The Indian Premier League: Sport or showbiz?
The glitzy cricket tournament has faced scandals including fraud and fixing, and has left fans divided over its future.
Chennai, India - The message from its fifth incarnation is that cricket's Indian Premier League is, for the moment, too big to fail. And Indians will have to accept it like they accept the reported corruption, ill-treatment of women and the need to enroll an unborn child to get ahead in the race for school admissions. We raise our voices occasionally, but in the end we accept.
The fan who looks beyond runs and wickets remains disappointed, because two key elements of the first four IPL years remain intact: the lack of transparency and the lack of accountability. A basic flaw has been nurtured over five tournaments now - the clash of interests. The president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India owns IPL team Chennai Super Kings, and the chief national selector is the team's brand ambassador. Neither sees this as particularly worrying, and that is particularly worrying.
The first commissioner, Lalit Modi, may be gone, but the system he put in place - which favoured the board, select franchises and a few players - continues, which means there will be no serious boat-rocking. A sting operation by a television channel recently exposed illegal payments made to young Indian players who otherwise face a salary cap. But demand outstrips supply. Three players were suspended, but there has been no action reported against the teams that offered the temptation.
That unofficial money is available is one of the worst-kept secrets of the IPL. Royal Challengers Bangalore managed to retain Chris Gayle, the best batsman of the tournament, reportedly by the simple expedient of making him a brand ambassador of one of the owner's companies. Whatever he earns there falls outside the IPL salary cap. How much Mumbai pays Sachin Tendulkar would be interesting to know. But such things have a habit of teetering within the letter of the rules - even if they violate their spirit.
Quite the remarkable thing about the IPL is that those who came to scoff have remained scoffers, and those who thought (or were paid to think) that it was the greatest thing in cricket since sandwiches at tea-time, have remained believers. There is no bridge across these two cultures.
Four years ago, the BCCI oversold the IPL, granting it the kind of virtues that might have won it a Nobel Prize had it been a living, breathing soul. It will bring nations together, the board said, and reduce poor player behaviour - since you cannot share dressing rooms in Chennai and Delhi and then shout and scream at one another in Sydney or Cape Town.
The IPL will change the way we support our cities and interact with our heroes, went another argument.
The game is over in under four hours, and we give the punters a choice: the implication being that, apart from bringing nations together, the matches would also bring families together.
None of these wonderful things came to pass; only the terminally naive believed they would, anyway. Money can't buy love.
Meanwhile, the fan base of the game itself might shrink. Gautam Gambhir plays for Delhi, then Kolkata, and so, when he plays for India, it feels like he is merely turning out for another franchise. When even top players pull out of test series in order to be fit for the IPL, they kill something in the fan. Indifference destroys interest - whether in love or in cricket.
Although marketed as "cricketainment", the IPL is "cricketbusiness". In 2010, Sahara India forked out 370 million dollars for Pune Warriors, a team that didn't exist until it was bought at an auction. And that is the essential contradiction of the IPL, this lack of context. It is the act of paying money which validates everything - from the worth of a player to the cost of a team to the value of the league. How do we know that Ravindra Jadeja is worth two million dollars? Because Chennai Super Kings bought him for that amount.
The IPL was valued at $4.13 billion in 2010. A year later, it was $3.67 billion. Is that true? We will know only if someone pays that amount to buy it out lock, stock and Gayle's bat. How do they arrive at these figures? Why not 8.98 billion, or 650 trillion? They are equally meaningless, after all.
The tournament somehow survived its contradictions in the first four years. Court cases, the resignation of a union minister amid allegations of favour-mongering, the sacking of Modi, the scandal of the supine governing council and embedded television commentators being brought under one roof - what the novelist Amitav Ghosh has called India's national obsession: "Cripoliwood" - cricket, politics and Bollywood.
Scandals worked well for the IPL, keeping it in the public eye. It continued to do so this year - is that part of the marketing strategy?
The small scandals included the tantrums of Bollyood stars Shah Rukh Khan (owner of 2012 league winners, the Kolkata Knight Riders, and now banned from Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium) and Preity Zinta (who seemed to think that running on to the field to remonstrate with an umpire is all part of the fun). The molestation case involving the Australian Luke Pomersbach was dropped following an out of court settlement. The players who were picked up by the authorities at a rave party involving cocaine were clearly not the IPL's direct responsibility, but such form went with the grain of the so-called entertainment.
The excess payments scandal and the possibility of spot-fixing were inevitable, given the IPL's easy cronyism and habit of making up rules on the fly. It is not the money alone that is corrupting.
At the end of five tournaments, now is the ideal time for taking stock. How has the IPL benefited Indian cricket? Or indeed, cricket in general. Have the negatives overwhelmed the positives?
Most importantly of all, will the BCCI have the courage to undertake an honest survey among the stakeholders of the game in India? Introspect or perish.


Miley was born in Aiken, South Carolina, U.S., into a musical family. At the age of six, he and his family moved to New York City where, as a child, he occasionally sang for money on the streets, and later, at the age of fourteen, studied to play the trombone and cornet.
In 1920, after having served in the Navy for eighteen months, he joined a jazz formation named the Carolina Five, and remained a member for the next three years, playing small clubs and boat rides all around New York City. After leaving the band at the age of nineteen, Miley briefly toured the Southern States with a show titled The Sunny South, and then joined Mamie Smith's Jazz Hounds, replacing trumpeter Johnny Dunn. They regularly performed in famous clubs around New York City and Chicago. While touring in Chicago, he heard King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band playing and was captivated by Oliver's use of mutes. Soon Miley found his own voice by combining the straight and plunger mute with a growling sound.
Miley's talent and unique style were soon noticed in New York's jazz scene - among others by Duke Ellington who wanted him to jump in for trumpeter Arthur Whetsol. According to saxophonist Otto Hardwick, Ellington's band members had to shanghai Miley into joining them for his first performance, at the Hollywood on Broadway in 1923. At the time, Ellington's Washingtonians were formally led by Elmer Snowden, but Ellington, who factually had already been running the formation, also took over its official leadership a few months later.
Miley's collaboration with Ellington in what later became The Duke Ellington Orchestra has secured his place in jazz history. Early Ellington hits, such as Black and Tan Fantasy, Doin' the Voom Voom, East Saint Louis Toodle-oo (covered by Steely Dan in 1974 on their album Pretzel Logic), The Mooche, and Creole Love Call prominently feature Miley's solo work and were thematically inspired by his melodic ideas, which he, in turn, often borrowed from Baptist hymns sung in his church, such as Stephen Adams' Holy City. He and fellow band member, trombonist Joe "Tricky Sam" Nanton, created the "Wah-wah" sound that characterized Ellington's early Jungle Music style. Many jazz critics consider Miley's musical contributions to be integral to Ellington's early success during the time they performed in the Kentucky Club and Cotton Club.
In 1924, while working with Ellington, Miley also recorded Down In The Mouth Blues and Lenox Avenue Shuffle as a duo named The Texas Blues Destroyers, with Alvin Ray on reed organ. They managed to trick three different record companies into recording the same two songs, both composed by Ray.
In interviews, former co-musicians such as Ellington, Nanton, Hardwick, and Harry Carney spoke fondly of Bubber Miley's carefree character and joie de vivre, exemplified in numerous anecdotes. On the other hand, they also mention his notorious unreliability, and problems with alcohol abuse. Miley's lifestyle eventually led to his breaking up with Ellington's band in 1929, but his influence on the Duke Ellington Orchestra lasted far longer. His legacy lived on in trumpeters such as Cootie Williams and later Ray Nance, who both were able to adopt Miley's style in their own way when needed.
After leaving Ellington's orchestra in 1929, Miley joined Noble Sissle's Orchestra for a one-month tour to Paris. After returning to New York, he recorded with a wide variety of recording groups led by King Oliver, Jelly Roll Morton, Hoagy Carmichael, Zutty Singleton and with Leo Reisman's society dance band. Miley also performed live with Reisman, albeit being the only African American in Reisman's all-white formation, either dressed in an usher's uniform and off the bandstand, or hidden from view by a screen. In 1930, he recorded six songs for Victor Records under the name Bubber Miley and his Mileage Makers, a formation of thirteen musicians including clarinetist Buster Bailey.
Miley's health suffered from his problems with alcoholism. On May 20, 1932, at the age of 29, he died of tuberculosis on Welfare Island, now Roosevelt Island, in New York City. Miley lived just a little longer than his contemporary, jazz cornetist Bix Beiderbecke, whose life was also cut short due to alcohol abuse.
^ Stephanie Stein Crease Duke Ellington: His Life in Jazz - 2009 p.67 "Miley was not only the band's most important soloist, he was also a good composer. Between 1927 and 1929, Miley and Duke co-composed some of the band's most important pieces to date: "East St. Louis Toodle-O," "Creole Love Call," and ..."


