Bad News For That Rubato Person

[dgs49]

At this very moment I am preparing for a contract negotiation with a company that is building a new seamless pipe mill in Louisiana. One of the biggest drivers of the decision to place it in LA was the availability of CHEAP NATURAL-GAS-BASED ENERGY. Another project in Texas is going there for exactly the same reason. Jobs, jobs, jobs. One of these companies is German, the other is Austrian. Another one I'm working on is also in Texas; the developer is based in Turkey.

I had dinner with several Germans last night and we ALL bemoaned the perverse power of the Greens in Germany, who prevent any action on hydraulic fracturing - which could be done there as easily as it is here in Pennsylvania and Texas. Not surprisingly, the Russians are rumored to be behind much of the anti-fracking movement in Europe, as they provide natural gas at exhorbitant prices (relative to here).

I say, let the Euro-weenies continue in their irrational fears of both Nuke and carbon-based energy. They get what they deserve, but they are ill-served by their various governments.

Yet another example of suffering through hardship while an easy solution stares one in the face.

[dgs49]

And BTW, you read it here first: In five years, natural gas conversions on cars will be more common than electric or hybrid. Eventually, you will be able to capture natural gas at your home (same lines that bring in gas for heating and cooking), pressurize it, and fill your tank before you drive off to work every day.

Maybe in my lifetime.

[oldr_n_wsr]

I wish I had natural gas lines to my house/neighborhood. There is a main line running along the Long Island Expressway just four houses south of me, but no branch into the neighborhood.
My oil burner is 30yo and I will be needing a new one in the not too distant future, but I would like to switch to gas instead.

[Joe Guy]

And BTW, you read it here first: In five years, natural gas conversions on cars will be more common than electric or hybrid. Eventually, you will be able to capture natural gas at your home (same lines that bring in gas for heating and cooking), pressurize it, and fill your tank before you drive off to work every day.

Maybe in my lifetime.

I've been hearing about that for years. Dr Bill Wattenberg has been pushing our goverment to use compressed natural gas in all federal vehicles, which he says will cause foregn oil producers to lower gas prices.

[oldr_n_wsr]

There are more than a few LNG busses running around here.

[RayThom]

... in beautiful, downtown, Camden NJ after leaving my best daughter's home in Medford. I was in and out of the gas station before I was carjacked, raped, or murdered. At $3.119 per gallon it was well worth the risk. BTW, it is around $3.479 per in the western burbs of Philly.

Of course, next week it will be $3.929 -- give or take.

[rubato]

That is why so many of the countries with higher stds of living than ours have higher fuel costs.

So now you're saying that the UK and Australia have better standards of living than the US?

Better than constantly slagging off places you've never visited I suppose but I wish you'd make your mind up!

You don't actually read the posts much, do you?

A lot of the G-20 have higher stds of living than the US in many ways. And I have said this multiple times. I've been to the UK, briefly. It's not as nice as France and the average hardworking Londoner is Italian (I've made this joke quite a few times now, is it coming back?) while the average hardworking Parisian is French although the waiter at Fogon was Spanish and the wait staff at Azebu appeared to be Japanese, the owner was a Japanese national.

I've never been to Aus. but it's not high on the list of places to go. NZ looks nice and my wife is interested in going there.

Gob slags off the US all the time and then brags about never having been here. It think its the whole insecurity thing. But then no one expects you to have a sense of proportion or fairness; and you don't.


yrs,
rubato

[Lord Jim]

NZ looks nice and my wife is interested in going there.

Well then that's where you should go rube...

It seems only fair...

Seeing as how she's the one paying for the trips...

[rubato]

Rube, why do you hate working class and poor people?

Because he is an elitist who believes he is superior and knows what is best for the "masses".

I don't have working class and poor people. I have been both. I may again, you never know.

I hate morons who invent motives for others and then think that doing so is a cogent argument.

The facts have made my case for me. Low fuel prices are not 'good' high fuel prices are not 'bad'.

Nixon regulated oil prices (for domestic oil) which reduced fuel costs in the US but was in the end entirely harmful to us.

yrs,
rubato

[dales]

I thought of vacationing in Sta. Cruz, but my innoculations aren't up to date.

[Gob]

I've been to the UK, briefly. It's not as nice as France and the average hardworking Londoner is Italian (I've made this joke quite a few times now, is it coming back?)

"Insanity is repeating the same mistakes and expecting different results."

[dales]

I hate morons ....The facts have made my case for me. Low fuel prices are not 'good' high fuel prices are not 'bad'.


yrs,
rubato

[rubato]

NZ looks nice and my wife is interested in going there.

Well then that's where you should go rube...

It seems only fair...

Seeing as how she's the one paying for the trips...

Well we do have this house in Santa Cruz with views of the Ocean.

You know Santa Cruz don't you? Home of UCSC? One of the best research universities in the world? It's a short walk from here.


