The Sound Of The Bakken -- With Apologies to SACD's "Hound Of The Baskervilles"; Sierra Club (Silence Is Golden) Not Concerned About 38 Golden Eagles Killed By Slicers And Dicers-- January 9, 2015

Perhaps the biggest story of the year (2014) with regard to the Bakken economy was the fact that North Dakota did not share in the annual Silver Shovel Award.

I was reminded of that while watching a 1972 episode of Columbo last night, "The Most Crucial Game" in which the "smoking gun" was what was NOT heard on the tape.

Speaking of "things" not being heard: the Sierra Club has had no comment on the 38 golden eagles killed by slicers and dicers and PacificCorp admitting guilt in slaughtering those birds and 336 other protected birds. Park Record is reporting:

Wind farm operator PacifiCorp Energy will pay $2.5 million in fines after pleading guilty Friday to charges related to the deaths of protected birds in Wyoming.

The subsidiary of Portland, Oregon-based PacifiCorp pleaded guilty in federal court in Wyoming to two counts of violating the federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act under a plea deal with prosecutors.

The U.S. Justice Department said the charges stemmed from the discovery of more than 370 dead birds at the company's Seven Mile Hill and Glenrock/Rolling Hills wind projects in Carbon and Converse counties from 2009 until now.

Authorities counted 38 dead golden eagles and 336 other dead protected birds, including hawks, blackbirds, larks, wrens and sparrows. It's the second prosecution of a wind energy company for harming or killing protected birds. Duke Energy pleaded guilty last year to killing eagles and other birds at two Wyoming wind farms.

There were so many killed birds, the scavengers could not even keep up in disposing of the evidence. And folks wonder why coyotes look so well fed these days. LOL.

PacifiCorp is "wholly-owned" by Berkshire Hathaway (Warren Buffett). 

Yes, silence is "golden" (pun intended, I guess):

Silence Is Golden, The Tremeloes

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Meanwhile, The Bismarck Tribune is reporting another pretty good year for the Bank of North Dakota:

The Bank of North Dakota reported its 11th consecutive year of record net income Friday upon release of its fourth-quarter report.

The bank’s net income was approximately $111.2 million in 2014. This was $11.7 million higher than originally budgeted for the year and the first time the bank exceeded $100 million in net income.

In addition:

The quarterly report stated the bank had a balance sheet of $7.22 billion at the end of 2014. The balance sheet was approximately $400 million higher than a year ago.

The net income breaks last year’s record of $94.2 million.

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Keystone XL Back in Jack's Lap

This will be fun to watch. A reminder of where this story stands is reported by Politico.

With regard to the linked story: it's a no-brainer. John Kerry won't approve it. He will toss the ball into Obama's court.

John Kerry is already known as THE flip-flopper and this would cement his legacy as a flip-flopper if he changed his mind on the Keystone XL.

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A Note To The Granddaughters

I read the book back in the late 1970's. I saw the movie last night. The Imitation Game was a pretty good movie; I'm not sure how much I can recommend it to others; it's not one I would need to watch again. The book I read back in the 1970's was The Ultra Secret, F. W. Winterbotham, c. 1975; I was surprised to see the movie state that "Enigma" was a (UK) state secret for 50 years. Perhaps much of Enigma/Ultra was, but certainly by the 70's the story was well known if not well before that. Be that as it may, the story needed to be told in a movie.

I haven't read the book on which this movie was based so I don't know to what extent the movie took artistic license in presenting Alan Turing's story. I put another Turing biography in my Amazon cart before Christmas but have not yet ordered it; I have too much to read at the moment. This one can wait, but now that I've seen the movie, I am eager to see the "real" story.

I saw The Imitation Game because my wife "just loves" Benedict Cumberbatch, her favorite actor at the moment. The movie reminded me too much of Ron Howard's A Beautiful Mind; way too much -- the love interest, the bar scenes, the emotional moments for the lead character in both movies. Spoiler alert. I think the moment Keira Knightley slaps Benedict suggested to me this was better for HBO than for the big screen. It's funny how a little thing like that can affect an entire movie.

The sound track? MIA.

The high point of viewing the movie last night with my wife: when I whispered to her "the secret" of Enigma less than a minute before that secret was broken on-screen. Spoiler alert. Following the bar scene, I whispered to my wife, "the weather reports." And, then, less than 60 seconds later, Benedict has solved the problem. My wife seemed impressed.

But Benedict Cumberbatch is still her heart throb. LOL.