Antibodies bind to antigens on the surface of foreign substances.
dants is called a clone. Thus, the antibody made by one B cell clone differs from that made by any other B cell clone. T cells develop along a slightly different pathway but also contain a unique protein, called the T cell receptor, which is coded for by a gene unique to that T cell clone.
Antibodies are proteins, and like all of the body's proteins, must be encoded by genes. However, the number of distinct antibodies each of us makes (many millions) is vastly greater than the total number of genes in our entire genome (30,000-70,000). How is all this diversity encoded? To understand the answer, it is helpful to look at the structure of an antibody.


Granted the Islamic State group and the multiple conflicts occurring in the Middle East, is dialogue with Islam possible? This was the question asked by Archbishop Michael Fitzgerald, nuncio emeritus to Egypt and former president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue .As a member of the Society of Missionaries of Africa and an Arabic and Islamic scholar, Fitzgerald is especially qualified to discuss this topic, as he did in a March 6 lecture  at The Catholic University of America sponsored by the Institute of Policy Research and Catholic Studies  and the Africa Faith and Justice Network .Despite having spent most of his life in dialogue with Islam, Fitzgerald is not blind to the difficulties of dialogue. He began by examining three elements that make dialogue difficult with certain categories of Muslims.
First, “there is a great difference in the experience of Jesus and Muhammad, and thus in the foundational experience of these two religions,” he said. Both were prophets with a message of conversion to the world. Both gathered around them disciples.
“[Muhammad’s] message too was essentially religious, the acknowledgement of the one God as against the prevalent polytheism, but it had a social dimension to it, which was to bring about the formation of a new community bound not by blood ties or tribal loyalty, but by religion: the Umma.” The Umma was both a religious and a political community, and it took up arms to survive. Muhammad was both a prophet and a statesman.
Pre-Constantine Christianity, on the other hand, was a purely religious movement that did not take up arms to survive.
There is a tendency among Muslims to look back to its first period, that of the Rightly-Guided Caliphs, as the time of glory and true Islam. This has inspired numerous revivalist movements throughout history. Jihads against Muslims who did not practice a pure version of Islam became common. Most of these movements were local and short-lived, but the Wahhabi movement, which started in the 18th century, is still with us and finds sponsorship in Saudi Arabia.
The attraction of the caliphate is the second issue examined by Fitzgerald. He notes that Islam split into Sunni and Shiite factions after the death of Muhammad because of disagreements over succession.
The Shiite believe that Muhammad appointed Ali, his cousin, as his successor. For the Shiite, each imam designates his successor, who must belong to the family of the prophet. The Shiite believe that there were 12 imams following Muhammad and that the 12th imam went into occultation and will return at the end of time to bring about a reign of justice.
Sunnis believe Muhammad made no provision for succession and therefore succession would be determined through election by prominent members of the community.
Yet despite these divisions, the caliphate during its period of Islamic expansion and prosperity acted as a focal point of unity for Muslims. This lasted until the mid-10th century, when the caliphate began to lose its importance until Mustafa Kemal Ataturk finally abolished it in 1924.
The last point Fitzgerald examines is Shariah by which the Umma is to be regulated. He notes that there are four sources for Shariah: the Quran; the Sunnah, or tradition of the prophet; qiyas, or analogy; and ijma, or consensus among scholars. The multiple sources and textual ambiguity lead to debate and disagreements over Shariah so that there are at least four different schools of interpretation.
So when it is proclaimed that Shariah law is going to be applied, the question will arise as to which Shariah. Who is going to decide which type of Shariah law is to be applied, and who is to control its application, seeing that all the conditions are fulfilled before a judgment is given?
But dialogue with other Muslims is possible, he argued. He pointed to four types of dialogue that are possible and encouraged by the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue : the dialogue of life, the dialogue of action, the dialogue of discourse, and the dialogue of spiritual experience.
The dialogue of life, or what Fitzgerald calls harmonious living, takes place “where people strive to live in an open and neighborly spirit, sharing their joys and sorrows, their human problems and preoccupations,” in the words of the pontifical council.
Christians and Muslims have been living side by side for centuries in Africa and Asia, and now Muslims are present in increasing number in Europe and North America.
“Steps have to be taken in order to allow people to get to know one another and to create harmony,” Fitzgerald said. Increased violence has made this more difficult, but also more necessary.
Second, there is the dialogue of action where Christians and Muslims work together to face up to problems of society. Christians and Muslims have found common cause in the pro-life movement as well as in advocating human rights, social reforms, and care of the environment. Working together creates understanding and trust.
The third is the dialogue of discourse where, according to the pontifical council, “specialists seek to deepen their understanding of their respective religious heritages, and to appreciate each other’s spiritual values.” Themes such as justice in international trade relations, business ethics, problems of migration, media and religion, respect for the environment, and questions of bioethics have all been taken up in these dialogues. Some dialogues have also discussed purely theological topics like the foundations for holiness and reason, faith and the human person.
Finally, there is the dialogue of religious experience, where, according to the pontifical council, “persons, rooted in their own religious traditions, share their spiritual riches, for instance with regard to prayer and contemplation, faith and ways of searching for God.” Religious communities like the Benedictines and Trappists have been involved in such dialogues.
But at the same time that cooperation is growing, so too is mutual suspicion, which renders dialogue more difficult.
Fitzgerald puts little faith in international meetings of religious leaders and scholars. It is dialogue and cooperation on the local level that makes a difference. He said local dialogue should not be seen as a fire brigade for responding to a crisis, but as a preventive strategy that builds relationships that inoculate communities from being drawn into violence by suspicions and misunderstandings.
“Its aim is to build up good relations among people of different religions, helping them to live in peace and harmony,” Fitzgerald said. He noted that where Muslim and Christian leaders and communities have a history of cooperation, conflict is less likely to escalate into violence.
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1 The program for complete dental care.
2 Errors in complete dental care.
The program for complete dental care.
In order for the result to be as high as possible you must have a program for complete dental care.
Errors in complete dental care.
Do not have a complete dental care program.
Take care of yourself and your loved ones and you and your loved ones will not need complete dental care or will not need it soon.


Context: The Transit Center District will see a large influx of workers and residents using the Transit Center and relying on safe, comfortable streets to access transit connections, their places of work, and major civic nodes. Great urban alleys combine active, human-scaled street walls (building architecture), with high quality paving and street furniture to create an integrated "urban room". However, under the City's permitting rubric, the design controls for improving these pieces of urban fabric are siloed under the jurisdiction of two separate agencies: Planning, which provides design review for buildings, and Public Works, which has jurisdiction over the public right-of-way. In order to make the most of our public spaces our City agencies must coordinate our efforts and think of these "urban rooms" as one cohesive space.
Activate and enhance public life with the help of existing building fabric and supportive partnershps.


Why it matters: "Several risk factors for sexual harassment identified by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission are deep-seated at state capitols: Lack of diversity, power disparities, tolerating or encouraging alcohol consumption, and many young staffers."
"Illinois became the latest to join the chorus, as signatures piled up [yesterday] on an open letter describing harassment and intimidation for women trying to negotiate legislation and work on campaigns."
"In California this week, the Senate hired a law firm to investigate after women described a culture of sexual intimidation." Last week more than 140 women came forward alleging sexual misconduct my powerful men in the legislature.
"Lawmakers in Oregon and Rhode Island have spoken up to accuse male colleagues of inappropriate touching or suggesting that sexual favors be a condition for advancing bills."
What's next: "More women are coming forward with stories, some are naming names and states are making fresh promises of investigations and of legislation."


