Proceed Wtih Caution -- Not To Be Read By Those Prone To Swooning

That "thump" you heard was me falling off my chair, hitting the floor here in a Barnes and Noble-owned Starbucks in Southlake Town Centre, Texas. Fortunately, the computer did not follow me. My tailbone hurts -- if you've ever fallen on your tailbone, you know what I'm talking about.

I had just uploaded the Jim Croce Railroad Song when I was sent this story in the New York Times from a reader (before proceeding, please make sure you are sitting, and sitting securely):

Signaling a possible break with 40 years of energy policy, Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz has suggested that it may be time for the Obama administration to reconsider the nation’s ban on exporting domestically produced crude oil.

Congress made most oil exports without a license illegal in the 1970s to conserve supplies at a time when OPEC oil embargoes produced long lines at gas stations and threatened the American economy. But over the last five years a frenzy of oil drilling in shale rock formations in Texas and North Dakota have produced a glut of crude in the Midwest and Gulf of Mexico states.

“Those restrictions on exports were born, as was the Department of Energy and the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, on oil disruptions,” Mr. Moniz said in remarks to reporters at the Platts Global Energy Outlook forum in New York on Thursday. “There are lots of issues in the energy space that deserve some new analysis and examination in the context of what is now an energy world that is no longer like the 1970s.”

The Energy Department does not have the power to relax restrictions on exports but Mr. Moniz said the it would be willing to produce technical analysis on the issue for the Commerce Department which issues the export licenses.

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ObamaCare

The Los Angeles times is reporting:

The state's enrollment so far among Latinos is anemic — even though they represent more than half of California's 7 million uninsured residents. Only 5% of enrollees, or fewer than 4,500 people, in the first two months of enrollment are primarily Spanish speakers, new data show.

The dismal results have drawn sharp criticism from supporters of the healthcare law. They fault the Covered California exchange for strategic missteps, and they fear that missing out on this relatively young and healthy population could threaten the viability of the state exchange.

Without a large pool of people and enough younger policyholders to balance out older, sicker patients, rates could spiral up, and insurers may drop out of the state-run marketplace.

"It is unacceptable that Latinos are getting the least amount of access to the benefits offered by the Affordable Care Act," said state Sen. Norma Torres (D-Pomona). "Covered California's strategy for Latino enrollment has not proven itself to be effective. The success of this program and the affordability of health insurance in the future depends on Latinos signing up."

Yup. The Latinos are probably the only ones who listened to the advice of Consumer Reports: avoid the ObamaCare website.