All_Pro_Bills

More like participating in a crisis. Handling it? Not so much.

This action seems reasonable especially since government is joining the pot business. What I find most interesting is how all the legal and moral arguments to prohibit things seem to disappear into thin air when tax revenue generation opportunities present themselves.

That will be two shots of delusion and a chaser of idealism.

I think its just business. Putting on the business hat I believe what the Saudi's and OPEC+ are saying to the Fed and the US is that they're not going to allow the transfer of the consequences of irresponsible US fiscal and monetary policy to be transferred to them. Sure the US could threaten the Saudi's with removing the protection racket we provide the kingdom if they don't cooperate. But that void would be quickly filled by either Russia or China or both. And one consequence might be the end of the Petrodollar system which provides a quid pro quo arrangement in exchange for US protection. And if anyone thinks inflation is high now just think how high it might go when around an annualized $25 trillion used in oil trade and settlement needs to find a new home and place to park itself.

There's no plan. That's pretty much it. When you intend to embark on a "transformation" whether its a simple or complex process or system you need to do a few things. First, clearly articulate and understand the current state, and then clearly articulate and define the desired future state. And in between, comes a transition plan which identifies the steps, resources, time, cost, and other such necessities of producing a valid and credible plan to get from point A to point B. Another important task is to truthfully and realistically determine your capability of successfully completing the plan. Which might be called risk management. You need a master plan so to speak for US energy production and consumption. But we have no such thing. All we have are a series of seemly unrelated legislative actions along with attempts to provide incentives and disincentives in the market with the hope it will all work out. And so far its pretty clear it isn't. So the first impulse from our leadership is what is called doing more of what's not working until it works. Which is typically a road to failure. What's more troubling is the goal of not disrupting or destroying current society while performing the transition is absent or ignored.

Not to worry. After OPEC+'s middle finger gesture yesterday, Joe has gone begging to Maduro in Venezuela offering some easing in sanctions and other financial incentives in exchange for allowing Chevron to assist in pumping more oil out of the countries fields. My guess is that any increase out of Venezuela will be met with OPEC+ telegraphing an equivalent output cut but the idiots running US policy likely haven't even considered that as its clear they are desperate and have no plan.

Does it really come as a surprise that some kind of legal filing would be coming here? Many years ago, I think it was Mike Curtis of the Colts that laid out the perp with a much more intense hit in another such incident.

Earlier I read an interesting analysis which concluded the primary target of the Fed is high energy prices, which is the primary driver of inflation, and they're committed to bringing them down via higher interest rates at the expense of everything else. Essentially they're at war with OPEC+ which is in a unique position to defend their interests by raising or lowering output as needed. OPEC+ is intent not to let the consequences of the Feds policy fall on them but rather back at the US which is generating the fallout.

On a unit for unit basis its too expensive and inefficient. One gallon of gasoline produces 44 KW of energy. An average solar panel produces 1.5 KW. The US consumes about 9M barrels of gasoline per day. That's about 16 billion KW of energy. You need 29.3 solar panels to replace the output of one gallon of gas. Multiply that out at 9M barrels at 42 gallons per barrel at 44 KW vs. a panel producing 1.5 KW and how many solar panels do you need to replace one days output of gasoline consumption? Check my math but I get 11 billion solar panels. Double or triple or quadruple the panel output. Its still a very big number.

The reason for the sanctions doesn't change the consequences and our current energy policy is in conflict with reality. Pushing "green" solutions that cannot replace current conventional energy sources at this point in time. But the fundamental problem is this administration operates like an 800 pound Gorilla. Rather than promote cooperation and mutually beneficial relationships our foreign policy is based on threats, sanctions, and force. What exactly gives our country the "right" to dictate to sovereign and independent nations, mostly democracies, who they can and can not conduct business and trade? Countries such as India. Talk about interference, the US is King of foreign interference. Biden isn't isolating Russia, he's isolating us. And we're all going to suffer as a result.

All the sanctions and poor domestic energy policy led to higher prices.

Another casualty in the neo-liberal oppressors ongoing war against truth and reality. Obey and believe 2 plus 2 equals 5.

The swamp is the DC establishment that is a single political entity comprised of both political parties and the embedded bureaucracy that runs Washington. They operate as they wish regardless of the desires of the voters. Trump is an outsider and was treated as such from day one. Democrats and Republicans alike that belong to the uni-party sabotaged and obstructed his administration while leaking sensitive information both true and false. The swamp uses State power against its enemies. And maybe I'm missing something but for all the talk of Trump victimizing everyone, everywhere, I'd welcome anyone to specifically name anyone that was targeted, harmed, persecuted, harassed, arrested, or imprisoned by the administration's use of State power?

