The Big Story Will Have To Wait -- December 31, 2014

Okay, that's it, folks, at least for a little while. I'm going to jump on my bike and ride up the hill, leaving Starbucks here to Jacaronda, another deli/coffee shop to meet the wifely unit and her friend to say good-bye to long-time friends.

It's a bit cool outside but nothing like the rest of the country, especially the Bakken, is facing.

We don't turn on the heat in May's house at night. When I got up this morning, the temperature in the house was 49 degrees. Comfortable, but a bit on the cool side. I turned the heat on; the thermostat is set for 65. So, the thermostat is "set it and forget it" for years, set at 65. Ever since reports of global warming, it seems the heat comes on more than usual. Whatever.

(In the summer, the house has no air conditioning; no need.)

The "big story" today with regard to energy (an opinion piece, no news, so you aren't missing anything) will have to wait. But it has to do with the Platts article I referenced earlier. Oh, a quick check over at Drudge....80%  of the US is below 32 degrees (for Algove, "below 32 degrees" means "below freezing"). Oooohhh, and that map looks cold. (A dynamic link, I assume.)

The stories not getting much press:

• huge amounts of military gear being sent to police departments in the Ferguson area
• Ebola monitoring in the US
• the war for northern Iraq, Syria -- the Mideast map is being re-drawn
• the president's golf schedule

Remember: it's the "militarized" police departments that drive otherwise peace-abiding people to loot high-end electronics stores.

The Mideast map is being redrawn -- just as the map of Eurasia had be be redrawn after the fall of the USSR -- and it's not being reported on the nightly news. As far as I know. Where is T.E. Lawrence when we need him to help draw maps? Memo to self: send a note to Al Franken.

... and then the market..... oil approaching $50. Market down slightly.