Uncategorized – Page 2 – Outrun Change

Sharing of the OPEC production cuts: 4.6% across the board except for Iran

Image courtesy of DollarPhotoClub before they merged into Adobe Stock.

The Million Dollar Way blog has the details I was wondering about earlier: how the production cut is going to be shared amongst the OPEC members.

A post at MDW, Notes From All Over, Mostly Politics, includes a table from @JKempEnergy. The table gave a reference and led me to the OPEC press release giving the breakout.

Here are the details from the press release. The “reference” is the baseline agreed upon, which is referred to as the “Reference Production Level” in the press release. The change by country is listed. I calculated the percentage change for each country. Here are the changes:

Continue reading “Sharing of the OPEC production cuts: 4.6% across the board except for Iran”

To all those serving in the American military or who have served

I was on active duty in the U.S. Air Force a mere four years. I never got within 3,000 miles of hostile action against American forces. To top it off, my small contribution was decades ago.

As a result, I am squeamishly uncomfortable accepting the appreciation when someone tells me “Thanks for your service.”

It took me a few years to get to a place where I could accept those comments.

I now graciously and proudly accept those expressions of appreciation from my fellow Americans, not because of what I did so long ago, but on behalf of all those soldiers, sailors, marines, and airmen who do not have someone looking them in the eye, shaking their hand, and saying “thanks.”

So for all those troops pulling alerts, standing watch, scheduling logistics, or taking fire, please know that vast numbers of Americans are grateful for your service.

I pass on to you their thanks.

You are there, not here, so many people have thanked me instead. It is you they are really thanking.

While today we remember with gratitude those who did not return, I hope those who are serving today hear the appreciation.

Do you really want to give up your freedom and become a serf?

What could possibly go wrong with giving a leader the power to fix all our problems? There is a great chance said leader will use that power to force people to fix things. You could wind up being told in microscopic detail every single thing you can do.

That would merely cost you your freedom and make you a serf.

In musical terms, that might be called, oh, perhaps something like Serfdom USA:

[youtube=https://youtu.be/JoDcM0bH8AY]

Continue reading “Do you really want to give up your freedom and become a serf?”

Update on wind and solar power (#35)

Photo taken at altitude while flying over North Dakota. Look closely to see strings of wind turbines, visible at 20,000 feet. Photo by James Ulvog. — Photo taken at altitude while flying over North Dakota. Look closely to see strings of wind turbines scarring the land, visible at 20,000 feet. Photo by James Ulvog.

Between some vacation, talking about things I learned in North Dakota, and following the trial of now-convicted human trafficker Keith Graves, I’ve not been talking about the devastation caused by wind and solar power for quite a while. Not to worry, there is a long backlog of articles on the destructive power of wing toasters and slice-and-dicers on my list of things to discuss.

Here are a few articles on dilute and intermittent wind power that caught my eye. Update on solar to follow in a few days.

7/31 – Million Dollar Way – Wind Energy Unable to Meet California’s EV Demands – Continue reading “Update on wind and solar power (#35)”

How much wealth was in the Roman treasury in 49 B.C.? How about annual tax revenue under Augustus?

(Cross-posted from a post on 8/22/14 from my other blog, Attestation Update. I’m accumulating all my posts on transportation time and prices in the past here on this blog. Someday plan to link them together to tell a larger story.)

Hadn’t thought about that question too much, but when Jacob Soll mentioned it in his book, The Reckoning: Financial Accountability and the Rise and Fall of Nations, it got me thinking.

He gives the following info:

In his Natural History, Pliny states that in 49 BCE , the year Caesar crossed the Rubicon, the Roman treasury contained 17,410 pounds of gold, 22,070 pounds of silver, and in coin, 6,135,400 sesterces.

Soll, Jacob (2014-04-29). The Reckoning: Financial Accountability and the Rise and Fall of Nations (Kindle Locations 276-277). Basic Books. Kindle Edition.

I don’t think in terms of pounds of gold or silver and I don’t know what a sesterce is or what it is worth. But I do know how to search the ‘net.

I share this on my Nonprofit Update blog and cross-post it here at Attestation Update because I enjoyed it and think it might be some fun trivia for accountants and people working in the faith-based community.

By the way, Prof Soll’s book is superb. Just got started reading it and think I will find lots of little tidbits to share. More on that idea in my next post.

How much is that worth?

Continue reading “How much wealth was in the Roman treasury in 49 B.C.? How about annual tax revenue under Augustus?”

Looks like Keith Graves’ trial is a go for this Monday, 10/19

Update 10/19: Federal PACER system shows a filing on 10/16 which gives notice for a pretrial conference at 1 p.m. before Judge Hovland.

Schedule for all four judges is visible here.

Mr. Graves has a pretrial conference at 1 p.m. on 10/19 with the trial scheduled to start at 1:30. The trial is scheduled for all day from 10/20 through Friday 10/23. The trial is one of several cases scheduled each day from 10/26 through 10/30. I’m not sure what it means to have a trial and several hearings all scheduled at the same time.

Looks like trial is moving forward this week.

As of this morning, I can find zero media coverage of the trial via an internet search.

Post as of 10/16: Just looked at the PACER system. Filings through today (10/16) look to me like the trial will start as scheduled this upcoming Monday.

Jury instructions were filed and the US Attorney objected saying they want certain words included for two counts. They want “intent” added.

Witness list was filed by the government.

