Thursday Morning Links, News, And Views; Every Bakken Well Coming Off Confidential List Today Went To DRL Status; British Open Starts Today

What's wrong with this picture? 62-year-old serial rapist is back on the streets, and court supports his bid to move back to his old hunting grounds. Only in California. In and out of prison for decades. Briefly:

responsible for more than two dozen attacks. After his release from a state hospital in 1979, he moved to the Bay Area and sexually assaulted more than 23 women, Los Angeles County prosecutors say. He was convicted again of rape and other charges and imprisoned.

Shortly after his release on parole in 1990, Hubbart assaulted two more victims in San Jose, according to Los Angeles County prosecutors. He was convicted of false imprisonment and sentenced to five years. He was released in 1993 and returned to his home in Claremont.

He was back in prison after breaking parole, but now, released once again. And only 62 years old. He has quite a resume.

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On a brighter note, this is an incredible story. The building at 1 Wilshire Boulevard, west Los Angeles sold for almost one-half billion dollars, a record. 

Built in 1966, the building has become one of the world's top three telecommunications centers and is widely regarded in the industry as the single most important telecommunications hub in the Western U.S...

An incredible story. Unfortunately, it requires a subscription. I assume the story will be available elsewhere as the day goes on.

Back to the Bakken and Other Energy Stories

Active rigs: 189 (steady, no change for several days now)

RBN Energy: a fascinating story on state of European refineries; a must read.

Every Bakken well coming off the confidential list today went to DRL status. 

WSJ Links

Bank of America profit jumps 63%. AMEX profit rose almost 5%; credit card spending by AMEX customers rose 7%.

Ford doing better in California.

For decades, car shoppers in America's coastal states largely spent their money on Japanese and European imports over Ford Motor Co. and other U.S. brands.

But that is changing for Ford, highlighting the success its new models are having hitting the right notes for consumers looking to buy small and medium size passenger cars.
Sales of the 2013 Fusion, redesigned last year with a lengthy list of technology features and a grille that echoes the ultraluxury Aston-Martin sports car, are up nearly 18% over a year ago for the first half of 2013.

Through June, Ford is on pace to sell 300,000 Fusions this year, making it one of Detroit's most successful new sedans since the original Taurus set styling in midprice cars on its ear during the late 1980s.

Huge story; 80 comments; most comments I've seen for an LA Times story of this nature. 

Huge store regarding oil industry and the endangered lesser prairie chickens: if you are an investor in CHK, SD, EOG, CLR, or any other operator drilling from Kansas south to the Permian, you better read this. No mention of slicers and dicers as far as I can tell, but I didn't read the article to the end.

D-Day for Detroit nears. I still argue that bankruptcy won't be declared until law firm gets last bit of dough Detroit has. Earlier "they" said the decision would likely be this week. This is Thursday and they are still saying the decision is near. There must still be some money left in the banks that hasn't been paid to lawyers. The plan:

Detroit's strategy, unveiled last month, is to pay off the majority of what secured creditors such as certain bondholders are owed while offering pennies on the dollar to unsecured bondholders, unions and pension funds. 

Big story on utilities being forced down the renewable path, at higher cost for consumers. It turns out the farmers like wind and solar.

I was a fan of Rolling Stone for the most part due to its relationship with Hunter S Thompson. With its most recent issue, the magazine clearly crossed a boundary that Americans won't tolerate. Walgreens and CVS won't sell this issue; I hope stores across Boston take it off the shelves. It should make his family proud their son is on the "cover of Rolling Stone." At least nine children injured, some seriously, one 8-y/o dead after this monster placed a bomb at his feet. And now, his picture on the cover of Rolling Stone.

The Cover of Rolling Stone, Dr Hook  

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A Note To The Granddaughters

I just finished Arthur I. Miller's book on the story of the physicist Wolfgang Pauli and the psychologist Carl Jung. About a third of the book was devoted to dream analysis; Pauli submitted more than 200 dreams to Jung to analyze. Over time their provider-"patient" relationship morphed into one of friendship.

As a rule I do not dream. But last night I had a "dream" that simply replayed an event that occurred many, many years ago. It left me quite shaken, almost to the point I thought about not blogging this morning. I will record the dream elsewhere; you can read about it after I die. The journals will all be yours.

May and I reminisced on our way "home" last night -- actually I reminisced out loud; May only listened (she dislikes my monologues and generally falls asleep once I start talking). Unlike Woody Allen, in the big scheme of things, I have no regrets. I would re-live my life just as it was/is. I might have tweaked a couple of life chapters involving relationships, but only slightly. I hope you two get to experience a) relationships to maximum extent possible; and, b) the world to maximum extent.