Paul Felder is a bit of a Renaissance man.
How else do describe a 29-year-old man who is both a UFC fighter and a trained actor?
"University of the Arts. UFC. They don't really seem to go hand-in-hand," Felder told PhillyVoice last week as he let out a chuckle.
A 2008 graduate of the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, the Grays Ferry native was an accomplished amateur athlete well before he stepped on stage in front of a live audience.
"I started doing martial arts when I was 12-years-old," Felder recalled. "I did karate, taekwondo. Got my black belt, second degree black belt. And I continued doing that all through college. So, I mean, my first passion in life was always martial arts, ever since I was a little kid. Ninja Turtles, Jackie Chan, Bruce Lee. I was obsessed from an early age."
"Unfortunately, and vainly enough, that's kind of been the driving force of my existence. 'How can I get more attention?'"
And it was more than a passive obsession. Soon, Felder found himself craving more.
"I competed on a pretty high level," said Felder. "Junior Olympics in taekwondo All that kind of stuff. But eventually, it just wasn't enough for me.
"Throughout college I started doing Muay Thai kickboxing. And then from there I saw people going off and doing amateur MMA fights, and I was like, 'Well, they seem safe enough.'"
So Felder took a fight, and remembers thinking to himself, "Yeah, I can do this."
That's the same kind of mentality -- I can do that -- that led Felder to acting.
"Towards the end of high school, I decided out of nowhere pretty much [to get in to acting]," Felder said. "I remember watching a movie* and thinking, 'I can do this.' So I'm going to do this."
*Unfortunately, he doesn't remember the movie.
"I just remember wanting that attention," he added, laughing out loud as he realized the truth behind that statement. "Unfortunately, and vainly enough, that's kind of been the driving force of my existence. 'How can I get more attention?'"
Originally, Felder tried to find a balance between his fighting and his acting.
"I would do a play. Then I would go and do a fight," he said. "And I kept going back and forth, until eventually I had enough pro fights where I was like, 'Alright, this is going pretty well. I'm going to try to make a run at this.' And I haven't acted since."
That's because, as Felder puts it, there was "always something driving me back to competing."
Even while acting, he maintained that competitive drive, always trying to outdo classmates to prove they weren't as good as everyone thought.
Fielder's most recent role was in a production of "Hurlyburly"* in 2013. It came just after his fourth professional fight and his director even attended the match, but not just to cheer on his actor.
*If that sounds familiar, it's because it was made into a movie in 1998 starring Sean Penn and Kevin Spacey. Felder played the same role as Spacey, a strung-out actor trying to make it in Hollywood.
"I won the fight. And the next day I started rehearsals for a play," he recalled. "I remember the director came to the fight, worried that he was going to watch me lose or get knocked out and then not be able to do the production."
That puts a whole new meaning on the phrase "break a leg."
Due to the demands of training for the UFC, however, Felder's had to put his acting career on hold.
He hopes to be able to use his degree again after he's done fighting -- whether that's doing television work for UFC or acting in a feature film. But if his mixed martial arts career continues down its current path, that day may not come any time soon.
Felder celebrates after knocking out Danny Castillo at UFC 182.
Coming off a win last month against fellow lightweight Danny Castillo, Felder currently boasts an impressive 10-0 record, although only his two most recent victories came as part of UFC, the sport's premiere fighting league.
On April 18, Felder -- known as the Irish Dragon -- will face South Jersey native Jim Miller* as part of UFC on FOX 15 at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J.
*Miller is currently UFC's No. 12 ranked lightweight contender.
Considering how close in proximity their training facilities are -- Felder fights out of Philly*; Miller out of Sparta, N.J. -- Felder is well aware of what his opponent brings to the table.
*He trains at Daniel Gracie's Renzo Gracie academy in Philly and with fellow UFC fighter Donald Cerrone, who knocked out Miller last July, at the BMF Ranch outside Albuquerque.
And after Felder scored an early contender for knockout of the year against Castillo, he almost certainly caught Miller's attention. As Felder said, "The curtain came down early on that one."
It's a move that looks like something straight out of a Bruce Lee movie, the kind that first drew Felder to martial arts. And although he said he works on in it practice, and has thrown it before in fights, Felder never landed it with the accuracy or force he did against Castillo. They call it a "spinning back fist" and, well, you have see it to believe it.
"Bang. Yeah, he's out," Felder said as we watched a replay of the knockout. "That's unnecessary right there," he added about the couple of punches he threw while Castillo was down. "Right on the jaw."
His years of training certainly contributed to the knockout, as Felder said it kind of came naturally, without him even thinking about it. In fact, he didn't even plan on throwing that punch, but rather reacted to the off balance position he suddenly found himself in after Castillo came with a right kick to the ribs.
Naturally, Felder was much happier with the result against Castillo than he was with that of his UFC debut, which came by unanimous decision. And even though he loves being the center of attention, the second-round knockout was more than that.
"I really wanted to show the fans that this is more me than my first fight," he said while watching the replay. "Putting my strikes together. Putting combos together. Head movement. I was just stoked that I got to show off my kickboxing really."
While Felder said he prefers to watch everything that leads up to knockout blow -- mainly to critique himself -- that doesn't mean he can't enjoy watching himself finish off his opponent.
"I see it over and over," he admitted, "Because I get tagged in a bunch of memes on Instagram and Twitter, I've seen it a bunch."
But that's exactly the kind of attention the Fishtown resident wants.
"I like being in front of people live and performing for them. And fighting is that," Felder said. "So I kind of just found a way to kind of combine both passions in my life. Luckily enough for me, it's kind of amazing, I like performing and -- to be honest -- I like fighting. I like getting hit.
"A part of that was missing when I was acting. There was still an aggressive, violent side of me that I had to find a way to control. ... It's kind of amazing to do that in front of 15 to 20,000 people."
• Philly's Zach Makovsky told PhillyVoice prior to his recent fight against Tim Elliot that he felt like he was due a title shot soon. After beating Elliot by unanimous decision, UFC gave the former Drexel wrestling captain the next best thing: a shot at the No. 1 contender, John Dodson. They'll face off on May 23 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas as part of UFC 187.
• Eddie Alvarez -- ranked one spot ahead of Felder's opponent, Jim Miller, at No. 11 -- will return to the octagon at UFC 188 in Mexico City on June 13 as part of the co-main event. He'll face No. 4 Gilbert Melendez after the two have previous butted heads in the media while talking about a potential bout. After years as one of the top lightweights outside the UFC ranks, Alvarez made his debut in September, suffering a decision loss to Cerrone.


Description or summary of the audiobook: `People say 'Like father, like son', and the story of my life has mirrored my father's to a quite uncanny degree. Right from when I was a little boy, he was my rock; my mentor; my hero. It is no exaggeration to say that he taught me virtually everything I know about both country life and television. Without him, I certainly would not be doing what I am today ...'Like Farmer, Like Son is a truly remarkable account of Adam's life that explores a hidden family history and the unbreakable bond between Adam and his life-long hero: his father Joe. In the 1940s and `50s, Joe, the son of stage and film star Leslie Henson, chose a completely different path, alien to his thespian parents and decided to pursue a career as a farmer. In addition, Joe overcame a serious stammer to become a regular broadcaster on Country Matters and also became the saviour of Britain's rare breeds. He even put his business and his reputation at stake to open the world's first Farm Park.Here, for the first time, Adam reveals the family traits, childhood experiences and farming wisdom which have made him the man he is today. As he trawls the family archive and discovers his own bloodline, Adam learns to understand and appreciate the famous grandfather he never knew and pays tribute to the wonderful father he has so recently lost.


If a young couple swallow six bottles of sleeping pills but the only result is a bad morning-after stomach ache, does that mean the pills were fakes?
A newspaper and TV station in northern Liaoning province reported the failure of a man and his wife to do away with themselves as further proof that in a China where shoddy products are rampant, even sleeping pills can't be trusted.
"Fake medicine saves two lives," said the headline in the Liao Shen Evening News.
The couple, named Yang and Zhang, had come from the countryside last March to Dalian at the southern tip of the province and had gambled away $700 in savings, a small fortune in China.
Distraught, they had only enough money left to buy six bottles of Super Happy Tranquility pills whose advertising pledge promised that users would sleep like a baby swathed in cotton wool.
When a maid found the six empty bottles and the couple on the floor of their hotel room next morning, both moaning with stomach pain, she called the police. Soon the saga of their survival became public knowledge.
Unfortunately, the story coincided with the 1994 National Medicines Fair in the provincial capital, Shenyang, where pillmakers and potion brewers had hoped to sign fabulous new contracts, especially with foreign companies.
"The news was a disaster for the Zhu Ma Dian pharmaceutical factory, the makers of the Super Happy Tranquility pills. The company had expected to sell 10 million yuan ($1.14 million) worth of pills at the fair," the Beijing Youth Daily reported. "After the publicity, the company managed to sell just over a million ($114,000)."
So the state-owned factory, fearing the prospect of big layoffs, took the case to court. It provided as key evidence a laboratory test that concluded that Super Happy Tranquility sleeping pills did not contravene health regulations although they contained only a minute percentage of sleep-inducing drugs plus a lot of starch-not a fake, in other words, but most unsuitable for suicides.
"Its main function is to make people sleep peacefully but not to kill them," the laboratory's report said. "A person weighing 104 pounds should take 56 bottles of the pills if he or she wants to commit suicide."
The Shenyang Court ordered the local paper and TV station to pay the pill company $75,000 in compensation for having defamed its product.
As for Yang and Zhang, when last heard of, compassionate souls had staked them to a return ticket to their village. Both had asked the pharmacy for their money back. They were turned down.


After a tense wait Simon Davey is set to unveil a double signing of Adam Hammill and O'Neil Thompson. Hammill should sign from Liverpool after a long chase by the reds following his very impressive loan spell for the club last season. A figure has been agreed by the two clubs.
But, in another twist to the transfer Hammill has supposedly agreed another potential transfer with Leeds United, so it could be them or us, lets hope it's Barnsley who can demonstrate the best future for Adam, as a postive he does have a connection with Barnsley FC and its fans already... but does that count for anything in football these days??
Davey has also revealed he is also chasing another left sided midfielder, this player is being kept clsoe to his chest at this stage, don't blame him when you've got the likes of Leeds Utd sailing in your slip stream!
Thompson will also be joining the club after impressing in pre-season and in the Manchester City game.
BFCWEB said last week: "Hammill was impressive at Oakwell, and quickly became a crowd favourite with his passionate and skilful displays, I see his signing as an integral part of any potential success this coming season. He is an excellent player, and would be nice to sign him permanently, but that is relying on Liverpool not thinking he would make the grade at Anfield."
Hammill was impressive down the opposite wing to Jamal, and with Anderson and Colace in the middle, forms are very strong attack minded midfield for Barnsley.
Jamaican international Thompson earned a place in the squad during pre-season with Barnsley and will be unveiled, alongside Hammill in the next 48 hours.
Simon Davey told The Star: "We've agreed a fee with Liverpool for Adam and agreed a deal to bring O'Neill into the club, they're both players I rate very highly.
"It's been really frustrating to sign players, but Adam will be a really good signing for us, he's young and got lots of years in front of him.
"And O'Neil will be another good signing. We were made aware of him through some reports we had from Norway and then Jamal Campbell-Ryce gave him a glowing reference.
"At the end of the day he's an international player and when he's come in he's done well. The criteria we were looking at was to find a centre-half who could play between 20-30 games a season, but the bonus is that he can play a dual role and play in the centre of midfield.
"He's 6ft 4in, composed, strong and has a real presence about him. He's also a very good organiser and, probably not surprisingly, he's good in the air because of his height."
These two players are welcome additions to the Barnsley squad, its been a long wait on the transfer front, but we know Hammill can do a good job for the reds, and Thompson looks like a good addition also.