Continue reading “Looks like Keith Graves’ trial is a go for this Monday, 10/19”

Updates on wide open frontiers – 9/15

Falcon 9 launch. Photo, in public domain, courtesy of SpaceX.

Several fun updates on the wide open frontiers of technology and private space flight.

First, I’m an accountant that talks to bookkeepers, accountants, and church leaders all day when I’m not sitting at a computer. So it is really cool to look at how stuff is made. Check out the incredible technological capacity and refined skill needed just to make scuba tanks.

Making a Worthington X-Series Steel Scuba Cylinder

[youtube=https://youtu.be/Z8R-I5I1Dgo?t=193]

Then ponder the incredible knowledge that had to be accumulated to make all that happen. Wow.

Hat tip to Beyond the Black. (Link to video: youtu.be/Z8R-I5I1Dgo?t=193)

Drones

Continue reading “Updates on wide open frontiers – 9/15”

News from around the Bakken – 7/27

Mancamp near Ray, ND. Photo by James Ulvog

Williston city and Williams County are working to cut back mancamp housing, which will have the expected unintended consequence of putting upward pressure on housing prices. The new airport in Williston is moving forward. Biggest news is indication that newest wells aren’t seeing production deplete as rapidly as in the past. Continue reading “News from around the Bakken – 7/27”

Peak Oil is still wrong. Peak Oilists are the new Flat Earthers – #39

Apparently it is necessary to point out that Peak Oil doctrine is still wrong.

Ronald Bailey explains Hubbert’s Peak Refuted: Peak Oil Theory Still Wrong. He points out an author who has written multiple books defending Peak Oil.

I just checked Amazon and can find four books from the mentioned author, written in 2001, 2005, 2008, and 2010. All are selling well. Not great, but okay. I’m astounded that so many people still believe that foolishness.

Article gives some info I’ve not seen before: Continue reading “Peak Oil is still wrong. Peak Oilists are the new Flat Earthers – #39”

More good stuff on Bakken – 6/8

Great summary of news in the last week, “big trigger” oil tax reduction won’t get pulled, and lots of new housing in Williston available in ’15.

If you want a brief, superb summary of news last week on energy, Bakken, North Dakota, and cooking temperature numbers, you gotta’ check out:

6/6 – Million Dollar Way – Weekend update, Part I – June 6, 2015 – Mr. Oksol calls OPEC ‘dead.’ What we refer to as OPEC is now essentially a venue for Saudi Arabia. Continue reading “More good stuff on Bakken – 6/8”

Ideas to make your writing more understandable. Give it a shot.

The whole purpose of writing things is for other people to understand your ideas. Why then is so much writing bad?

Steven Pinker suggests in The Source of Bad Writing that the issue is

The ‘curse of knowledge’ leads writers to assume their readers know everything they know

Continue reading “Ideas to make your writing more understandable. Give it a shot.”

Formula 1 pit stops – 67 seconds in 1950 – 4 seconds in 2013

For your chuckle of the day, check out this video of a leisurely pit stop in 1950.

The driver barely stops in 2013. Watch carefully or you will miss the refueling and tire changes.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=RRy_73ivcms]

(hat tip: carpe diem)

Excerpt from The Boom, new book on fracking

Russell Gold, a reporter with the Wall Street Journal has a new book out, The Boom, which discusses the amazing changes in the energy world due to hydraulic fracturing.

The WSJ has a great excerpt from his book in the 4/8 paper edition. You can find the online edition at A Look Inside America’s Fracking Boom.

You can find the book at Amazon here.

The excerpt is superb, by the way.

Book was released today. I already have my copy on my e-reader. Also have a lot of other books on my to-read list, so may be a while before I have any comment on it.

North Dakota oil production hits another record, approaching 1 million barrels per day

Oil production in the state hit 973,280 barrels a day, up from revised 945K bopd in October.

With increases in production typical over the last six months, the million point could be passed in December or January. However, the rough winter will probably slow the production amount for a few months. More likely it will be February or March before passing 1M bopd.

Value of the production

Production for the month was 29,198,385 barrels. The Director’s Cut says sweet crude prices were $71.42 for the month. That means the value of oil produced was about $2.085 billion. With a higher price of $85.16 in October, the value of oil extracted was $2.5 billion. The higher price and extra day of production made October higher.

Two billion a month. Very cool.

Graphs

Here’s a few of my graphs:

Average production by month for the whole state and for just the Bakken and Three Forks wells. Continue reading “North Dakota oil production hits another record, approaching 1 million barrels per day”

It is amazingly easy to create video content

(Cross-posted from my other blog, Nonprofit Update.)

Tech tools available today make it easy for a novice to create usable videos. No one will confuse what you create with what comes out of Hollywood or Madison Avenue, but it won’t cost thousands of dollars per minute of content either.

To show how easy it is, I’ve accumulated several of my videos and briefly discussed them on my other blog, Outrun Change:

Here is my most popular video, with over 3,600 views:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qeibzgSemY]

Making videos is incredibly easy. I hope my simple efforts will encourage you to try it yourself.

Keep in mind I’m working with a point-and-shoot camera, have zero editing experience, and possess a level of creatively that is only slightly higher than the average accountant.

Equipment that is not cheapest on the market, some minimal experience, and measurable levels of creativity combined with the astounding tools available today would result in great video for your organization.

Jump in, the water’s fine!