Last year's Bills defense was a statistical illusion but this year's version looks like the real deal. Able to limit the run game and contain the passing game, getting pressure and sacks on the QB, tackles for loss, and forcing turnovers. Haven't seen or heard anything yet but releasing DT's this week might mean Oliver and Phillips are healthy and play Sunday. I think they stop the run and force lots of 3rd and longs on Sunday. The offense goes as Josh Allen goes. Not worried about the WR situation and hope Davis is closer to 100%. I don't see any letdown or looking past this Steelers team. And I don't see a rookie QB coming into OP and pulling the big upset unless the Bills turn the ball over 4 or 5 times. Heyward always seems to play like Superman against the Bills so if they handle him well it might be game over. I do see a closer game than most but the Bills just have a better roster and are playing too good so far this season to lose here, Bills 27 Steelers 13.

The implication of course being that this un-elected shadow government sits on top of the elected US Federal government and dictates policy and agenda outside of the defined Constitutional process of government. In and of itself being the greatest threat to our democracy while attacking anyone that might object and challenge their control. Like an elected President that is not on board with the arrangement. It's actually the global US empire. While the citizens pretend to elect a national government to represent our interests these chaps are off and running doing the business of making sure the US empire remains on top of things while keeping elected representatives under lock and key. And damn what the people want! Deception and misdirection is their stock-in-trade. Just how do they pull this off? Somebody said think of how stupid the average person is and then realize that 1/2 the country is dumber than that. That's how.

Hitler didn't have 6.400 nuclear weapons pointed at us. And however we got here, is "winning" worth the risk of facilitating the events that will move this conflict to escalate out of control to the point where all out nuclear war is possible which will result in the end of the world and the deaths of all of us posting here and everyone we care about? Over who controls Donbas? In the big picture of things, an insignificant province in an insignificant country. Anyone that thinks there's a winning strategy in there somewhere is delusional.

Word out of the OPEC+ meeting is they are considering reducing their production limit by as much as 2 million barrels a day. Add in the end of the SPR drain and that's 3 million per day coming off the table.

Recessions don't start with high unemployment. They end with it. Job openings are a more important indicator of business direction. So that's something to watch.

For me the entire misinformation censorship theme boils down to a systemic attempt to outlaw the right of individuals to employ logical and critical thinking and substitute that capability with the forced consumption of the opinions of credentialed idiots.

You must think yourself clever by believing that by simply invoking Putin you're entitled to shut down any sensible or intelligent debate no matter the topic. No matter how comical that answer might be. You're wrong. And anybody with the ability to comprehend and form a logical argument should just ignore your nonsense.

Asking if a poster "agrees" with Putin is a transparent attempt to discredit their opinion without providing any opinion of your own or any argument as to why their view might be incorrect. I'm certainly not convinced the US was the actor here, but I also don't think it was Russia. As I said before, they could just turn off the valve and stop the flow. If anyone thinks Russia blew up their own pipeline, I'd like to hear what credible and logical argument they could make to support that conclusion.

If the Russians wanted to disrupt gas flows through NordStream 1/2 they could just shut the valve. Word is while Germany was talking up unity in support of Ukraine they were working a backroom deal with Russia for gas and about to break ranks with the US. One likely scenario is the US administration being aware, decided to put an end to that possibility. Add that the damage and explosions suggest only a State actor would be capable of pulling this off and the list of suspects is short.

Do you expect a President to personally vet all the people working in their administration and be accountable for life? I mean Biden sniffs women's hair and according to accounts from his daughter's diary, took showers with her when she was a teenager and his son is a sexual pervert and drug addict. Are you going to preach and point about how that reflects poorly on Joe's character? I doubt that.

What's most curious about all of this is the roaring silence of the women's rights movement and leadership and their unwillingness to defend the rights of young women when science and the eye test clearly put them at a competitive disadvantage. Instead, biological women who assert their claim to fairness in competition must be silenced and intimidated into obedience.

I'm listening. Maybe I overlooked something? What new military engagements were initiated during the Trump administration? And to state it perfectly clear, the original statement was "new" engagements. Not continuing or expanding or contracting anything that might have started under Bush or Obama or earlier.