I'm Starting To Lose Track ....

.... who has criticized the United States the most: Hugo Chavez or President Barack Obama. Of course, one has the advantage now.

The president's most recent criticism: American guns are responsible for the murders in Mexico. He failed to mention that his administration brought many of those guns into Mexico. It would be LOL if it WSS.

I assume most of the murders in Chicago are due to American guns also. The NY Times is reporting:

This city’s 471st homicide of 2012 happened in the middle of the day, in the middle of a crowd, on the steps of the church where the victim of homicide 463 was being eulogized. Sherman Miller, who was 21, collapsed amid gunfire not far from the idling hearse that was there to carry away James Holman, 32, shot to death a week earlier.

The shooting, on Nov. 26, was one more jarring reminder of just how common killings seem to have grown on the streets of Chicago, the nation’s third-largest city, where 506 homicides were reported in 2012, a 16 percent increase over the year before, even as the number of killings remained relatively steady or dropped in some cities, including New York.

I wonder if the President will go to Chicago following his visit to Mexico where he apologized for American guns killing so many innocent Mexican citizens.

Based on homicide statistics, it is safer for an American soldier in Afghanistan than a citizen in Chicago.

Chicago homicides by year (wiki) in first column; US deaths in Afghanistan, second column:

2001: 667      12

2002: 656      49

2003: 601      48

2004: 453      52

2005: 451      99

2006: 471      98

2007: 448      117

2008: 513      155

2009: 459      317

2010: 436      499

2011: 435      418

2012: 506      310

2013, to date:    100    33

Breitbart provides the explanation for the high homicide rate in Chicago. 

OBSERVATION 5: Random Observations Regarding the USGS 2013 Assessment of the Bakken: The "F95" For The Bakken Actually Decreased

The very first slide (after the introductory stuff), the USGS asks the question: why assess the Bakken  ... again? Because the "Three Forks Formation was not assessed in 2008."

There were several additional reasons, but it seems from the report that the USGS did not actually consider any of those additional reasons, based on the results (substantial increase in number of wells, longer well prouction histories, new technology, increased cooperation from industry experts, etc).

The "new" 2013 number for the Bakken Formation: 2.81 to 4.61 (mean: 3.65 billion bbls).

The  "old" 2008 assessment for the Bakken Formation: 3.0 to 4.3 (mean: 3.65 billion bbls).

Although the mean remained the same, the "F95" for the Bakken actually appears to have decreased. (This is based on the narrative for 2008 and the slide presentation for 2013, but those are the numbers provided.)

That's the observation. It's hard to believe that five years of new data, new technology, more wells, increased fracking stages/well, the assessment did not result in any change in the mean, either up or down. There are four possibilities for the Bakken mean not to have changed over five years:

a) the Bakken Formation was not reassessed; only the Three Forks
b) the oil industry has not gotten any better at recovering oil from the Bakken Formation
c) the oil industry has gotten better but the USGS took that into consideration back in 2008, and thus no change in the assessment
d) the USGS is really, really good at making estimates, and five years later, their assessments have not changed for the Bakken Formation

Perhaps My Favorite Commentator: Charles Krauthammer -- We Live From Inflection Point To Inflection Point; From King Of The World To Dead In The Water; Six Months

Link here to the WashingtonPost.com.

I don't have access to television so I don't see Charles Krauthammer, and even when I do have access to television, I do not watch Fox except for NASCAR. Or NBC. Or CBS. Or ABC.

Williston Wire Headlines

Headlines only; it is easy to subscribe to the Williston Wire.

North Dakota legislation: landmark $1.143 billion for infrastructure improvements, mostly in oil patch

Aux Sable Midstream announces opening of one of the first natural gas facilities in western North Dakota

Lincoln RV park on Highway 85 announced; can accommodate individuals, families, and large companies up to 200 people

A Quick Look At High Points For The May, 2013, NDIC Hearing Dockets

May 29 - 30, 2013: 

• increasing number of cases to assess risk penalties against non-participating owners
• more cases than usual for unrestricted flaring (or I may be just more sensitive to this issue with recent ND legislative action regarding flaring)
• one case with 8 wells on a 640-acre unit (80-acre spacing)
• two cases each for 3 wells on 320-acre units (~ 100-acre spacing)
• several cases by Slawson to open the vertical portion of a hz Bakken well to the Lodgepole

For quick look of trends over the past couple of years, click here. 