[00:08.59]Unit 1 Does the tiger eat meat?
[01:10.95]Sixteen thousand people visit it every day.
[01:24.58]polar bears,zebras,pandas and many more.
[01:40.94]and the wolf from Europe.
[01:45.59]Let"s go and see a tiger.
[01:49.95]Daming:Does the tiger come from Europe?
[01:54.68]Guide:No,it doesn"t.It comes from Asia.
[02:04.32]Lingling:Does the polar bear eat meat?
[02:09.49]Guide:Yes,it does. It eats meat and it likes to swim.
[02:20.51]The panda is my favourite animal.
[02:30.02]Would you like to see Lingling?
[02:43.45]Look,there she is. She lives in China and she eats bamboo.
[03:41.81]6 Listen and repeat the questions and answers.
[03:50.06]-Does the panda eat bamboo?
[03:54.63]-Yes,it does. It eats bamboo.
[04:02.39]-Does the tiger come from Europe?
[04:10.04]-No,it doesn"t. It comes from Asia.
[04:18.51]Unit 2 Is it an African elephant?
[04:34.63]4 Read the passage and choose the correct answers.
[04:47.35]There are camels from Africa and Asia.
[04:54.01]This is an African camel.
[04:59.18]It lives in the desert and eats grass.
[05:09.34]There are elephants from Africa and India.
[05:16.71]This is an Asian elephant.
[05:22.04]It lives in India. In Asia,some elephants work in the forest.
[05:35.12]The kangaroo comes from Australia.
[05:42.88]It"s Australian. The kangaroo lives in grassland.
[05:51.63]It eats grass and leaves. It doesn"t eat meat.
[05:59.37]The monkey comes from South America.
[06:09.58]The monkey lives in the jungle and eats fruit.
[06:15.35]There are snakes in Asia,America,Africa,Australia and Europe.
[06:23.69]This snake somes from America.
[06:29.43]It eats meat. It doesn"t like water.
[06:37.37]This is a European wolf. It lives in the forest.
[06:47.43]It eats meat. It doesn"t eat vegetables.
[06:54.28]1 Does the camel eat fruit?
[07:02.32]2 Is the camel African?
[07:10.97]3 Does the elephant like water?
[07:16.43]4 Is the elephant Asian?
[07:24.68]5 Is the kangaroo Australian?
[07:34.22]6 Does the monkey live in the desert?
[07:43.28]7 Is the snake from the Arctic?
[07:49.55]8 Does the snake eat meat?
[07:57.81]9 Is the wolf European?
[08:06.37]10 Does the wolf eat fruit?


Is there a free program or easy way to create flyers and convert them to JPG to post on Craigslist?
I have been trying to find a cost effective (or free) way to create flyers and post them to Craigslist.
If you have Microsoft office publisher, you can export your flyer in the .jpeg format when you're done with it. Otherwise, Openoffice could do the same job (for free).
Nothing fancy or special programs needed, Marisa.
Why don't you just get your flyer up onscreen in whatever program that shows the least amount of program "toolbar" kind of stuff so that you'll see as much of your flyer as possible on your screen (get it into fullscreen mode if possible) and then take a screenshot of it. Windows: Hold down Shift & then tap the PrntScrn key [the picture goes into RAM memory]; open MS Paint, click Edit, click Paste, click File-> Save As, choose "JPG" format & save your flyer picture to wherever you want it.Macintosh: Hold down the Shift & Command keys together & then tap the number '3' key; the picture will show up on the Desktop; rename it from its generic screenshot filename.
CardXC, Spartx, Card.ly, BusinessCardStar, Band-Flyers and MyBrochureMaker.
Some of them provide *.doc and pdf.


Hordes of zombies, moaning and shuffling through an early-morning city: The groggy masses need their coffee. But not everyone's all about that morning latte. Those who don't favor coffee — the taste, the caffeine rush, the cultish hoopla — often scratch their heads in wonderment over why so much revolves around a bitter drink of hot water and soaked roasted seeds. And even those who do like coffee marvel over those caffiends who seem capable of drinking cup after cup, hour after hour.
A new study from the University of Edinburgh and published in the journal Scientific Reports suggests that there may be a genetic reason why some people seem more prone to coffee craving than others. According to the study, those of us with a DNA variation in a gene called PDSS2 tend to drink fewer cups of coffee than those without the variation.
What does this gene do? The bodies of those with the PDSS2 variation have a reduced ability to break down caffeine, and the scientists suggest that means that with a slower process any caffeine consumed would stay in the body longer, expanding the time between physical cravings for another dose.
It's the caffeine in coffee that can keep people alert and awake, though some experience negative effects like irritability, restlessness and upset stomach.
More than 1,200 people in seven villages across the coffee-loving nation of Italy were surveyed about their daily intake of coffee. Those with the PDSS2 variation drank on average one cup of coffee less per day than those without the variant.
The research team replicated the study with 1,731 people in the Netherlands and found the same results, although with a slightly lower difference in coffee intake between the groups — though the scientists say this discrepancy may be because Italians tend to drink smaller cups of coffee than do the Dutch, who prefer larger cups with more overall caffeine.
"The results of our study add to existing research suggesting that our drive to drink coffee may be embedded in our genes," says Dr. Nicola Pirastu, the study's lead author, in a press release. We need to do larger studies to confirm the discovery and also to clarify the biological link between PDSS2 and coffee consumption."
Researchers from the Italian coffee company Illy participated in the study, though the scientists say Illy offered no financial support. And while the study looked only at coffee consumption, who knows — perhaps we'll soon see carbonated sodas and energy drinks adopting marketing campaigns targeting certain gene pools.
It's not just humans whose preferences are influenced by genes — a recent study identified a genetic reason why certain breeds of dog seem more motivated by food than others.


