Book Review - Taken

This is Robert Crais new release. Elvis Cole is hired to find a missing woman and her boyfriend. He finds out that they have been kidnapped by a group that preys upon illegals being transported into the US. They kidnap them and then extort ransom money from their family. These two just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Elvis devised a scheme to impersonate a coyote in order to buy them back. His plan goes south and he is detained as well. Joe Pike, who was watching Elvis' back, then goes on a scorched earth rampage to recover his friend.

The book gives equal time to Elvis, Pike and Jon Stone, a mercenary friend of Joes. In a format new for Crais, he jumps back and forth between characters and time. This keeps you turning the page to find out what happens next. Don't start reading it if you have to get up early in the morning.

This is my new favorite Crais novel.

Glenlivet French Oak Reserve

This scotch is aged for 15 years in new French Oak casks. You can say it makes no difference but then why do the French age wine destined for sale to the US in American Oak and not French Oak?

Color: Light Amber
Nose: Light
Palate: Rich, Oakey
Body: Smooth, Silky
Finish: Long, Warming

For what its worth, I let my wife taste it for her opinion. She normally loves the smell of scotch but finds the taste too harsh. She tasted this one and didn't make a face. She kept asking for the glass for another taste. Because of her reaction, this gets my recommendation as a good introductory scotch.

A review of my history shows that I reviewed a different bottle of this scotch back in August of 2009. Go see and compare the tasting notes.

Green Power - Oops

Powerline gives us a look at the effectiveness of renewable energy such as wind and solar.

Slowly, information is leaking from nations that have spent heavily on wind and solar, such as Germany. This information should give pause to those touting solar and wind, including politicians. England is pulling back from wind, Germany has announced drastic cut-backs on its subsidies to solar, and Spain has announced the elimination of subsidies for renewable power. These actions are not the result of success. The erratic nature of these sources is well established. Further, electricity is rather unique among energy types – it cannot be stored on an affordable, commercial scale.

The leaders of countries that have spent heavily on solar and wind assumed that the erratic nature of these sources, and that the lack of storage, can be compensated by installing the facilities over a broad geographical area. They were wrong. A winter high pressure system can cover a broad area of Europe, rendering wind turbines useless when solar panels can generate little electricity, and none at night. Reports are indicating that at least 80% conventional back-up is needed.

A further complication is that fast back-up from conventional sources, such as coal or natural gas, is very demanding on the equipment, inefficient, and polluting – the pollution control devices do not work properly when heat output varies. According to reports, no coal plants have been de-commissioned in northern Europe rendering the claim of lower carbon dioxide emissions questionable.

So, subsidies are being discontinued and no coal units have been taken off line.

News That Will Make You Angry

We learned that 279,000 federal workers owe $3.4 Billion in back taxes. Why can't the government collect taxes from its own employees? And shouldn't it be a requirement of employment that all federal employees pay their taxes on time?

The Treasury Dept has raised the amount of money taxpayers will lose in the auto bailout. The bailout is now projected to loose $23.8 Billion. This is up from $14 Billion last fall. The basis is the low value of the 500 million shares of GM stock the treasury owns. The stock would have to be valued at $53/share in order to break even. GM was trading at about $24.

The CBO tells us that federal workers are paid an average of 16% more than emplyees in the private sector. That's because the private sector has been cutting costs in response to the lousy economy. When was the last time you got a raise? The government doesn't have to as it doesn't need to make a profit. A chart from the CBO report is below.

And finally, the CBO says taxes will increase about 30% over the next 2 years!

Head Count

Saudi Arabia started the year off strong with 5 be-headings. Most of these were for drugs with the odd murderer thrown in for flavor.

Scary Chart

Below is a chart of US oil production showing both onshore and offshore contributions.

Note that this chart only goes to 2010. The Macondo blowout brought things to a virtual standstill that year so the future will show a significant decline in offshore production.

Source: Offshore Magazine

Drilling in the GOM

The bar chart below shows the history of well permitting and drilling in the GOM. As you can see, permitting is picking p but has a while to go before it builds a backlog of work that would indicate a healthy industry.

Source: Offshore Magazine