NDIC Hearing Dockets For May, 2013, Now Released

Original source.

Some high points:

• The most cases I have seen in one hearing docket in recent memory to assess risk penalties against non-participating owners: 23; I hope everyone has good legal counsel
• More requests than usual, it seems, for unrestricted flaring
• Very few continued cases compared to past hearing dockets 
• Case 20255: Hess, Hawkeye-Bakken, 10 wells on 10 1280-acre units, McKenzie, 100 wells
• Case 20256, Hess, Antelope-Sanish, 10 wells on 10 1280-acre units, McKenzie, 100 wells
• Case 20258, Hess, Blue Buttes-Bakken, 10 wells on 17 1280-acre units, McKenzie, 170 wells
• Case 20260, KOG, Truax-Bakken, amend, authorize 15 wells on an existing 1280-acre unit, Williams
• Case 20303, CLR, Brooklyn-Bakken, amend, establish a 5120-acre unit; 2 wells, Williams
• Case 20309, XTO, Alkali Creek and/or Charlson-Bakken, amend, extend, create an overlapping 2560-acre unit; 14 wells, Williams, McKenzie
• Case 20313, SHD, Blue Buttes, Spotted Horn, Clarks Creek, or Antelope-Sanish, amend, extend, establish a 640 acre unit, 8 wells, McKenzie
• Case 20316, Slawson, Squaw Gap-Bakken, amend, establish a1280-acre unit; establish 2 overlapping 1280-acre units, 2 640-acre units; 5 wells on each unit (including 5 wells on the 640-acre units), McKenzie 
• Case 20317, Slawson, Squaw Gap-Bakken, amend, establish a 640-acre unit, 5 wells; McKenzie
• Case 20318, Slawson, Squaw Gap-Bakken, to drill multiple multi-lateral horizontal wells with a portion of the vertical section of the well open to the Lodgepole above the stratigraphic limits of the Bakken
• Case 20319, Slawson, Antelope-Sanish, to drill multiple multi-lateral horizontal wells with a portion of the vertical section of the well open to the Lodgepole above the stratigraphic limits of the Bakken, McKenzie, Mountrail 
• Case 20320, Slawson, Big Bend- Bakken, to drill multiple multi-lateral horizontal wells with a portion of the vertical section of the well open to the Lodgepole above the stratigraphic limits of the Bakken, McKenzie, Mountrail
• Case 20321, Slawson, Elm Tree-Bakken, to drill multiple multi-lateral horizontal wells with a portion of the vertical section of the well open to the Lodgepole above the stratigraphic limits of the Bakken, McKenzie, Mountrail
•  Case 20322, Slawson, Ross-Bakken, to drill multiple multi-lateral horizontal wells with a portion of the vertical section of the well open to the Lodgepole above the stratigraphic limits of the Bakken, McKenzie, Mountrail
• Case 20323, Slawson, Van Hook-Bakken, to drill multiple multi-lateral horizontal wells with a portion of the vertical section of the well open to the Lodgepole above the stratigraphic limits of the Bakken, McKenzie, Mountrail, Dunn, McLean
• Case 20395, EOG, Van Hook-Bakken, 3 wells on an existing 320-acre unit, Mountrail

