could not have been avoided, hurricane winds and water are not something that can be controlled. Katrina tore up a beautiful city and a wonderful lifestyle. Regardless of who gets fired, canned or praised in the end it will be the people of New Orleans who will rebuild.

The world on Monday

Peru - a 7.0 (Richter Scale) earthquake jolted the Peruvian Amazon Sunday at 8:58 pm. 10 casualties reported allegedly after a rustic jungle bar collapsed on them.

Chile - 30 years ago today foreign investment totaled US$222 million, by 1990 this had grown to US$1.3 billion.

USA - President Bush urged US motorists to conserve fuel in the wake of Hurricane Rita and hinted that he was considering appointing someone to oversee recontruction of the hurricane-hit area.

China - About 600,000 people die of lung cancer in China on an annual basis, representing the largest number of malignant tumor victims in the country. Sun Yan, an academician at the Chinese Academy of Engineering,said lung cancer deaths ranked top among all the deaths caused by malignant tumors in 40 cities like Beijing and Shanghai and that the number of victims is growing.

UK - British Prime Minister Tony Blair said Sunday he had not set an "arbitrary date" for pulling British soldiers out of Iraq. Any exit strategy "depends on the job being done," Blair told the BBC.

Oil post Rita

So, 11 refineries were shut down because of hurricane Rita, how soon will they be up and running and should oil companies keep the billions they will make from higher retail prices resulting from gasoline shortages (real or otherwise) ?

Rita CAT 5

From NOAA
Tropical Storm RITA Public Advisory
Home Public Adv Fcst/Adv Discussion Strike Probs Wind Probs Maps/Charts Archive US Watch/Warning

Dollar weakens against the Euro

Tougher times ahead, at US$1.22 per Euro and $1.80 per Bristish pound, not only will travel be affected but also the cost of durable goods and imports from Europe. There is some talk that Federal Reserve rates -increased yesterday to 3.75% will once again have to be adjusted, upwards of course, and very quickly to sustain an adequate balance. Add hurricanes, $67 crude oil and uncertainity........

Are we seeing a slowdown?

Rodin's Gates of Hell or Dante's Divine Comedy

Drawing for the Gates, 1880.
An amazing masterpiece 20 years in the making.


Musée Rodin de Paris

Hagar

Are insurance companies gouging ?

Doctors' fees keep getting higher, is it inflation, greed or does the fault lie with corporate profit taking by insurance companies ?

A US Government report indicated that “Premiums in 2003 increased by 9.2 percent for single coverage, 10 percent for employee-plus one coverage, and 9.2 percent for family coverage over the prior year, continuing a trend of increasing premiums observed each year since the start of the survey in 1996.” Ouch !