The Obama Administration: The Sierra Club's Worst Nightmare -- Even The Koch Brothers Were Never So Audacious -- December 14, 2016

Callon Petroleum to enter the Permian. From The Oil & Gas Journal, data points:

• a Natchez, MS, company
• 16,098 net acres
• $615 million in cash
• southern Delaware Basin; Wolfcamp and Bone Spring
• seller: Austin-based American Resource Development
• return: 71% oil
• estimated inventory of 206 net horizontal locations, targeting the Wolfcamp A and B zones; average length of 7,500 feet
• back of the envelope: $615 million / 16,098 acres = $38,000 (which is in the ballpark for other Permian deals)

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Killing Bald Eagles

From PennEnergy:

Final wind-energy rule permits thousands of eagle deaths.

The Obama administration has finalized a rule to let wind-energy companies operate high-speed turbines for up to 30 years — even if that means killing or injuring thousands of federally protected bald and golden eagles.

Under a rule announced Wednesday, wind companies and other power providers face no penalty if they kill or injure up to 4,200 bald eagles.

That's nearly four times the current limit. The standards are tougher for the more rare golden eagle. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Dan Ashe says the new rule will conserve eagles while also spurring development of a pollution-free energy source intended to ease global warming, a cornerstone of the Obama energy plan.

The new rule will conserve eagles. And environmentalists are worried about Trump's appointee for the EPA, Department of Energy, Attorney General, and chief strategist. Get real.

This tells me all I need to know about the Sierra Club which obviously consulted with the Obama administration on this.

4,200 bald eagles/wind farm. Pretty sad.

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The Technology Page

From The Los Angeles Times:

Wynn Las Vegas resort announced Wednesday that it’s putting an Amazon Echo (Alexa) in every room. “The ability to talk to your room is effortlessly convenient,” Chief Executive Steve Wynn said in a statement.

You just know that folks are going to use Echo to order room service. It will pay for itself in a year.

I don't yet have an Amazon Echo, but it's incredibly intriguing.

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They're Lovin' It

He's gonna out-Reagan Reagan. 

Bill Gates and Jim Brown.

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The Literature Page

I don't subscribe to many periodicals any more. I canceled two during the most recent presidential campaign: The Smithsonian and The New Yorker. The first had turned into an advertising monstrosity; the latter had turned into a mouthpiece for Hillary.

I may subscribe to others, but the only three I know I still get: The Wall Street Journal, The New York Review of Books, and, London Review of Books.

London Review of Books presents an enigma for me. Generally speaking, there is not one article in the "magazine" that catches my attention when it arrives. But I keep it on the table, and when I'm ready, I begin reading any article at random, and really, really try to concentrate. And then, I find it a most incredible, a most interesting periodical.

Today, again, the same experience. London Review of Books arrived and it seemed worse than ever. Nothing caught my attention. But as usual, I let it smolder on my dining table.

Tonight while listening to "The Best of Skeeter Davis" through vintage Beats by Dr Dre headphones I started reading an essay on "Records of the Spanish Civil War/Into the Net" by Neal Ascherson. Ascherson writes his essay citing/reviewing four books on the Spanish War, including Spain In Our Hearts: Americans in the Spanish Civil War, April, 2016, by Adam Hochschild.

How coincidental. Some months ago I received an advance copy of Hochschild's book. To say the least, the Spanish Civil War was never one I could understand. But that all changed with Hochschild's book. I finally "understood" it. If  you have any interest in the Spanish Civil War, you might find Hochschild's book interesting. For me, it's a top shelf book and one that won't get put in storage.

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The Music Page

Many, many years ago I was lucky enough to have come across a VHS Country Rhythm and Blues. It is one of my favorites and I still treasure it. For whatever reason I was reminded of it again tonight. I did not realize "Something Else" was an Eddie Cochran song (1959). Amazing.

Something Else, Tanya Tucker and Little Richard

The clip from Country Rhythm and Blues is much, much better but the video on YouTube is of poor quality and that's why I posted the the CMA Awards version above. But, if you haven't seen it before, you might enjoy the CRB version.