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

20211, KOG, Burning Mine-Bakken, redefine field limits, McKenzie
20212, KOG, Pembroke-Bakken, amend, establish 7 2560-acre overlapping spacing units; 2 wells each; McKenzie
20213, KOG, Twin Buttes-Bakken, amend, establish 2 1280-acre overlapping spacing units; 4 wells each; up to 9 hz wells on an existing 1280-acre unit, Dunn
20214, Murex, develop oil pool, Keri Elizabeth, Divide
20215, True Oil, temporary spacing, McKenzie
20216, Cornerstone, Northeast Foothills-Bakken, amend, establish a 1280-acre unit; one well, Burke
20217, Cornerstone, establish a 1280-acre unit, one well, Burke
20218, Petro-Hunt, Charlson-Bakken, amend, establish 3 overlapping 1280-acre units; 2 wells each; up to 7 wells on 2 1280-acre unit, McKenzie
20219, Petro-Hunt, Indian Hill and/or Elk-Bakken, create 2 overlapping 2560-acre units, 1+ wells on each; McKenzie
20220, Petro-Hunt, amend, Nameless, Lonesome, and/or Ragged Butte-Bakken, create 4 overlapping 2560-acre units, 1+ wells on each, McKenzie
20221, Petro-Hunt, Foreman Butte-Bakken, amend, create 2 overlapping 2560-acre units, 1+ wells each; McKenzie
20222: Petro-Hunt, Pronghorn and/or Rawson-Bakken, amend, create 4 overlapping 2560-acre units,
1+ wells each,  McKenzie
20223, Petro-Hunt, Arnegard and/or Timber Creek-Bakken, amend, create 2 overlapping 2560-acre spacing units, 1+ wells in each; McKenzie
20224, BR, Pershing-Bakken, amend, establish an overlapping 2560-acre unit, 1+ wells; McKenzie
20225, BR, Little Knife-Bakken, amend, establish an overlapping 2560-acre unit, 1+ wells between the existing 1280-acre units; Dunn
20027 cont'd
20226, QEP, Croff-Bakken, amend, establish an overlapping 1280-acre unit, 1well; McKenzie
20227, QEP, Grail-Bakken, amend, establish 4 overlapping 1280-acre units; 1 well each; McKenzie
20014, cont'd,
20228, Hess, Truax-Bakken, amend, establish an overlapping 2560-acre unit; 1+ wells; Williams
20229, Hess, amend, Hawkeye, Union Center, Clear creek and/or Clarks Creek-Bakken, establish 5 overlapping 2560-acre units, 1+ wells between existing 1280-acre units; McKenzie
20230, Hess, Antelope-Sanish and Charlson-Bakken, amend, establish 2 overlapping 2560-acre units, 1+ wells, McKenzie
20231, Hess, Blue Buttes, amend, Blue Buttes, Clear Creek, and/or Camel Butte-Bakken, establish 6 overalpping 2560-acre units, 1+ wells; McKenzie
20232, Hess, Pembroke-Bakken, amend, establish 4 overlapping 2560-acre units, 1+ wells, McKenzie
20233, Hess, Little Knife-Bakken, amend, establish an overlapping 2560-acre unit, 1+ wells, Dunn
20334, Hess, Alkali Creek-Bakken, amend, unrestricted production, McKenzie, Mountrail, Williams
20235, Hess, Antelope Creek-Bakken, amend, unrestricted production, McKenzie
20236, Hess, Big Butte-Bakken, amend, unrestricted production, Mountrail
20237, Hess, Cedar Coulee-Bakken, amend, unrestricted production, Dunn
20238, Hess, Cherry Creek-Bakken, amend, unrestricted production, McKenzie
20239, Hess, Ellsworth-Bakken, amend, unrestricted production, McKenzie
20240, Hess, Hofflund-Bakken, amend, unrestricted production, McKenzie, Williams
20241, Hess, Rainbow-Bakken, amend, unrestricted production, Williams
20242, Hess, Ray-Bakken, amend, unrestricted production, Williams
20243, Hess, Siverston-Bakken,  amend, unrestricted production, McKenzie
20244, Hess, South Tobacco Garden-Bakken,  amend, unrestricted production, McKenzie
20245, Hess, Timber Creek-Bakken,  amend, unrestricted production, McKenzie
20246, Hess, Wheelock-Bakken,  amend, unrestricted production, Williams
20247, Whiting, Sanish-Bakken, CO2 injection as a test, Mountrail
20248, MRO, Bailey and/or Killdeer-Bakken, amend, establish 3 overlapping 2560-acre units; 1+ wells; Dunn
20249, MRO, Killdeer-Bakken, amend, establish 1 overlapping 2560-acre unit, 1+ wells, Dunn
20071, cont'd
20250, OXY USA, commingling, Dunn
20251, Sequel Energy, SWD, McKenzie
20252, MRO, pooling, Strandahl-Bakken, Williams
20253, Hess, Elm Tree-Bakken, authorize up to 10 wells on a 1280-acre unit, McKenzie
20254, Hess, Westberg-Bakken, amend, authorize up to 10 wells on each of 2 1280-acre units;  McKenzie
20255, Hess, Hawkeye-Bakken, amend, up to 10 wells on 10 1280-acre units, McKenzie 
20256, Hess, Antelop-Sanish, amend, up to 10 wells on 10 1280-acre units, McKenzie 
20257, Hess, Siverston-Bakken, 10 wells on a 1280-acre unit, McKenzie
20258, Hess, Blue Buttes-Bakken, 10 wells on 17 1280-acre units, McKenzie
20259, KOG, Ranch Creek-Bakken, amend, authorize 6 wells on an existing 1280-acre unit; McKenzie
20260, KOG, Truax-Bakken, amend, authorize 15 wells on an existing 1280-acre unit, Williams
20261 - 20278, KOG, pooling, Truax-Bakken, Williams
20279, Petro-Hunt, Foreman Butte-Bakken, amend, authorize 5 wells on an existing 1280-acre unit, McKenzie
20280, Petro-Hunt, East Fork-Bakken, amend, 7 wells on a 1280-acre unit, Williams
20281 - 20282, Petro-Hunt, pooling
20283, Whiting, Parshall-Bakken, amend, 3 wells on 2 640-acre units, Mountrail
20284 - 20299, Whiting, flaring