America is now energy independent. We now export oil and natural gas. This gives us some degree of leverage against what used to be the monopoly held by OPEC (The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries). Yesterday Townhall posted an article that illustrates the influence America now wields because of its energy independence.
In the midst of the oil price spike scare, President Donald Trump warned the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) on Monday to “take it easy” on raising the price of oil.
So what were the consequences of this tweet?
Since this morning, the price of crude oil dropped by more than a dollar per barrel in just an hour. Bloomberg reported today that New York saw a 2.7 percent decrease in oil prices, which is the lowest drop in two weeks.
“Analysts attributed the price rise to improving trade talks between the U.S. and China, unrest in Nigeria and Venezuela, Libya’s refusal to restart production in the El Sharara oil field and continued efforts to curtail supplies by OPEC and Russia,” according to The Daily Caller.
When you don’t have to depend on OPEC for oil to keep your economy going, you have much more power to negotiate oil prices.
On Monday, Investor’s Business Daily posted a commentary on the current global oil market. The commentary noted that Russia has been working with OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) to cut oil production in an effort to keep oil prices artificially high (after all– it worked in the 1970’s).
Despite an uptick in oil prices, a closer look at the oil market unveils the real winner of curtailing crude exports: America. U.S. oil output broke through the 10 million barrels a day mark for the first time in half a century. And, according to a recent statement by the Director of the International Energy Agency, it could reach a record of 12.1 million barrels a day in 2023.
Although the price of a barrel of oil has somewhat retreated from the January $70 heights, it is still $10 above its level a year ago and more than double what it was during the price collapse in early 2016. This has been helped along by phenomenal discipline within OPEC+, as the agreement on production cuts between OPEC, Russia and nine more exporting countries is informally known. Apparently compliance has reached a surprising 138% — exporters have made bigger cuts than initially pledged.
The details of this show that one reason for the drop in production is the collapse of Venezuela‘s oil industry. Last year oil production in Venezuela shrunk by 20 percent– roughly 500,000 barrels a day. When the government nationalized the oil rigs in Venezuela, they had no idea how to maintain the rigs and maintain production, so production has continued to drop since that takeover. What has happened (and is happening) in Venezuela is a living example of the fact that socialism does not work.
Arguably, leaders of the Gulf states and Russia are falling victim to politics, a field in which it’s better to be seen doing something than nothing. Especially when no one is sure what (if anything) would work. But who is the biggest economic winner in this game? Ironically, it’s America yet again.
Each time Saudi Arabia and their allies restrict exports, they prop up the price and create a vacant market share which then gives a boost to those producers outside the agreement that are not bound by quotas. The biggest among them is the United States. Naturally, thousands of American companies are keen for a free ride.
All of that is happening already. The U.S. has just overtaken Saudi Arabia in oil production and is expected to rival Russia soon. No wonder U.S. oil companies were expected to be especially cordial with the Saudi delegation during the princely visit. But one might imagine that on the sidelines of the meetings many Saudis will be scratching their heads and wondering how and why did they get themselves into this pickle.
America needs to be energy independent. It allows us to be in control of the fossil fuel that is the backbone of the current world economy. The 1970’s proved that was important.
With the lifting of many of the restrictions on domestic oil drilling (and fracking) in America, the impact of American oil and natural gas on the world market has grown. Today Reuters posted an article about the impact of American energy on the global oil market.
…“It has had incredibly positive impacts for the U.S. economy, for the workforce and even our reduced carbon footprint” as shale natural gas has displaced coal at power plants, said John England, head of consultancy Deloitte’s U.S. energy and resources practice.
The article notes that in an attempt to stop American energy development, OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) tried to discourage shale production of oil in America by flooding the market with oil (Saudi Arabia also played a role in financing movies and advertising containing misinformation about fracking).
Energy independence is important for America. Total energy independence will have a very positive impact on our foreign policy. Because tyrannical regimes in the Middle East have traditionally controlled the oil supply to the rest of the world, western countries have been required to support governments they should not be supporting in order to keep the oil flooding. Russia is another country that has used its pipelines to Europe as a way to control certain European countries. Energy independence will give America a degree of freedom we have not had for a long time. Hopefully we will use that freedom wisely.
One America News posted a story today about a comment made by Mohammad Barkindo, OPEC secretary-general.
OPEC and other oil producers may need to take “some extraordinary measures” next year to rebalance the oil market, the OPEC secretary-general said on Sunday.
“There is a growing consensus that … a rebalancing process is under way. We are gradually but steadily achieving our common and noble objectives,” Mohammad Barkindo told reporters at the India Energy Forum organized by CERAWeek in New Delhi.
“To sustain this into next year, some extraordinary measures may have to be taken in order to restore this stability on a sustainable basis going forward,” he said, without elaborating.
Saudi Arabia and Russia helped secure a deal between the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and 10 rival producers to cut output by about 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) until the end of March 2018 in an effort to reduce a glut.
Barkindo said consultations were under way for the extension of the OPEC-led pact beyond March 2018 and that more oil producing nations may join the supply pact, possibly at the next meeting of OPEC in Vienna on Nov. 30.
He also said that Nigeria and Libya, who are exempted from the pact, “are making progress towards full recovery” of production, after which they could join the OPEC-led agreement.
Translated loosely, there is a glut of oil on the world market, and the price has dropped. America is less dependent on foreign energy and has even been an exporter of crude oil since 2014 (see article here). The noose around America’s neck that OPEC exploited in the 1970’s no longer exists. OPEC will attempt to put that noose back, but I think it is too late.
Generally speaking, the countries that have been hurt by the drop in oil prices are not countries that celebrate freedom for their citizens–Russia and Venezuela to name a few. American energy independence is a good thing–both for America and for the world.
Yesterday Investor’s Business Daily posted an editorial about the current price of oil. Any person familiar with basic economic theory understands the law of supply and demand. When there is a lot of something, the price goes down. When something is scarce, the price goes up. Some of our recent political leaders missed this point, but we are now seeing the principle of supply and demand at work in the oil industry.
Energy: Last week Royal Dutch Shell (RDSA) told investors that it expects oil prices to be “lower forever.” We’re still waiting for all those people who were only recently complaining about higher-forever oil prices to admit their mistake.
Renewable energy, he said, was the only way to solve the “problem” of high oil prices.
Domestic oil production was skyrocketing even as Obama made those remarks — thanks to advanced drilling technologies that have opened up vast new domestic supplies to production.
The Energy Information Administration projects that, next year, U.S. oil production will average almost 10 billion barrels a day, which would beat the previous record of 9.6 billion in 1970. What’s more, a quarter of this production is coming from one oil field: the Permian Basin in West Texas.
Those “obscene” industry profits? They’ve fallen as well. ExxonMobil’s (XOM) revenue in 2016 was about half what it was in 2011. In its most recent quarter, the company earned $3.4 billion — or 78 cents share. In the same quarter in 2011 it earned $10.7 billion, or $2.18 a share.
Oil companies for a time even had to borrow money to pay dividends.
Low oil prices have also led to a sharp drop in the taxes paid by the industry to the federal government. In 2016, the federal government collected about $6 billion in royalties, rental costs, and other fees from oil production on federal lands. That’s down from $14 billion in 2013.
Now Shell is saying that it’s bracing for low oil prices forever.
Lower energy prices have a positive impact on the American economy–consumers have extra money to spend, it is cheaper to manufacture goods here, and tourist-related industries thrive when Americans can travel and not worry about the cost of fuel.
Even if the current oil glut causes some pain to the oil industry and crimps tax revenues, it is good news for the economy, since lower energy prices reduce the cost of doing business across the board, and make the U.S. a more-attractive place to do business on a global scale.
But it does raise some important questions: Where are those people who were screaming about Big Oil? Why aren’t they being asked to explain how they could have been so wrong? And just who, exactly, was being stupid?
Economic principles work–every time they are allowed to.
But sometimes things in real life have a domino effect. We are seeing that effect in some recent seemingly unrelated moves by the Trump Administration.
One of the immediate changes that took place when President Trump took office was the lifting of many regulations regarding energy production and energy exporting in the United States. That was the first domino. What seemed to be a national issue is now going to have major international implications.
On Tuesday, Bloomberg News posted an article predicting an agreement between the Trump Administration and Poland that would allow Poland to begin importing natural gas from America. That is the second domino.
Polish leaders are betting Donald Trump’s visit to Warsaw starting on Wednesday, two days before the U.S. president meets his Russian counterpart, will bolster their efforts to reduce the nation’s dependence on natural gas from its eastern neighbor.
Less than a month after Poland’s Baltic Sea terminal received its first shipment of U.S. liquefied natural gas, a spot cargo from Cheniere Energy Inc.’s Sabine Pass plant in Louisiana, authorities in Warsaw are mooting ambitious plans. The ideas range from a long-term gas deal with U.S. producers to infrastructure projects linking east European nations reliant on supplies from Moscow-based Gazprom PJSC.
America’s vast energy resources have the potential to change world politics–from OPEC to Russia’s blackmail of Europe by threatening to cut off the gas supply.
I suspect we are going to see a log more dominoes fall in the future.
Investor’s Business Daily posted an article today about the recent influences on oil prices.
As the mad dash back to the U.S. oil patch has even global oil giants like Chevron (CVX) and Exxon Mobil (XOM) turning their focus to shale, U.S. oil production is on pace to exceed peak production levels in July and could hit 10 million barrels per day in August.
Those milestones loom as OPEC and top non-OPEC producers weigh whether to extend by another six months their agreement to reduce output by 1.8 million barrels a day. The cartel’s next meeting is scheduled for May 25.
The initial pact reached late last year lifted oil prices and encouraged U.S. producers to pump more oil. The extra supply has since weighed on prices, which have fallen more than 10% since the start of the year. But hedges allowed U.S. firms to lock in the higher, earlier prices, and they have continued ramping up output.
U.S. crude futures sank 4.8% to settle at $45.52 a barrel on Thursday, plunging to a five-month low and dropping below the price seen before OPEC reached its production pact in late November.
The result of developing American energy independence by developing America‘s fossil fuel resources is lower fuel costs for Americans, better national security for Americans, and a better negotiating position with the ‘oil bullies’ of the world.
There may come a day in the future when green energy is the dominant energy source, but right now the world economy is essentially based on fossil fuel. Until someone comes along and invents a green energy source that can provide energy 24 hours a day and be cost effective, the world will revolve on fossil fuel. Because our economy is based on fossil fuel, it is good to have some leverage against those who are able to deny their citizens basic human rights without being challenged because they have a monopoly on fossil fuel.
Bloomberg is reporting today that OPEC (organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) has agreed to cut oil production beginning in January. The market has already reacted, and crude prices have climbed to $50. That means that the price of a gallon of gasoline will be going up, heating oil will be going up, and the cost of electricity may also be affected. However, there is a bright side to this.
One of the things to expect in a Trump Administration is the development of America‘s gas and oil resources. The Obama Administration has blocked that development wherever possible. Theoretically, the price increase along with the end of some regulations could create energy independence for America. This would have a drastic impact on our foreign policy. There is, however, more to the picture. In the past when OPEC has seen America moving toward energy independence, they have dropped the price of oil so that development of America’s oil reserves did not make financial sense. It will be interesting to see if they do that again.
We also need to remember what the impact of American energy independence will do to the world market of oil. If America can reach a point where it exports oil, OPEC will no longer be important. It will be interesting to see at what point practicality on the part of OPEC overcomes immediate greed. Their immediate greed will encourage the growth of the American energy market. Practicality would keep prices low so that America had no incentive to develop its resources.
Bloomberg Business is reporting today that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) may boost oil production dramatically after the sanctions are lifted on Iran.
The global oil market is already in surplus by about 3 million barrels a day, with Saudi Arabia and Iraq responsible for OPEC’s oversupply in the past six months, Iran’s state-run Islamic Republic News Agency reported Sunday, citing Mehdi Asali. Iran can boost output by 500,000 barrels a day within one week after sanctions are lifted, Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said earlier this month.
…Iran made a “big mistake” when it backed OPEC’s decision in December 2011 to discard individual production quotas, Asali said. That allowed Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and other members to take over Iran’s share which was diminishing because of sanctions, he said.
…Brent oil futures closed at $49.19 a barrel on Friday, down 14 percent for this year.
We have seen this play before. There is an oil price at which fracking, a major part of American oil and natural gas production, is no longer profitable. To restart a fracking operation after it has been suspended is expensive and cumbersome. The easiest way to prevent America from becoming energy independent is to drop the price of oil as America begins to develop her oil and natural gas resources. This severely impacts the development–American businessmen are in business to make money. If fracking is not profitable, they will not invest the money to do it. OPEC would very much like to keep America dependent on their oil. Our dependency on OPEC oil has a tremendous impact on our diplomatic policy in the Middle East. We give money to and support in other ways countries whose basic ideas and values are in total conflict with our own. It would be very nice to be energy independent and be able to make decisions on international matters according to our principles–not our dependence on oil.
The New York Post posted a story today about a federal report stating that fracking does not harm drinking water. I suspect this is going to be a problem for many environmentalists. It will be interesting to see how they react to the study.
In their report, federal researchers studied the entire fracking process, from the acquisition of water to the disposal of wastewater.
Prompted by Congress, researchers reviewed thousands of pages of studies and conducted their own investigations of fracking, which collects natural gas and petroleum deep below the surface.
Before releasing the report, the feds sought comment from the public, industry officials, states, Indian tribes and nongovernmental organizations.
The report identified factors to consider: whether an area has enough water for people’s needs as well as fracking; spills; accidental injection into drinking-water sites; well failure; subsurface migration of gases and liquids; and inadequate or poorly treated wastewater.
