ONEOK Announces "Open Season" Bakken Crude Express Pipeline

Link here.

Data points:

• open season will close November 20, 2012
• previously announced 1,300-mile-crude-oil pipeline
• 200,000 bopd with multiple access points in the Williston Basin
• terminus: Cushing, OK
• construction to begin in early 2014; completed by mid-2015

No State Department approval required.

Isn't is amazing, really, when you think about it, that the entire Keystone XL project was killed because of a few miles of pipeline route in Nebraska. Really? Someday, someone is going to ask: "what were they thinking?" Not that it would have made any difference at this time, but with the price of gasoline at < $2.00 / gallon a few years ago, and now it's $4.00 / gallon. Americans appear to be content to let the decision to kill the Keystone XL "ride."

Americans are content. [as in "satisfied."] We have a pretty good life, all things considered.

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Note for the Granddaughters

Not To Be Read By Anyone Else

There Is Nothing In Here About the Bakken

Read At Your Own Risk

Speaking of being content: McDonald's again. I blogged about it the other day. I know Michelle is concerned about obesity in this country. At the other end of the scale, I see AARP is worried about starvation among our younger seniors, especially those between the ages of 50 - 59. I guess they call it "risk of hunger." The younger seniors are out of work and too young to qualify for programs that are provided for senior seniors, according to the AARP website.

With seniors and "risk of hunger," I suppose there are two issues: a) access to food; and, b) cost of food.

With obesity, I suppose there are two issues: a) access to food; and, b) cost of food. Food is so plentiful in this country and so cheap, it's easy for children to become obese with the wrong choices.

McDonald's can hardly be beat for both demographics.

For the obese, a hamburger is all of 250 calories; apple slices are 15 calories; and water or diet drinks have zero calories. We're talking 265 calories for dinner with the correct choice. [For fruits and vegetables, Michelle would have you garden.]

For seniors at "risk of hunger," it's hard not to find a McDonald's in any community. I don't know how AARP proposes to get food to their seniors but whether it's McDonald's or someone else, the challenge is the same. But on cost, the hamburger is a buck, french fries are a buck (the seniors at "risk of hunger" can afford the caloric-laden french fries) and any drink is a buck. We're talking $3.00 for dinner. If you can do it for less, go for it. Throw in a banana, and many seniors at "risk of hunger" will be slightly less hunger-challenged.

I spent a fair amount of time at the AARP site to learn more about their programs. I was disappointed; it was pretty sparse with specifics. The site was best on helping folks learn how to send in money. Eighty-seven cents of every dollar will go directly to help those who need it. They didn't say where the other thirteen cents would go.

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While riding my bike in the drizzling rain this evening after dark to the aforementioned McDonald's, I saw a sign in someone's yard: "Say No To Wal-Mart. No More Big Box Stores." I had to chuckle. They may get their wish sooner than later now that Amazon's strategic plan to compete head-on with brick-and-mortar stores everywhere will spell the demise of big box stores more quickly than signs in people's front yards. 

Yes, I would say Americans have it pretty good, and where there are problems, they are not insurmountable. McDonald's could be part of the solution for many of the food-related problems in this country.