Thursday, May 30, 2013

20300, R360 Williston Basin, LLC, waste treatment, Billings
20301, Newalta Environmental Services, waste treatment, Mountrail
19777, cont'd
20301, CLR, Noonan-Bakken, amend, establish a 1280-acre unit, 1 well, Divide
20303, CLR, Brooklyn-Bakken, amend, establish a 5120-acre unit; 2 wells, Williams
20304, CLR, Sanish-Bakken, redefine stratigraphic limits, McKenzie, Mountrail
20097, cont'd
20095, cont'd
20305 - 20306, Crescent Point Energy, Blue Ridge-Bakken, amend, flaring
20307, Zenergy, Eightmile-Bakken, amend, establish 2 overlapping 2560-acre units, 1 well; McKenzie, Williams
20308, Zenergy, Elidah-Bakken, amend, redefine stratigraphic limits, McKenzie
20309, XTO, Alkali Creek and/or Charlson-Bakken, amend, extend, create an overlapping 2560-acre unit; 14 wells, Williams, McKenzie
20116, cont'd
20117, cont'd
20118, cont'd
20310, Enduro Operating, Little Deep Creek-Madison, reserve pits, Renville
20311, EOG, treatment plant, Mountrail
20312, EOG, Clarks Creek-Bakken, redefine stratigraphic limits, McKenzie
20313, SHD, Blue Buttes, Spotted Horn, Clarks Creek, or Antelope-Sanish, amend, extend, establish a 640 acre unit, 8 wells, McKenzie
20314, SHD, Heart Butte-Bakken, amend, establish a 1280-acre unit, 8 wells, Dunn, McLean
20315, Armstrong, designating Armstrong as operator of a Hess well, Dunn
20316, Slawson, Squaw Gap-Bakken, amend, establish a1280-acre unit; establish 2 overlapping 1280-acre units, 2 640-acre units; 5 wells on each unit (including 5 wells on the 640-acre units), McKenzie
20317, Slawson, Squaw Gap-Bakken, amend, establish a 640-acre unit, 5 wells; McKenzie
20318, Slawson, Squaw Gap-Bakken, to drill multiple multi-lateral horizontal wells with a portion of the vertical section of the well open to the Lodgepole above the stratigraphic limits of the Bakken, McKenzie
20319, Slawson, Antelope-Sanish, to drill multiple multi-lateral horizontal wells with a portion of the vertical section of the well open to the Lodgepole above the stratigraphic limits of the Bakken, McKenzie, Mountrail
20320, Slawson, Big Bend-Bakken, to drill multiple multi-lateral horizontal wells with a portion of the vertical section of the well open to the Lodgepole above the stratigraphic limits of the Bakken, McKenzie, Mountrail
20321, Slawson, Elm Tree-Bakken, to drill multiple multi-lateral horizontal wells with a portion of the vertical section of the well open to the Lodgepole above the stratigraphic limits of the Bakken, McKenzie, Mountrail
20322, Slawson, Ross-Bakken, to drill multiple multi-lateral horizontal wells with a portion of the vertical section of the well open to the Lodgepole above the stratigraphic limits of the Bakken, McKenzie, Mountrail
20323, Slawson, Van Hook-Bakken, to drill multiple multi-lateral horizontal wells with a portion of the vertical section of the well open to the Lodgepole above the stratigraphic limits of the Bakken, McKenzie, Mountrail, Dunn, McLean
19901, cont'd
19342, cont'd
20324, North Plains, SWD
20325, Crescent Point, West Ambrose-Bakken, amend, 5 wells on 2 existing 1600-acre units, Divide
20326, Crescent Point, Gooseneck-Bakken, amend, 4 wells on 2 existing 1280-acre units, Divide
20327, Crescent point, Colgan-Bakken, amend, 5 wells on existing 1600-acre unit, Divide
20328, Waterworks Corral Creek, SWD
20329, Samson Resources, risk penalty legalese, non-participating owners, 
20330, Samson Resources, commingling