The American Petroleum Institute, an industry trade group, said the study was a validation of the safety of fracking.
When attempting to evaluate this report, consider the fact that a lot of the anti-fracking movement is funded by OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries). Obviously they have a vested interest in preventing America from developing her oil resources.
Breitbart.com reported yesterday that according to a draft of its long-term strategy report, The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has admitted that their war on shale oil production in America has failed.
There are a few interesting things in this article. First of all, developing America’s oil resources and decreasing America’s dependence on foreign oil will have a serious impact on American foreign policy. It should eventually allow America to support freedom and human rights in places where these are not currently practiced.
Second of all, there is an economic benefit to developing oil resources in America–not only does it bring down the cost of gasoline internationally, if the exporting of these products is allowed, it will strengthen the American economy.
Thirdly, it is interesting that OPEC did everything it could to discourage American oil production. The admission of that fact should give pause to those people who blindly signed on to the anti-fracking movement without checking their facts.
America is capable of leading the world economically. We are a country rich in resources and rich in talent. What we have lost in recent years is our morality and our work ethic. We need to regain both of those in order to achieve economic success.
Fox Business posted a story today by Maria Bartiromo. The story included an amazing statement by Saudi billionaire businessman Prince Alwaleed bin Talal. The Prince stated that we will never see $100 a barrel oil again.
Saudi Arabia and all of the countries were caught off guard. No one anticipated it was going to happen. Anyone who says they anticipated this 50% drop (in price) is not saying the truth.
Because the minister of oil in Saudi Arabia just in July publicly said $100 is a good price for consumers and producers. And less than six months later, the price of oil collapses 50%.
Having said that, the decision to not reduce production was prudent, smart and shrewd. Because had Saudi Arabia cut its production by 1 or 2 million barrels, that 1 or 2 million would have been produced by others. Which means Saudi Arabia would have had two negatives, less oil produced, and lower prices. So, at least you got slammed and slapped on the face from one angle, which is the reduction of the price of oil, but not the reduction of production.
This is an interesting situation–the Saudis kept the production up so the price would go down. This seriously impacted the economies of Iran, Russia and Venezuela, and indirectly Cuba. It also made oil production in America less attractive–smaller profits. If the Saudis cut production to raise the price, American production comes back up and reduces the price. If the Saudis keep the price low, American production will be less, but will still exist.
I love the idea that we will never again see $100 a barrel oil. I am tired of being blackmailed by the Middle East oil producers. Maybe now we can stop funding terrorism.
American oil production is not the entire reason for lower gas prices, but it is one of the causes. Regardless of the price, America needs to be energy independent. Because the most practical energy in use right now is carbon based, we need to be carbon-based energy independent.
Steven Hayward posted an article at Power Line today about the recent drop in oil prices. As of 4 pm today, oil was listed at about $58 a barrel. So what does this mean?
Our Rate of Return (ROR) drops to 10% on our wells at $55 oil. However, this assumption assumes no drop in costs to drill wells and no contraction in the large differential ($10 to $12 per barrel) between Bakken and WTI oil. In reality our ROR would actually be above 10% at $55 WTI oil price as our costs to drill would also come down. There are plenty of drilling locations that would have above 10% ROR at $40 oil. Even more drilling locations would require $70, $80, or $90 oil prices for that ROR. Of course, drilling will slow down long before you get down to a 10% ROR. Most will want at least a 20% ROR. Of course the quality of the operator matters in addition to the drilling location. . .
Bottom line is that the Saudis want to chill investment in new oil supply to help protect OPEC’s future. In round numbers we have had about 5 MBOPD increase in world oil demand over the last 5 or 6 years. Over the same time period US oil production has grown from nearly 4 MBOPD (from 5 to 9 MBOPD) — 80% of the increase in WORLD demand! This is NOT good for OPEC. I suspect that we will have ugly oil prices ($60 – $75) for around a year as that is long enough to stop many current oil supply investments and, more importantly, serve to chill the appetite for future large investments in oil supply growth (deep water, arctic, marginal shale, marginal tar sands, etc) which is the Saudi goal in my opinion. I do not believe that the current price ($65) is a sustainable price going forward. It would not encourage enough new supply to balance world demand which itself would be goosed upwards with the lower prices. I suspect that after this ugly price period ends, we likely see oil bouncing around the $75 to $95 range or something like that.
Of course all of this depends on the state of world economy which has many significant challenges such as at the required unwind, or more likely significant revamping, of the unsustainable entitlement states over the next two decades. I personally believe that the Euro currency was a very idea from the start and is damaging for Europe and unsustainable as an institution. The unwind of the Euro within the next 5 or 10 years could also cause significant economic headwinds for the world economy.
This game has been played before–when America is reaching energy independence, lower the price to avoid further exploration. We are fools if we fall for this. As soon as OPEC thinks America is not interested in developing its own resources, the price will go back up to where it has been in recent years. Regardless of the price, energy independence is always a good idea for security reasons. Energy independence also frees America up to support democracies in the Middle East rather than dictatorships.
The Wall Street Journal today included an article by Daniel Yergin about the falling oil prices. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) met Thursday and decided not to cut oil production. That is a major policy change and will have worldwide impact. The demand for oil is no longer the basis for OPEC’s decisions–now the deciding factors are the surge in U.S. oil production and the new oil supply from Canada.
Oil is currently selling at about $69 per barrel after hovering around $100 per barrel for the past three years. The shale oil being drilled in America is still economical to produce with prices between $50 and $69 per barrel, so the lower prices will not drive America from the world market.
So what are the international implications of cheap oil? The Russian budget is funded over 40% by oil, but Putin has built up a reserve of a few hundred billion dollars that will help Russia cope with the falling oil prices. Venezuela and Iran are also negatively impacted by falling oil prices. Just for the record, the building of the Keystone XL Pipeline would have a severe negative impact on the Venezuelan economy–the Gulf Coast refineries would replace the heavy oil from Venezuela with the Canadian oil.
There is, of course, the possibility that OPEC could change its mind in the Spring and cut output, but even if they were to do that, they would only be hurting themselves, as Canada and the United States would simply increase their production to make up the difference.
Are You Enjoying The Current Price Of Gasoline?
On Sunday, Stephen Moore posted an article at The Daily Signal about the recent decline in gasoline prices. The article reminds us that in June, oil reached a peak price of $103 a barrel. Since then, the price has dropped 25 percent. American motorists are seeing the results of that drop in gasoline prices at the pump that have dropped below $3.00 per gallon. At their present levels, gasoline prices are saving American consumers and businesses $200 billion a year.
Oil prices are falling because of changes in world supply and world demand. Demand has slowed because Europe is an economic wreck. But since 2008 the U.S. has increased our domestic supply by a gigantic 50 percent. This is a result of the astounding shale oil and gas revolution made possible by made-in-America technologies like hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling. Already thanks to these inventions, the U.S. has become the number one producer of natural gas. But oil production in states like Oklahoma, Texas and North Dakota has doubled in just six years.
Without this energy blitz, the U.S. economy would barely have recovered from the recession of 2008-09. From the beginning of 2008 through the end of 2013 the oil and gas extraction industry created more than 100,000 jobs while the overall job market shrank by 970,000.
President Obama, you didn’t build this recovery (such as it is)–it happened in spite of you! The energy blitz in America is breaking the back of OPEC. They can no longer blackmail western countries with threats of cutting off their oil supply.
Yet the political class still doesn’t get it. As recently as 2012 President Obama declared that “the problem is we use more than 20 percent of the world’s oil and we only have 2 percent of the world’s proven oil reserves.” Then he continued with his Malthusian nonsense, “Even if we drilled every square inch of this country right now, we’d still have to rely disproportionately on other countries for their oil.” Apparently, neither he nor his fact checkers have ever been to Texas or North Dakota. And we don’t have 2 percent of the world’s oil. Including estimates of onshore and offshore resources not yet officially “discovered”, we have ten times more than the stat quoted by the president–resources sufficient to supply hundreds of years of oil and gas.
If the President and his Democrat allies would get out of the way, the American economy would recover. Please remember that when you vote next week.
The Middle East oil countries have done very well during the past thirty or so years. The have combined to form the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and have raised the price of oil from somewhere near $5 a barrel to over $100 a barrel (although the cost of oil is currently dropping).
The Wall Street Journal reported today that as the Western countries begin to develop their oil resources, OPEC members are fighting over production quotas and prices.
But even modest cooperation between many members has broken down, and Saudi Arabia, in particular, has moved to act on its own. While it cut output earlier this summer, other members didn’t go along. Since then, it has dropped its prices.
Each member has a different tolerance for lower prices. Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia generally don’t need prices quite as high as Iran and Venezuela to keep their budgets in the black.
Late Friday, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Rafael Ramirez, who represents Caracas in the group, called for an urgent meeting to tackle falling prices. The group’s next regular meeting is set for late next month.
But on Sunday, Ali al-Omair, Kuwait’s oil minister, said there had been no invitation for such a meeting, suggesting the group would need to stomach lower prices. He said there was a natural floor to how low prices could fallat about $76 to $77 per barrel—near what he said was the average production costs per barrel in Russia and the U.S.
The history of oil prices has often been that when the Middle East begins to drop their prices, Americans stop looking for cheaper oil in their own country. Considering the current instability in the Middle East in the OPEC nations, that would be a big mistake.
America needs to be energy independent for both economic and security reasons. It is time to develop our own resources.
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is meeting this week. The Financial Times reminds us that oil prices have dropped from $128 a barrel in March to a current price of about $100. The drop is partially due to the financial difficulties in the European Union and the general slowdown in the world’s economy. Normally when the price of oil drops, OPEC calls for a decrease in production so that the price will rise again (supply and demand works!).
Recently OPEC has been producing more oil than its quota in an effort to lessen the impact of the oil sanctions that Europe and America have placed on Iran in an attempt to end Iran’s nuclear program. Saudi Arabia seems to be responsible for the increase–Ali Naimi, Saudi Arabia’s oil minister, told the Financial Times in March that he would like to see lower oil prices “that will not hurt the global economic recovery”.
The Saudis have called for higher oil output levels despite the lower prices. I would love to be a fly on the wall (one who understood whatever language is spoken) at the coming OPEC meeting!
American Industry Triumphs–Even When It Is Not Allowed To !
There is something very ironic about this story. One of the reasons that the American economy is recovering so slowly is the high price of gasoline. That price is pretty much set by OPEC (made up of countries that generally do not like us) and the falling value of the American dollar. One of the solutions to that particular problem would be for America to develop its own oil resources and become energy independent. The Obama Administration has done a fairly good job of blocking any attempt to make that happen (offshore drilling, drilling in ANWR, Keystone pipeline, etc.). American oil companies have been limited in where they can explore for oil and where they can drill. Because American oil companies are in business to make a profit, they are going elsewhere!
Breitbart.com reported yesterday that Exxon Mobil has been hired by Russia to drill for oil in the Arctic Ocean–you know–up where the Obama Administration prevented Americans from drilling.
Think about how backward things are under Obama—the largest oil company in America is going to be drilling in waters around the Arctic where they expect to find 85 billion barrels in recoverable oil. And instead of sending it to Texas refineries, and thereafter to gas stations across America, the oil will be sent to Russia and refined for their use.
By the way, if extracted at the rate of 1 million barrels a day, 85 billion barrels of oil would last for 85,000 days. 85,000 days equals well over 200 years. Yet here we are, listening to Obama telling us the future is one of wind farms, electric cars, and a companies like Solyndra.
Perhaps we’ll get lucky and Russia will sell us some of their oil. If Obama keeps us in this energy stranglehold we’re going to need it.
It seems that one of the casualties of the Obama Administration’s energy policy is common sense.
Iran Is Ramping It Up–Is Anyone Listening ?
My Way posted a story today about Iran’s warning to the other oil-producing countries in the Gulf not to boost their oil production if Iran’s oil production is reduced because of western sanctions. Iran’s OPEC governor made the threats just as Saudi Arabia announced that it would increase its oil production if Iran’s oil production decreased.
Saudi Arabia, the Arab world’s largest economy, is widely seen as the main counterweight to Iran in the region. Any attempt by Iran to close the Strait of Hormuz, through which a sixth of the world’s oil flows, would also affect the export abilities of the major Gulf producers, including Saudi Arabia, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Qatar.
While momentum appears to be building for the sanctions by the West, China, another major buyer of Iranian oil, has come out against the measures.
Wen said the two sides “should expand trade of crude oil and natural gas and energy-related cooperation as to deepen their energy partnership,” Xinhua reported.
There are a couple of things going on here. First of all, America is vulnerable to this sort of garbage from Iran because we have not developed our own energy resources. Second of all, young Iranians (who make up more than half of the country) do not support the current government of Iran. A war against the Americans would allow the rulers to unite the country against a common enemy (us) in order to stay in power and continue their nuclear program. Third, Russia and China will support any action by any country that creates a problem for America. The weaker we become, the stronger they have a chance to become. Fourth, can you imagine the bully Iran will become when it completes its nuclear program?
Part of the problem here is America’s failure to become energy independent and part of the problem here is that the Iranians see President Obama as a weak President that they can push around. Neither one of these things is good for the future of America. If the voters are smart, we will have a new President in 2013.
Saturday’s Wall Street Journal posted an article about Harold Hamm, the Oklahoma-based founder and CEO of Continental Resources, the 14th-largest oil company in America. He was the original discoverer of the gigantic and prolific Bakken oil fields of Montana and North Dakota that have already helped move the U.S. into third place among world oil producers.
Evidently President Obama is blinded by the fact that many of his friends and major financial supporters have substantial investments in green energy. There is nothing wrong with green energy, but right now we have a need for oil and gas. It is a shame that our President is so blinded by self-interest that he is unwilling to address that need.


I really liked how industrial handles looked, wanted bottom freezer drawers and french door for the fridge. Purposely we did not want ice-maker as we knew that most fridges were prone to issues and we don't really need/use it as much. When it ice-maker version was delivered by mistake, we returned it.
REVIEW: Within a year a shelf broke (more specifically it separated from the bracket). We were told that we needed to pay for new one - we ended up using good glue and had no issues with it. Unfortunately that was not the only problem - basically plastic around freezer doors started breaking until it completely fell off couple of weeks ago. While the function is not affected - it is very visible and makes the fridge look terrible.
While I was searching for photo of the fridge to include here - ran into numerous bad reviews of this fridge - mostly due to defective ice-maker. It appears that there is a class action suit against Electrolux in NY state about it.
VERDICT: Not worth the money and I would never buy it again.
We went with this dishwasher as we liked the handle, look and Bosch dishwashers had good reviews.
REVIEW: Issue we ran into was smell when not in use. I've always assumed that this was something that we have done, but found recently that it has to do with design and setup of the dishwasher. Lately we've been using it more so the smell is less noticeable.
VERDICT: So far so good - we are happy with performance so far.
We liked that this stove had double oven (even though to this date I am yet to use them both). It is sleek, has racks that extend out and has that industrial look we found in other appliances. I was worried a bit about maintenance, but it proved to be a breeze.
REVIEW: While maintenance is very easy, it seems there are too many electrical problems with this stove. My problem started last year when E15 error code appeared with constant beeping making the stove unusable. I've unplugged it at the time, left it for an hour, plugged it back in and used it fine until about 2 months ago when same issue happened - only this time it would not go away.
When we opened it up we found that one of the circuits had a problem - it fried connection to lower oven which we never used! Go figure! I was happy that there was a problem as I found that there were too many people chucking this stove to garbage as they could not pinpoint the problem and were replacing parts (expensive parts) one by one only to conclude that sinking more money will not solve the problem.
Electrolux appears unfortunately to be totally useless and unhelpful based on these comments and it does not look like they are stepping up to address this problem - similarly to their ice-maker problem with the fridge.
For last couple of weeks we've been using a plug-in single burner stove and had no oven - cooking was much fun! Part finally arrived yesterday and we replaced it right away! E15 again !!!! Stove is unplugged again - this time with no clear indication where and what the problem might be.
VERDICT: I will never buy Electrolux appliance again. These purchases were not cheap and idea was to buy better quality product without shelling $10K on a stove to have some piece of mind. Well, that is the last thing we got.


