Japan One Step Closer To Importing Huge Amounts Of LNG From The US; Tomorrow's Headlines Tonight -- Posted August 6, 2014; Restaurants In Minnesota Start Charging Small Fee To Cover New Minimum Wage Law

Japanese partners in the Cameron LNG terminal say the project has secured its last investment approval by obtaining $7.4B in financing.

• The move brings Japan a step closer to importing significant amounts of LNG from the U.S.'s abundant supply of shale gas.
• The Cameron project is owned by Sempra Energy, GDF Suez, Mitsui & Co. , and a joint venture between Mitsubishi Corp., and Nippon Yusen KK.

The Wall Street Journal

 

More smoke and mirrors with ObamaCare: almost 90% of the nation's 30 million uninsured won't pay a penalty under the Affordable Care Act in 2016 because of a growing batch of exemptions to the health-coverage requirement. Essentially, this "act" is simply dying on the vine, and that's why it's not  even an election issue this year.

Trade gap narrows sharply as imports tumble. Good news? Hardly: it may mean US consumers have have lost interest in buying.

This story has many, many story lines: Obama is focused on putting in place a global security structure that will last decades, but his handling of crises in the Mideast and Ukraine has driven support for his foreign policy to new lows. UC Irvine? Really?

Wow, really? Italy slips back into recession.

I might come back to this later; it's been discussed often at the blog -- the 800-lb gorilla in the living room of small business owners: startup entrepreneurs and owners of small ventures are facing big changes in how they obtain their own health coverage under ObamaCare, as well as in the benefits they're able to offer employees.

Chrylser's earning jump 22%. Who wudda thought?

The Los Angeles Times

Front page, top of the fold: bill would cap income eligibility for state's clean-vehicle rebates. Class warfare, I guess. Only the privileged few can afford to drive the HOV lanes in southern California; only the rich can afford EVs. Four-fifths of California rebates for EVs go to those earning over $100,000. Interestingly, $100,000 is hardly a working wage for longshoremen in southern California. By the way, I drove past their brand new, beautiful new building near the San Pedro Harbor (couldn't tell if it was nearer the LA Port or the Long Beach Port.

Good, bad, indifferent. Global warming. Summer weather. Whatever. It's' the headline in tomorrow's LA Times: southern California hit by cooling trend, fog in heart of summer. Must be something unusual to merit a headline story. Whatever. It's just the weather. Nineteen years of cooling weather. I remember all those stories when I was growing up about the hot weather spells in NYC, Chicago -- haven't heard those stories lately. Whatever.

FoxNews

This is really quite remarkable. Check out the restaurant tab over in Stillwater, MN. Yup. This restaurant is now adding (padding) every restaurant tab with an additional 35 cents to cover "the new minimum wage." I can't make this up. Next we will see an itemized listing for 56 cents for ObamaCare Coverage, and 23 cents for costs associated with renewable energy mandates. Personally, I see nothing wrong with this. Sort of like the airlines charging separately for aisle seats, carry-on baggage, snacks, and drinks. As long as the fees are transparent, something President Obama promised us, and not hidden in the price of the soup or salad.

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An A-Ha! Moment

The Ultimate Christopher Walken Impression

Over the past few years it has become almost impossible not to see or hear a "Christopher Walken impression" somewhere. Everybody does a Christopher Walken impression. If you don't believe me, do a YouTube search for these impressions: other actors on Letterman, Conan, and compilations across the internet -- everyone "does Christopher Walken."

I've always been "troubled" by the long Christopher Walken monologue in Tarantino's Pulp Fiction. It seemed "over the top," even for Tarantino. But then it hit me -- the a-ha moment: Tarantino had Christopher Walken do a Christopher Walken impression/parody in Pulp Fiction.

The reason the Christopher Walken monologue always troubled me was because Christopher Walken was playing himself, he was not playing another character. I could never figure out why Tarantino had Walken playing Walken.

Then I saw all the YouTube videos of everyone and his brother (or cousin) "doing Christopher Walken." Except one. You can't find a video of Christopher Walken doing an impression of Christopher Walken anywhere.

Until Tarantino came along. Genius, pure genius.  The real question: was Christopher Walken let in on the secret?  A cursory search of the net is silent on the subject.