20331, Baytex, risk penalty legalese, non-participating owners, 
20332, Baytex, risk penalty legalese, non-participating owners, 
20333, Baytex, risk penalty legalese, non-participating owners, 
20334, CLR, risk penalty legalese, non-participating owners, 
20445, CLR, risk penalty legalese, non-participating owners, 
20336, CLR, risk penalty legalese, non-participating owners, 
20337, CLR, risk penalty legalese, non-participating owners, 
20338 - 20343, CLR, pooling
20344, CLR, Brooklyn-Bakken, 12 wells on each of 2 2560-acre spacing units, Williams
20345, Newfield, risk penalty legalese, non-participating owners, 
20346, Newfield, risk penalty legalese, non-participating owners, 
20347, Newfield, risk penalty legalese, non-participating owners, 
20348, Newfield, risk penalty legalese, non-participating owners, 
20349, Newfield, risk penalty legalese, non-participating owners, 
20350, Newfield, risk penalty legalese, non-participating owners, 
20351, Newfield, risk penalty legalese, non-participating owners, 
20352, Newfield, risk penalty legalese, non-participating owners, 
20353, Liberty Resources, risk penalty legalese, non-participating owners,
20354, Liberty Resources, Tyrone-Bakken, 9 wells on 6 1280-acre units, Williams, 54 wells
20355, Fidelity, risk penalty legalese, non-participating owners, 
20356, Fidelity, risk penalty legalese, non-participating owners, 
20357, Fidelity, risk penalty legalese, non-participating owners, 
20358, Fidelity, risk penalty legalese, non-participating owners, 
20359 - 20362, G3 Operating, pooling
20363, G3 Operating, Pembroke-Bakken, 13 wells on an existing 1280-acre unit, McKenzie
20364 - 20365, XTO, pooling,
20366, XTO, risk penalty legalese, non-participating owners,  
20367 - 20377, Zavanna, pooling
20378, Slawson, pooling,
19369, cont'd
20379 - 20393, EOG, pooling
20394, EOG, Parshall-Bakken, 3 wells on an existing 1920-acre unit, Mountrail
20395, EOG, Van Hook-Bakken, 3 wells on an existing 320-acre unit, Mountrail
20396 - 20397, Sinclair, pooling
20398 - 20404, Zenergy, pooling
20405, Citation, commingling
20406, Triangle, risk penalty legalese, non-participating owners,
20407, Enduro Operating, conversion to enhanced recovery in the Scotia-Madison, Bottineau
20207, cont'd

The Number of Active Rigs in North Dakota Hits A New Post-Boom High: 192

Active rigs: 192 (wow -- this is a new post-boom high)

The May hearing dockets are released: I will post summaries later. There is going to be an eye opener for some non-participating owners.

Today's daily activity report is not yet released.

When Headline Writers Simply Have To Punt

The Oil & Gas Journal generally posts a story daily on the price of oil: why it went up, why it went down, why it remained flat. The headline, of course, has to include a reason, otherwise it's a pretty boring headline.

So, today's headline: Oil prices bounce back on stronger economy indicators.

I challenge any reader to find more than one conomic indicator in the linked story (I did not read the last couple of paragraphs so maybe that's where one will find additional indicators). I do not consider the European Central Bank cutting interest rates to a record low of 0.5% from 0.75% an economic indicator.

The only "stronger" economic indicator the writer could come up with was this: the US weekly jobless claims were at a 5-year low. So that would be an indicator, singular. The headline, said "indicators," plural.

