Saturday Morning, May 24, 2014 -- First Day Of Three-Day Weekend (For Some) -- A Shoutout To The Roughnecks And Truckers

The Los Angeles Times

Drive-by shooting leaves seven (7) dead at UC Santa Barbara; top story, but almost sounds like "business-as-normal" event in Detroit. NBC-LA has more. [This is a "cut and paste" from the Los Angeles Times from the front page of May 26, 2014. It is the "sub-headline" to the headline. This is pure crap: "The severity of Elliot Rodger's mental ills slipped through cracks. His acquaintances, law enforcement officials and mental health professionals say he was deeply sad." 

This guy was not "deeply sad." Excuse me, hellooo... he was deeply disturbed. And he did not fall "between the cracks." 

The headline: "Red Flags Came Too Late." 

What a bunch of crap. His mother and father knew how serious it was. They got him into therapy. They even were able to get the sheriff (and six officers) out to the individual's house, who even says that had they searched his house, his plans to kill everyone would have ended. No, this guy did not fall in between the cracks. Society chose not to do anything about him. Nor could society do anything about it. 

But it sort of puts all the hand-wringing about fracking into perspective. It also puts the risks of transporting CBR into perspective. Already, the Los Angeles Times is turning this into a story about how "we" need to have compassion toward the murderer. And, yes, it's no surprise that the story quickly evolves into "gun rights." The writer mentions in passing that his first victims were stabbed -- perhaps with kitchen knives -- and not killed with guns. There were as many victims killed with knives as with guns in this case.]

The Wall Street Journal

Beef prices spike.

Housing recovery's missing link: first-time buyers.

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Appeals court throws out energy-saving rule

A federal appeals court dealt a blow to electricity-conservation efforts on Friday when it struck down a rule allowing big energy consumers to reap special payments in exchange for cutting their power use.

The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals nullified a 2011 order by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission that promoted paying businesses to reduce electricity consumption during heavy times of demand.

The court ruled that as a federal regulator FERC had gone too far, encroaching in retail electricity markets that are under the exclusive jurisdiction of states.

The FERC order was considered integral to federal efforts to curb carbon emissions from power plants and support energy-efficiency investments by big consumers, from grocery store chains to aluminum manufacturers.

But electricity suppliers struggling against low power prices and lackluster demand said those payments had become excessive. The Electric Power Supply Association filed the lawsuit on behalf of power generators that sell electricity into wholesale markets regulated by FERC. The group's executive director John Shelk praised the court's ruling, saying it "vindicates what we and so many others said about this ill-advised order all along."

There is a proper role for demand response programs, but it must be compensated appropriately, Mr. Shelk said. While the court ruling doesn't eliminate these programs, it is expected to significantly reduce the size of payments many participants receive. Lower payments will discourage customers from investing in automated equipment that help control and reduce energy use.

Hopefully, a detour off "the road to New England." Another lesson learned from Germany's debacle.

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Tesla doubt? -- Panasonic.

S&P closes at record 1,900:

Mony, Mony, Tommy James and the Shondells

The Dickinson Press

Semi-truck rollover west of South Heart closes I-94, old US Highway 10; photo of first responders but no photo of the actual "event"; stock photo? Jet fuel and pesticide spill; highway closed for three hours; caused headaches for commuters; driver 29 years old; not wearing seat belt; ejected from truck; good news: no mosquito spraying will be needed in this immediate area for a few weeks -- especially if the spill got into standing water along the road.

BNSF official sees "big opportunity" in switch from diesel to LNG locomotives; won't be easy; previously posted.