In this article I will discuss some classes I've written to simplify working with enumerations. The primary thrust of these classes is added functionality, but in some cases there are performance improvements as well.
This class is in response to a shortcoming of the default keyword as it applies to enums. The default keyword was added in C# 2.0 to support generics.
Every variable has a default value: for class references it's null, for value types it's 0, for structs it's an instance with each field set to its default.
An enum is a value type, so its default is 0; but a particular enum may not have a member with value 0, so defaulting to 0 seems inappropriate.
... but this doesn't give us much control over which value is used.
... and indeed it could be done that way, but there's no protection against the attribute being applied to more than one member.
Another limitation is if your enum has the FlagsAttribute and you want the default to be a value that doesn't match a member (unless you want to allow multiple attributes and OR their values together).
... but enums aren't allowed as parameters to attribute constructors.
A limitation of this approach is that there is no compile-time checking of the value (and its type), but that's really no worse than what the default keyword does.
The return value is a boolean indicating whether or not the value comes from the attribute. If the enum doesn't have an EnumDefaultValueAttribute then the technique described above is used.
Most of the members of LibEnum offer only a simplified syntax for accessing the members of System.Enum rather than a performance benefit, but I've also included some methods that don't exist in System.Enum.
The first group of lines below is from GetDescription and GetAlternateText before I added the caching of the values in a dictionary. The second group of lines is from after; I'll leave the analysis up to you.
An application may conceivably parse and output many enum-based values during a run. As with getting the default value, repeatedly accessing the attributes on the values can be costly. Clearly, accessing these values once per run and storing them for later use has the potential to improve the performance of some applications considerably. Additionally, parsing values from attribute properties (for this discussion I'll refer to them as aliases) rather than names may be desirable in some cases.
The EnumTransmogrifier was designed to address these concerns; it may be a bit on the heavy side, as it contains a generic dictionary for each type of lookup, but enums tend to have relatively few members, so each dictionary shouldn't be prohibitively large.
The properties Values, Names, and Aliases give read only access to the underlying data.
The BaseType and DefaultValue are also cached and made available so repeated calls to reflection are not required for those. You may also set the DefaultValue if doing so makes sense in your application.
This constructor will fill the dictionaries with the values, names, and any DescriptionAttribute values found.
Additionally, the constructors allow you to provide a list of aliases to use. This can be handy when the enum doesn't have a suitable attribute, when you want to override aliases from the attribute, and when the enum has the FlagsAttribute and you want to apply an alias to a value that does not have a member.
Parse will search the aliases for the string value provided.
Parse will throw System.ArgumentException if the value is not found, otherwise it will return the value.
There is also an indexer that wraps Parse.
Note: This Parse method is slightly slower than System.Enum.Parse, so its primary benefit is the ability to parse aliases.
TryParse will search the aliases for the string value provided.
TryParse will return false and the out parameter will be set to the DefaultValue if the value is not found, otherwise it will return true and the out parameter will be set to the value.
ToString is the inverse of Parse; pass in a value and get the alias.
If the value doesn't have an alias, then the member's name will be returned.
If there is no alias and no member (e.g. when using the FlagsAttribute) then the usual ToString is applied to the value.
There is also an indexer that wraps ToString.
The Alias dictionary contains the member names as well as the aliases, so if the name of a member is passed in to be parsed it will be found in the Alias dictionary.
During Parsing, if the string isn't in the Alias dictionary (e.g. when using the FlagsAttribute) System.Enum.Parse will be performed and, if successful, the string and value will be added to the dictionaries.
During ToStringing, if the value isn't in the Value dictionary (e.g. when using the FlagsAttribute) value.ToString will be performed and, if successful, the value and string will be added to the dictionaries.
EnumDemo1 just demonstrates instantiating EnumTransmogrifiers, accessing the properties, Parsing, and ToStringing. I'm not sure how well it'll behave on a system that is not set to English.
EnumDemo2 performs a number of functions on the enumerations (one million times each) and displays the elapsed time (in milliseconds).
The first two lines reflect accessing the default values (discussed above).
The next three lines are parsing operations: Notice that System.Enum.Parse is the fastest and the generic wrapper for it is only slightly slower. The dictionary-based parse is a little slower, but it provides the benefit of parsing aliases.
The next six lines are ToString operations. I am quite surprised that the normal ToString of an enum value is so much slower than the dictionary-based ToString. (I've found that ToStringing an enum that doesn't have the FlagsAttribute is just as slow.) Judging by this, if you do a lot of ToStringing of enum values, use a dictionary.
The last four lines were discussed earlier.
To use the methods in your own projects, simply add the appropriate files.
Originally from the Boston (MA) area. Lived in SoCal for a while. Now in the Phoenix (AZ) area.
ZagNut’s Law: Arrogance is inversely proportional to ability.
"Use vertical and horizontal whitespace generously. Generally, all binary operators except '.' and '->' should be separated from their operands by blanks."
Delighted to see an article here that shows usage of Attributes combined with building a Dictionary mapping Enum Values to Attributes so run-time performance if not degraded !
This has given me some great details on what I can do with Enums.
Enumerations can be used to simplify things in all sorts of ways.
But your code style ignores almost of all framework rules.
* Do you dislike XML comments so much that you must convert them into normal comments?
* What about formatting "one parameterer of method on separate line and comma also on separate line"?
I have never seen such code in C#.
Do you dislike XML comments so much that you must convert them into normal comments?
What about formatting "one parameterer of method on separate line and comma also on separate line"?
Shorter lines, easier to find a parameter, etc.
It'll catch on someday... or not.
Before anything else, I think its a very nice and useful piece of code.
* Generics usage: I found the library could be even easier to use, safer and some code can be saved if you made the LibEnum class generic, and all your System.Enum arguments turned into generic arguments of that type. Check the internet on other enum libraries to check how we can constraint the generic argument for Enums. Dictionaries must be generic as well.
* Changing the signature of GetAlternate to receive only the property name and constructing the PropertyInfo inside the method.
Hope my comments are constructive.
I haven't seen how; the best I know is to constrain to struct and that isn't good enough.
LibEnum is really only a stepping stone on the path to EnumTransmogrifier, which addresses some of your concerns.
However, LibEnum does contain some non-generic methods; making the class generic would make them needlessly generic.
I prefer the technique of accepting a PropertyInfo over accepting the attribute type and property name separately. Partly because retrieving the property when given the Attribute type and Property name requires Reflection; I put that burden on the caller.
But I would still have to throw an exception if there is no property with the provided name.
I haven't found a way of not having a runtime check of one or the other.
The separation of GetDescription and GetAlternateText is because I don't need to validate the Attribute in GetDescription, but now that I look at it again, I think I could add a private method that they could both call.
Edit: I have submitted an update that does that.
But making the class generic just means having separate dictionaries for each enum, not for each enum and attribute, as each attribute would mean an entry in the generic argument dictionary instance. By the way, having different dictionaries is handled automatically by the CLR, so no change on code required.
I meant if I made it generic on both enum and attribute as I thought you had hinted.
Right, but if I had to handle it I could have one dictionary.
The caller can get (and store) one reference to the property and pass it to several of my methods and constructors, rather than having my code hit reflection each time. And who knows what else the caller may want to do with it?
Did you try to use an enum member for the attribute?
This compiles without a problem for me. Great helpers though, got my 5.
Re: Did you try to use an enum member for the attribute?
I think yours succeeds because you're passing it as an object, which I don't want to do.
Passing in a System.Enum should be allowed. To do so with the code as submitted, just cast it to one of the allowed types.
I'll think about it more, but I don't think opening the constructor up to allow all objects makes sense.
This means you can't choose the enum-type at runtime. I think it would be nice if these non-generic 'overloads' would also be included in the LibEnum class.
Those are in System.Enum, mine just wrap them. A wrapper that doesn't provide anything new seems silly to me.


The scene is an emergency room at a hospital.
The nurse is totally self-absorbed, combing hair, looking in mirror etc.
A camper runs in, dressed as a skier with a pole stuck in his/her stomach (a branch could be used also for a hiker).
Patient is screaming in agony. The nurse insists that she must ask him some questions before anything can be done. The patient screams that he is losing blood.
The nurse continues asking questions such as where he lives, past illnesses, type of house, how he got there, etc.
A phone rings and a Dr. Killjoy asks the nurse out to lunch. The nurse runs off leaving the wounded man writhing on the floor. A goofy looking janitor with a broom wanders by and pulls the pole out. The patient stands up, says thanks and leaves.