“The ECB cut interest rates for the first time in 10 months to an all-time low in an attempt to shore up a languishing economy,” said analysts in the Houston office of Raymond James & Associates Inc. “That may be too aggressive, but the Federal Reserve Bank tapering the pace of its bond-purchase program by the end of this year now certainly seems a less likely outcome than it did just a few months ago. Against this backdrop and positive labor market data (weekly jobless claims at 5-year low), the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index and the Dow Jones Industrial Average both gained 1%, erasing all of the previous day's losses.” 

Today would have been a good reason for the headline writer to simply say: Oil prices surged for no good reason.

Home Depot Coming To Western North Dakota: Permanent Location In Minot; Temporary Site In Williston As It Studies Opportunity

A reader forwarded this. KXNews is reporting:

Home Depot has been given the green light to build here -- in South Minot...but it won't be long before you can buy product from the home improvement retailer. A temporary site has been installed over the last few weeks...and it will open next Thursday. A similar site is planned for Williston, as the retailer studies if it wants to build a full Home Depot location there soon as well.

If one didn't know that the boom began in Montana in 2007 and in North Dakota in 2007, one would think that the boom is just getting underway.

Memo to self: send linked article to The Atlantic Monthly.

Slow-Motion Jobs Recovery

There are three graphs at this link regarding the jobs recovery. In the big scheme of things, I'm not convinced it's as bad as some have made it out to be. But then I'm in a very, very good mood today. I particularly like the third graph.

Link here to The Wall Street Journal. There are three graphs at the link; move by clicking on the little dots below the graphs.

Diesel From Natural Gas? Are There Dots Ready To Be Connected?

The Columbus Dispatch is reporting (a "thank you" to a reader for sending me this):

At a time when natural gas is plentiful and inexpensive, a Plain City company has found a way to convert the resource into something much more valuable: diesel fuel.
Velocys Inc., a spinoff from Columbus-based Battelle, opened its test plant this week after more than a decade of development. About 60 people work there.

“Essentially, we’re changing the way fuels are made,” said Roy Lipski, Velocys’ CEO, at the opening ceremony.

The plant’s existence is testament to a resurgence in popularity of a chemical process developed in the 1920s in Germany, capable of turning coal or natural gas into diesel fuel, jet fuel or other synthetic liquid fuels. The same method is being used at a refinery opened in 2011 in Qatar by Royal Dutch Shell and will be used at a plant being built in Louisiana by Sasol Limited.

Unlike those multibillion-dollar projects, which will sell fuel on the open market, Velocys is selling smaller-scale machines that customers can use to create a source of diesel for their own use. The cost is $200 million to $500 million, as opposed to billions.
The process is called Fischer-Tropsch, named after the two German scientists who developed it. The technology later was used to help fuel Nazi Germany, which had an oil shortage.

The first customer likely will be Calumet Specialty Products, a maker of oils and solvents that has said it will install a series of reactors at its plant in western Pennsylvania, where it has access to gas from the Marcellus shale. The project likely will break ground next year.

Where have we heard that name before, Calumet?

Click here for the answer.

Happy Friday

Just a quick recap:

• Arctic ice hasn't varied much in size since 1989; earth stopped warming 17 years ago
• jobless rate plummets to 7.5%; March numbers okay; February numbers awesome (revised)
• 46 percent of energy jobs created in Q1 2013 filled by women
• USGS doubles the size of the Bakken, based on Three Forks potential
• market surges; oil up also
• Kentucky Derby this weekend with a long-shot, Frac Daddy in the line-up
• California may have a surplus (this, in fact, may be the biggest story of the day: California represents a huge segment of the American economy, and if California shows a turnaround, it portends good things for the entire economy; remember the recent story on those massive distribution centers going up in the California desert?)
• we're back to calling terrorists what they are: terrorists (though some resist)
• cool heads prevail; the red line that was crossed in Syria this past week, wasn't quite as red as first thought
• GM profit soars; share price halfway to breaking even for the American taxpayer
• earnings season: profits up; revenues down; great cost containment; sets stage for even better 2013/2014
• ObamaCare will be a "trainwreck" but at least we know it's coming, and some of us may be able to jump off (Congress has certainly jumped off; members of Congress are exempt from ObamaCare); when they say "trainwreck" I don't know if it's a derailment, or a collision; derailments are generally less severe
• it's incredibly sunny, bright, and temperate here in San Antonio; I love winter storms in south Texas -- more like a North Dakota June or July
• and, I have a free coffee waiting for me at Starbucks

Living the dream (I hate that phrase):

The Happiest Girl in the Whole USA, Donna Fargo

*************************

A Letter to The Granddaughters

I'm in my Feynmann -- Oppenheimer -- Von Neumann -- Los Alamos stage of reading. I have six new books on the subject, and am currently reading three of them.