_____________________________
http://news.ucsc.edu/2013/04/leiden-ranking.html

UCSC highly ranked in worldwide survey of research impact

April 22, 2013

By Tim Stephens
leiden-logo.jpg

UC Santa Cruz placed 11th on the annual Leiden Ranking, which measures the scientific performance of 500 major universities worldwide.

The 2013 Leiden Ranking from the Center for Science and Technology Studies of Leiden University is based on data from the Web of Science bibliographic database produced by Thomson Reuters. The annual ranking aims to provide accurate measurements of the scientific impact of universities and of universities' involvement in scientific collaboration. Scientific impact is determined by several indicators, including the average number of citations of the publications of a university and the proportion of the publications of a university that, compared with other publications in the same field and in the same year, belong in the top 10 percent of the most frequently cited papers.

UCSC has received high rankings in a number of different analyses that look at the same kinds of data using different methodologies. For example, UCSC ranked second for research influence in the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings 2012-13, published last year.

The 2013 Leiden Ranking is based on Web of Science indexed publications from the period 2008–2011. It includes the 500 universities worldwide with the largest publication output in the Web of Science database.

Other UC campuses on the list include UC Santa Barbara (ranked 2nd), UC Berkeley (7th), UCSF (9th), UC San Diego (15th), and UCLA (25th).
_______________________________


yrs,
rubato

[rubato]

And then there is that nice Sandra Faber


_____________
http://news.ucsc.edu/2013/02/faber-ceremony.html

Astronomer Sandra Faber honored in White House ceremony

February 01, 2013

By Tim Stephens
faber-obama-540.jpg
President Obama congratulates Sandra Faber after awarding her the National Medal of Science. (Photo by Ryan K Morris/National Science & Technology Medals Foundation)

President Barack Obama presented UC Santa Cruz astronomer Sandra Faber with the National Medal of Science in a White House ceremony on Friday, February 1.

Faber, a University Professor of astronomy and astrophysics at UCSC and the interim director of UC Observatories, was honored along with 11 other recipients of the National Medal of Science and 11 recipients of the National Medal of Technology and Innovation. These are the highest honors bestowed by the U.S. government upon scientists, engineers, and inventors. Chancellor George Blumenthal accompanied Faber to the ceremony.

Faber was recognized "for leadership in numerous path-breaking studies of extra-galactic astronomy and galaxy formation, and for oversight of the construction of important instruments, including the Keck telescopes."

In his remarks before presenting the awards, President Obama mentioned Faber's passion for astronomy and related an anecdote about a visit she made early in her career to one of the country's top observatories, where there was no dormitory for female astronomers and she ended up sleeping on a sofa in the caretaker's cottage.

Faber is known for her pioneering research on the formation and evolution of galaxies, distant galaxy clusters, and the large-scale structure of the universe. She is also a leading authority on telescopes and astronomical instrumentation and has been closely involved with both the Hubble Space Telescope and the W. M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii.

A member of the National Academy of Sciences, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and American Philosophical Society, Faber has received many awards and honors for her achievements. These include the Franklin Institute's 2009 Bower Award and Prize for Achievement in Science and two awards for lifetime scientific achievement, the Bruce Medal of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific and the Russell Prize of the American Astronomical Society.

The National Medal of Science was created by statute in 1959 and is administered for the White House by the National Science Foundation. Awarded annually, the medal recognizes individuals who have made outstanding contributions to science and engineering.

Gosh its just such a nice place especially for people in the sciences. I'd hate to move.

And besides. This is the place that I love and the people that I love and I would rather go through 5 more earthquakes here than live anywhere else. Who wouldn't?

yrs,
rubato

[rubato]

I thought of vacationing in Sta. Cruz, but my innoculations aren't up to date.

We do require rabies.

yrs,
rubato

[dales]

Looking from the homeless bums that infest Sta. Cruz, I'm not surprized.

[Lord Jim]

Nixon regulated oil prices (for domestic oil)

Once again...

WHO is suggesting regulating oil prices in order to keep them artificially low?

Oh, yeah, this guy:

http://www.brainygamer.com/photos/uncat ... crow_1.jpg

[rubato]

Looking from the homeless bums that infest Sta. Cruz, I'm not surprized.

You would know.

yrs,
rubato

[Lord Jim]

You know Santa Cruz don't you? Home of UCSC? One of the best research universities in the world? It's a short walk from here.

Do you carry your piece with you when you take that walk rube? Given the violent crime stats for Santa Cruz, that would probably be prudent....

Gosh its just such a nice place especially for people in the sciences. I'd hate to move.

So in addition to being a nice place for "people in the sciences" I take it it's also a nice place for complete ignoramuses...

It must have broad appeal...

I hate morons

There's that self-loathing again...

[dales]

Looking from the homeless bums that infest Sta. Cruz, I'm not surprized.

You would know.

yrs,
rubato

Straight up, kiddo.

That's why I avoid that dump like the plague and visit nearby Capitola instead.