Something is Wrong....and its not good.

Something is wrong, and its not good. A plethora of little critters that used to be here are no longer around. I find that kind of bothersome.

When I was a kid the summer nights were a wonderland of fireflies. We called them "lightening bugs." It was great fun to catch these little nocturnal beetles and fill a fruit jar with them making enough light to walk on a trail in the darkness. We used to have an abundance of little lizards with horn like projections on the head we called "horny toads." We would catch them, make a small harness of string and lead them around, or carry them in our pockets to scare the girls. The evenings used to be filled with the melodic sounds of the whippoorwill. There was an abundance of a variety small harmless garden snakes. Hop toads were everywhere, especially at night time catching all kinds of insects. There used to be an abundance of quail. I spent many pleasurable hours hunting quail with my father-in-law. He had a championship bird dog and was a part time bird dog trainer.

What is bothersome is: I haven't seen a firefly in several years. The last one I remember seeing was flitting around in the pasture west of our house one evening. I had the pleasure of showing it to my granddaughter when she was about four years old. I haven't seen a "horny toad" in years. I heard a whippoorwill a few times after we moved here sixteen years ago. Haven't heard one here since. I did hear one about ten years ago when visiting my cousin in the Ozarks in Arkansas. The only snakes I see these days are a few copperheads and a few rat snakes, but I'm seeing fewer and fewer copperheads. I still see an occasional hop toad, but they are few and far in between. I haven't seen a quail since my neighbor bought a clutch of eggs, hatched out about two dozen quail, and when mature he turned them loose hoping to get them restarted in our area. We never saw them again.

So, what is happening to all these little critters? Does their disappearance forebode of something more catastrophic in the future? Are they the canary in the mine? Is it the fire ant menace that is decimating all the little critters? Has the use of insecticides destroyed the insects they feed on? More questions than answers.

I wonder, and its bothersome.

Donald Trump - President?

Donald Trump burst onto the political scene like a Texas tornado. He is everywhere on television. But, is he for real or just a dust whirlwind? He is brash, and speaks directly caring not who may be offended. He espouses cures for the problems with China, Iraq, and the oil supply situation, as well as the many domestic problems. He says things most conservatives like to hear. But, is he a real conservative or just another RINO? Is he just in it for Trump and promoting his reality television program? Is he just on an ego trip? He brags about his wealth, and that he can finance his own run for the presidency. I have news for "The Donald". Most Americans do not like the idea of a rich guy buying his way into the presidency. Think Ross Perot, Steve Forbes, and Mitt Romney. Also, most American like to have "skin in the game." We like for a potential candidate to ask for our support and our vote. When we make that commitment to contribute money albeit minimal we then have "skin in the game" and will be much more inclined to vote for that candidate. I'm not sure Trump understands that. The primaries are still months away and many things can change. The sifting process will cause considerable fallout as the run for the brass ring shapes up. I'm not sure I would vote for Trump in the primaries, but I'll certainly vote for him if its between him and Obama in the finals.

I'm Tired

What we witnessed the past week in Washington was nothing more than political theater, political posturing, and political one-up-manship. I'm tired of elected officials (politicians) that talk one way and act another way. I'm tired of politicians that talk out of both sides of their mouth. I'm tired of politicians whose tongues are tied in the middle and flap on both ends. I'm tired of politicians that tell their constituents to sit down and shut up as recently witnessed on national television. I'm tired of politicians that play the blame game. I don't care who they are, Democrat, Republican, liberal, conservative, I want them to get off their arrogant high horse (butts) and get down to the serious business of rescuing this nation from the impending financial train wreck we all see coming down the tracks.

Williston Basin Oil Reserves

An item circulates on the Internet from time to time about the recent find of immense oil reserves the United States has in the Williston Basin in North Dakota and parts of Montana and Canada. For the most part it is true, but:

It is not a recent phenomenon. Its been known a long time. When I worked at ARCO 25 years ago I managed a group of 50 to 60 computer analysts and programmers that developed programs for the reservoir engineers, geologists, and geophysicists. One of our major projects was the development of programs for the geophysicists to compile, reduce, and display 3-D seismic data of the sub-structure as three-dimensional graphic displays on the computer screen with the ability to rotate the displays, color saturate certain formation characteristics, etc. to aid in their interpretations. Also, one of our major projects was the 3-D substructure mapping of the Williston Basin. Yes, the oil is there in great abundance, but can you get it out? The Bakken is a dense shale. That's like having oil in a rock versus having it in a sponge like in the Middle East. You can squeeze and wring oil out of the sponge, but squeeze and wring as hard as you may on the rock you'll get very little oil out of it. In fact you'll wear blisters on your hands before you can extract so much as a drop or two. Newer technologies such as directional and horizontal drilling, tertiary recovery methods, fracturing, acidizing, and $100+ a barrel oil make the Bakken development more attractive. And then there are the ever present pesky, nosy, snoopy, demanding environmentalists and their ever willing accomplices, the liberals, with their blissful disdain for corporations, especially oil companies, doing anything that makes a profit, and then only so they can tax the hell out of them. So, why bother? Its cheaper and easier to pay the dictators of the Middle East big bucks ($$$$$$$) for the oil essential to help stoke the economic engine of our country, so they can spend big bucks ($$$$$) to force Islam and Sharia law on us.

Isn't it great!!!!