The song, "I'm the Happiest Girl in the Whole USA" takes me back to the summer of 1972. I was doing research on the North Slope of Alaska. This song had just come out and was hitting number one by the time I was up in Prudhoe Bay. We did not have television that summer, and the only radio station was AFRN: Armed Forces Radio Network. [Little did I know that AFRN would be a big part of my life for the next 30 years of my life.] With 24-hour sunlight, I often worked throughout the night; it was always a treat to see the Midnight Sun. No, it isn't all that bright; but it is light. Kind of weird.

Our research team was made up of our research leader, and six research assistants: four guys and two gals. Four of the research assistants were typical Scandinavian lads and a lass. One of the women, was not Scandinavian, but I do not recall much about her (Italian?). But I do vividly remember the sixth member: long hair, tall, thin, quiet, and the computer expert. His job was to run the computer. All day long he sat on a high stool in front of this metal rectangular box that was about six feet tall and two feet wide/two feet deep. All day long he fed in a one-inch wide paper tape punched with holes about 4 mm in diameter. All day long he would feed in the paper tape, and flip toggle switches up and down. Did I say he would do that all day long? In hindsight, he resembled Bill Gates.

I regret to this day I did not spend some time with him, learning what he was doing, how it worked. I don't know where he came from; he certainly did not come from our college in Sioux Falls, SD. He may have been an extraterrestrial alien, or perhaps from California, but now I'm repeating myself. But the one or two times I tried talking to him, he was non-cummunicative; and he talked even less when I asked him to explain the contraption. Contempt comes to mind. No, I did not have contempt for him; the other way around. Smile. LOL.

Yeah, it's a happy Friday.

***************************

What I learned today, from wiki:

A mondegreen is the mishearing or misinterpretation of a phrase as a result of near-homophony, in a way that gives it a new meaning. It most commonly is applied to a line in a poem or a lyric in a song. [Shocking Blue's "Venus" comes to mind.]

American writer Sylvia Wright coined the term in her essay "The Death of Lady Mondegreen," published in Harper's Magazine in November 1954.

"Mondegreen" was included in the 2000 edition of the Random House Webster's College Dictionary. Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary added the word in 2008.

The phenomenon is not limited to English, with examples cited by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, in the Hebrew song Háva Nagíla ("Let's Be Happy"), and in Bollywood movies.

A closely related category is soramimi—songs that produce unintended meanings when homophonically translated to another language.

The unintentionally incorrect use of similar-sounding words or phrases in speaking is a malapropism. If there is a connection in meaning, it can be called an eggcorn.

If a person stubbornly sticks to a mispronunciation after being corrected, that can be described as mumpsimus.

Friday Morning Links and News, Part II

WSJ Links

Section M (Mansion): I never read.

Section D (Arena):

• This should be fun. Baz Luhrmann's ("Moulin Rouge") "The Great Gatsy."

Baz Luhrmann's sumptuous 3-D adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby," to be released May 10, cost about $100 million to make. It's full of the dazzling visuals of the 1920s—Art Deco jewelry by Tiffany & Co., flapper dresses designed by Prada, custom suits by Brooks Brothers, speak-easies, and a yellow Duesenberg—with the musical trappings of 2013. A Midwestern war veteran (Tobey Mcguire) finds himself drawn to the past and lifestyle of his millionaire neighbor (Leonard DiCaprio). This should be fun.

• Making a western for less. This should be even more fun.

In certain scenes, the indie western "Dead Man's Burden" looks like a million bucks, which is an accomplishment, since that amount would more than double the film's entire budget. Writer-director Jared Moshé says the picture came in for "low six figures." On Friday it has a theatrical premiere just as tiny (it opens only at the Village East Cinema in New York, with other cities and home video later).  Shot on film (not digital), in 18 days, in New Mexico with tax incentives.

