Wednesday Morning Links, News, And Views

Active rigs: 184 (up, steady)

Wells coming off confidential have been posted; scroll down.

RBN Energy: US natural gas to Mexico. 

WSJ Links

Nothing in Section D (Personal Journal). We must be moving into the summer doldrums. There was a story yesterday of six barrels of natural gas that had leaked into the Gulf of Mexico which will all evaporate, but the operator called in the professionals to stop it, after early efforts failed. That's how hard reporters are working to get the next big oil spill story.

This is interesting, in Section C (Money & Investing): with oil flirting with $105/bbl, one would have thought the dollar was getting really, really, really weak. But then this: "euro falls to 3-month low vs the dollar; no link. The headline tells me as much as I need to know, especially during the summer doldrums.

Maybe that Gulf oil leak is a bigger story than I thought: it's in Section B (Marketplace). Nah.
But speaking of big stories, whatever happened to Syria? Whatever happened to all the O'Bama scandals?

In The Front Section, a huge story on a train wreck in the making: US struggles to meet health-law dedeadline. The federal government has NOT written key rules guiding employers.

When Obama administration officials delayed a central plank of the new health law—requiring that big employers offer health insurance to workers—they said it was to help businesses pleading for more time.

Left unsaid was the federal government hadn't written key rules guiding employers, according to current and former administration officials, and computer systems that were supposed to run the program weren't operational.

The delay has opened the door for critics and allies alike who are now raising questions about the administration's ability to implement the biggest domestic policy initiative in a generation.

Oh, this is not good. The South Dakota Native American Reservation at Pine Ridge is considering lifting a ban on alcohol sales.

Robin Tapio has struggled with alcohol for much of her life. The father of her children died after years of drinking and their middle son lost his life after driving off a road on this vast Indian reservation. He was 16 years old and high on drugs and alcohol.

In June, Ms. Tapio, a member of the Oglala Sioux's tribal council, voted in favor of holding a public referendum to try something new to address the excessive drinking linked to crushing poverty and crime here: make alcohol legal.

So, we'll see how this goes. 

Oh, the answer to that question: whatever happened to Syria? The war has moved to Lebanon.

This story was posted earlier, late last night: that runaway Bakken crude oil freight train? It sustained a fire a few hours earlier in the day before it really caught on fire. The railroad's fortunes had turned around with CBR.

For those in favor of aligning the minimum wage with inflation: if the minimum wage tracked inflation, it would be $4.07 per hour. I'm sure it depends on when the two were first aligned. But facts never got in the way of Joe Biden's politics (nor any other politician's politics).