This has been done before, by the way. Robert Rodriguez pioneered the idea.

Section C (Money & Investing):

• This puts Apple's $17 billion in bonds in perspective. CNOOC sold $4 billion in bonds on Thursday, the largest ever for a Chinese company.

Section B (Marketplace):

Section A:

• Petraeus will teach at my alma mater, USC.

LA Times

• US jobless rate drops to 7.5%. The February figure, revised upward, is quite nice:

The labor market rebounded last month as the U.S. economy added 165,000 net new jobs and the unemployment rate dropped to 7.5%, its lowest level in more than five years, the Labor Department said Friday.

The April jobs figure exceeded analyst expectations of about 148,000 net new jobs and helped counter concerns that hiring was significantly slowing after a disappointing report in March.

The government also issued major upward revisions for job creation in March and February.

The initially disappointing 88,000 figure for March was revised to a more respectable 138,000. The February figure was revised up to 332,000 from the initial report of 268,000. That was the most new jobs added in a month since May 2010.

• I am very impressed. I did not think I would see this. California tax revenue yields multibillion-dollar surplus and puts California on course for an economic recovery (remember earlier story about all those massive distribution centers in the desert? Something is afoot in America). 

Friday Morning Links and News, Part I; Unemployment Rate Plummets To 7.5%; Two New Peaking Stations In The Bakken; Arctic Ice With Minimal Variation Since 1989

For those children who may never see snow again because of global warming:

Time lapse, Owatonna, MN, May 1- 2, 2013

Active rigs: 190 (very nice)

RBN Energy: how refinery maintenance affects imports.

A signal that pensions may be dead (or at least dying). CNBC is reporting:

A little known rule change that allows companies to contribute fewer dollars to pension funds is signaling just how meaningless the retirement vehicle has become.

"This proves that pensions are pretty much dead," said Greg McBride, chief economist at Bankrate.com. "The change is just another charade to mask the underfunding of pensions and increases the odds of having less money for retirement."

"It's not necessarily the immediate end of pensions but it's not good for them and it's certainly a bad sign," McBride added.

The pension change was part of a transportation bill-called Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century or MAP-21-passed by Congress last June. The change became mandatory this year.

From the National Ice and Snow Data Center:

Since 1989 the (Arctic ice) extent has mostly remained between 14 and 15 million square kilometers (5.4 and 5.8 million square miles).

It should be noted that it was always the Arctic that folks were concerned about with ice melting; the Antarctic was never predicted to shrink. At all.

The full paragraph:

In the earlier part of the satellite data record, average April extent remained above 15 million square kilometers (5.8 million square miles). Since 1989 the extent has mostly remained between 14 and 15 million square kilometers (5.4 and 5.8 million square miles). The years 1993 and 1999 were exceptions, when extent exceeded 15 million square kilometers (5.8 million square miles), as well as 2006 and 2007, when extent dropped below 14 million square kilometers (5.4 million square miles).

Lowered expectations sends futures up:

Nonfarm payrolls are expected to have increased by 145,000 jobs, according to a Reuters survey of economists, after braking to a nine-month low of 88,000 in March. Taken together, the job creation pace over the past two months would still be far below the average of 200,000 for the first two months of this year.

"That would be consistent with an economy that's losing growth momentum but hasn't fallen out of bed," said Millan Mulraine, a senior economist at TD Securities in New York.

Also: the jobs recovery in graphs.

Two new peaking stations under construction in the Bakken. The Minot Daily News is reporting:

The Pioneer Generation Station is being built about 15 miles northwest of Williston and the Lonesome Creek Station is being constructed about 15 miles west of Watford City.
He said the two units will be fired by natural gas and have a generating capacity of 45-megawatts.

Another Version Of Relative Sizes Of The Continuous Reservoirs In The US

Regular readers will remember the earlier updated version of the Bakken relative to other continuous oil reservoirs in the United States. The green dots were sized relative to their estimated recoverable bbls of oil.

The individual who provided that updated version, to make things fit, had to use very, very small dots for some of the smaller fields.

Re-sizing those small dots to something we could actually see, this is the new version. I have to admit: I like this version even more.

This is probably why the USGS did not use the relative sizing; and, why the USGS was resistant to increasing the mean estimate to a number greater than 7.38: