I just read an article in the Heritage Foundation news letter that lays out a different take on what is poverty and who is really defined as poor.
A few days ago I posted a note about the poor in Wisconsin defined by "experts" and I found it astounding to say the least and mostly unbelievable - remember the post - the Wisconsin agency said that one in eleven families in southwestern Wisconsin could be defined as poor - ? What? Just think about that for a moment - this is just in the southwestern part of the state alone and Wisconsin is the center of liberal thinking. Champions of the poor and the down trodden? Yikes!
The media in this country wants everyone to believe that poverty is rampant and that the rich get richer, i.e. tax breaks for the rich, and the poor get nothing - read this as instigation class warfare, the liberal left wants to drive a wedge between the 'have and the have nots'.
A researcher, Robert Rector, for Heritage, did some very interesting research with the Census Bureau figures, his outcomes don't match the general knowledge or what the Bureau report wants us to believe what poverty is and who is poor. The socialist in our government agencies want us to believe all has run-a-muck in this country. It's time to dump the tax cuts, raise taxes on everyone so we can level the playing field. Where have I heard that one?
The reality of poverty is something much different then the report released by the Census Bureau. According to the Heritage report, Rector says No one will disagree that "there are real material poor in this country", but, Rector says " it is limited in scope and seventy".
Rector observations, " most of America's poor live in material conditions that would be judged as comfortable or well-off just a few generations ago." Check these findings out to see if they match anyone that you know. I bet not. Someone could be judged poor if they don't own two cars or don't go on vacation every year. Maybe it's you! Oh, come on - - - just maybe. Bill Gates would have a different definition of who is poor than you or me.
43% of all poor households actually own their own homes
80% have air conditioning compared to 36% of the entire US population in 1970
97% have a color TV
78% have a VCR or DVD player
89% own microwaves
What I want to know is, who do you know that fits the definition of being poor? Do you know someone that knows someone that's poor? I bet not - yeah I know, just look at the inner city of Milwaukee or some other large city but by whose standards and compared to what or whom.
Here again - listen carefully to what people say about anything, especially if they are very passionate - case in point the 'church of global warming'. Need I say more.
Chin up, ears open, brain in gear and keep the faith, the battle is joined!
Monday, February 25, 2008
Sunday, February 24, 2008
The Family Except Dad
It's always a problem to get the family and kids to hold still for pictures - but here we have mother, daughter and the two kids - what a delight they continue to be -
Something for Democrats and the Media
"Nothing ruins the truth like stretching it."
Proverbs 19 : 9 "A false witness will not go unpunished, and he who pours out lies will perish"
What a good lesson for the "drive-by media" - but then they are just the public voice of the Democratic Party including the Democrat National Committee.
Proverbs 19 : 9 "A false witness will not go unpunished, and he who pours out lies will perish"
What a good lesson for the "drive-by media" - but then they are just the public voice of the Democratic Party including the Democrat National Committee.
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Liberals Want Money : National Security be Damned
I know this is a little after the fact but when I read this I felt saddened and angered at the same time - these senators call themselves Americans but in reality they are not and never have been - they are liberal Democrats which puts them in a separate class from normal people. People that take responsibility for their actions. People that have moral fiber and are appalled at exposing innocent people to death and destruction. LIBERALS DO NOT CARE!
The liberal Democrat cares nothing for national security or anything else except get and keeping power. If thousands have to die because of it, too bad. Nancy Pelosi knew what her job was when she decided to not bring this bill to the floor, it would die. That it sailed through the House with a majority matter not at all - rather than lose the support of the trail lawyers she decided that America could stand another attack and survive. She left for a weeks vacation. Conscience clear.
After all, wants more important, American lives or money and power - da
Again, listen to what the presidential candidates have say and then decide, but really listen, don't just wish them to say what you want them to say. Big difference.
Keep the faith, the battle is joined!
*Why Torts Trumped Terrorism*
By Robert D. Novak Monday, February 18, 2008
A closed-door caucus of House Democrats last Wednesday took a risky political course. By 4 to 1, they instructed Speaker Nancy Pelosi to call President Bush's bluff on extending the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) to continue eavesdropping on suspected foreign terrorists. Rather than passing the bill with a minority of the House's Democratic majority, Pelosi obeyed her caucus and left town for a week-long recess without renewing the government's eroding intelligence capability.
Pelosi could have exercised leadership prerogatives and called up the FISA bill to pass with unanimous Republican support. Instead, she refused to bring to the floor a bill approved overwhelmingly by the Senate.
House Democratic opposition included left-wing members typified by Rep. Dennis Kucinich, but they were only a small faction of those opposed.
The true reason for blocking the bill was Senate-passed retroactive immunity to protect from lawsuits private telecommunications firms asked to eavesdrop by the government. The nation's torts bar, vigorously pursuing such suits, has spent months lobbying hard against immunity.
The recess by House Democrats amounts to a judgment that losing the generous support of trial lawyers, the Democratic Party 's most important financial base, would be more dangerous than losing the anti-terrorist issue to Republicans. Dozens of lawsuits have been filed against the phone companies for giving individuals' personal information to intelligence agencies without a warrant.
Mike McConnell, the nonpartisan director of national intelligence, says delay in congressional action deters cooperation in detecting terrorism. Big money is involved. Amanda Carpenter, a Townhall.com columnist, has prepared a spreadsheet showing that 66 trial lawyers representing plaintiffs in the telecommunications suits have contributed $1.5 million to Democratic senators and causes. Of the 29 Democratic senators who voted against the FISA bill last Tuesday, 24 took money from the trial lawyers (as did two absent senators, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama)
Eric A. Isaacson of San Diego one of the telecommunications plaintiffs' lawyers, contributed to the recent unsuccessful presidential campaign of Sen. Chris Dodd who led the Senate fight against the bill containing immunity. The bill passed the Senate 68 to 29, with 19 Democrats voting aye. They included intelligence committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller and three senators who defeated Republican incumbents in the 2006 Democratic takeover of Congress: Claire McCaskill of Missouri, Jim Webb of Virginia and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island.
That opened the door for Pelosi to pass the bill with minority Democratic support. A Jan. 28 letter to the speaker signed by 21 House Blue Dogs (moderate Democrats) urged passage of Rockefeller's bill containing immunity. Democrats supporting it could exceed 40 in a House vote, easily enough for passage. Instead, the Democratic leadership Wednesday brought up another bill simply extending FISA authority, this time for 21 days. Republicans refused to go along because it did not provide phone companies with the necessary immunity. It still could have passed with support from Democrats alone, and the leadership surely thought that would happen when it was brought to the floor Wednesday. But it failed, 229 to 191, with 34 Democrats voting no despite pleas for support from their leaders.
The opponents included three congressmen who signed the letter to Pelosi advocating immunity from lawsuits, but most were Kucinich Democrats who intuitively oppose any anti-terrorist proposal. Clearly, opposition to the Rockefeller bill shown in the subsequent House Democratic caucus derived less from Kucinich's phobia about tough anti-terror countermeasures than obeisance to generous trial lawyers. Pelosi had to decide whether to pass the bill with a minority of her party, which can be dangerous for any leader of a House majority.
In October 1998, Republican Speaker Newt Gingrich passed the Clinton administration's budget with 30 percent Republican support, less than a month before GOP losses in midterm elections forced his resignation from Congress.
Nothing will be done until the House formally returns Feb. 25, and the adjournment resolution was constructed so that Bush cannot summon Congress back into session. Last Friday morning, debating two backbench Republicans on a nearly deserted House floor, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said there was no danger in letting the FISA legislation lapse temporarily. Democrats hope that will be the reaction of voters, as Republicans attack what happened last week.
The liberal Democrat cares nothing for national security or anything else except get and keeping power. If thousands have to die because of it, too bad. Nancy Pelosi knew what her job was when she decided to not bring this bill to the floor, it would die. That it sailed through the House with a majority matter not at all - rather than lose the support of the trail lawyers she decided that America could stand another attack and survive. She left for a weeks vacation. Conscience clear.
After all, wants more important, American lives or money and power - da
Again, listen to what the presidential candidates have say and then decide, but really listen, don't just wish them to say what you want them to say. Big difference.
Keep the faith, the battle is joined!
*Why Torts Trumped Terrorism*
By Robert D. Novak Monday, February 18, 2008
A closed-door caucus of House Democrats last Wednesday took a risky political course. By 4 to 1, they instructed Speaker Nancy Pelosi to call President Bush's bluff on extending the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) to continue eavesdropping on suspected foreign terrorists. Rather than passing the bill with a minority of the House's Democratic majority, Pelosi obeyed her caucus and left town for a week-long recess without renewing the government's eroding intelligence capability.
Pelosi could have exercised leadership prerogatives and called up the FISA bill to pass with unanimous Republican support. Instead, she refused to bring to the floor a bill approved overwhelmingly by the Senate.
House Democratic opposition included left-wing members typified by Rep. Dennis Kucinich, but they were only a small faction of those opposed.
The true reason for blocking the bill was Senate-passed retroactive immunity to protect from lawsuits private telecommunications firms asked to eavesdrop by the government. The nation's torts bar, vigorously pursuing such suits, has spent months lobbying hard against immunity.
The recess by House Democrats amounts to a judgment that losing the generous support of trial lawyers, the Democratic Party 's most important financial base, would be more dangerous than losing the anti-terrorist issue to Republicans. Dozens of lawsuits have been filed against the phone companies for giving individuals' personal information to intelligence agencies without a warrant.
Mike McConnell, the nonpartisan director of national intelligence, says delay in congressional action deters cooperation in detecting terrorism. Big money is involved. Amanda Carpenter, a Townhall.com columnist, has prepared a spreadsheet showing that 66 trial lawyers representing plaintiffs in the telecommunications suits have contributed $1.5 million to Democratic senators and causes. Of the 29 Democratic senators who voted against the FISA bill last Tuesday, 24 took money from the trial lawyers (as did two absent senators, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama)
Eric A. Isaacson of San Diego one of the telecommunications plaintiffs' lawyers, contributed to the recent unsuccessful presidential campaign of Sen. Chris Dodd who led the Senate fight against the bill containing immunity. The bill passed the Senate 68 to 29, with 19 Democrats voting aye. They included intelligence committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller and three senators who defeated Republican incumbents in the 2006 Democratic takeover of Congress: Claire McCaskill of Missouri, Jim Webb of Virginia and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island.
That opened the door for Pelosi to pass the bill with minority Democratic support. A Jan. 28 letter to the speaker signed by 21 House Blue Dogs (moderate Democrats) urged passage of Rockefeller's bill containing immunity. Democrats supporting it could exceed 40 in a House vote, easily enough for passage. Instead, the Democratic leadership Wednesday brought up another bill simply extending FISA authority, this time for 21 days. Republicans refused to go along because it did not provide phone companies with the necessary immunity. It still could have passed with support from Democrats alone, and the leadership surely thought that would happen when it was brought to the floor Wednesday. But it failed, 229 to 191, with 34 Democrats voting no despite pleas for support from their leaders.
The opponents included three congressmen who signed the letter to Pelosi advocating immunity from lawsuits, but most were Kucinich Democrats who intuitively oppose any anti-terrorist proposal. Clearly, opposition to the Rockefeller bill shown in the subsequent House Democratic caucus derived less from Kucinich's phobia about tough anti-terror countermeasures than obeisance to generous trial lawyers. Pelosi had to decide whether to pass the bill with a minority of her party, which can be dangerous for any leader of a House majority.
In October 1998, Republican Speaker Newt Gingrich passed the Clinton administration's budget with 30 percent Republican support, less than a month before GOP losses in midterm elections forced his resignation from Congress.
Nothing will be done until the House formally returns Feb. 25, and the adjournment resolution was constructed so that Bush cannot summon Congress back into session. Last Friday morning, debating two backbench Republicans on a nearly deserted House floor, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said there was no danger in letting the FISA legislation lapse temporarily. Democrats hope that will be the reaction of voters, as Republicans attack what happened last week.
Friday, February 22, 2008
The United States Marine Corp.: The Very Best
The United States has the best military in the world and probably the best military in all of history - it is this way because conservative presidents have always known that for America to be strong we have to have an unbeatable military.
History, for thousands of years, has shown good intentions and dialogue will work only to a certain point, then for freedom and democacy to succeed, military force will be need to stop mass killers and tyrants from dominating our world. There is no exception to this rule.
Liberal socialists that demand America stand down from protecting itself around the world and rely on other world leaders to make decesions for us will in the end find themselves living in a defeated empty shell that was once the most power and free country in the world.
The crime here is that this is what liberal socialists wanted in the first place.
A vote for the liberal Democrats will bring it all the pass.
But stand fast, the Marines are coming, so keep the faith, the battle is joined!
*USMC Rules for Gunfighting*
1. Bring a gun. Preferably, bring at least two guns. Bring all of your friends who have guns.
2. Anything worth shooting is worth shooting twice. Ammo is cheap. Your life is expensive.
3. Only hits count. The only thing worse than a miss is a slow miss.
4. If your shooting stance is good, you're probably not moving fast enough nor using cover correctly.
5. Move away from your attacker. Distance is your friend. (Lateral and diagonal movement are preferred.)
6. If you can choose what to bring to a gunfight, bring a long gun and a friend with a long gun.
7. In ten years nobody will remember the details of caliber, stance, or tactics. They will only remember who lived.
8. If you are not shooting, you should be communicating, reloading, and running.
9. Accuracy is relative: most combat shooting standards will be more dependent on 'pucker factor' than the inherent accuracy of the gun.
9.5 Use a gun that works EVERY TIME.
10. Someday someone may kill you with your own gun, but he should have to beat you to death with it because it is empty.
11. Always cheat; always win. The only unfair fight is the one you lose.
12. Have a plan.
13. Have a back-up plan, because the first one won't work.
14. Use cover or concealment as much as possible.
15. Flank your adversary when possible. Protect yours.
16. Don't drop your guard.
17. Always tactical load and threat scan 360 degrees.
18. Watch their hands. Hands kill. ('In God we trust. Everyone else, keep your hands where I can see them.')
19. Decide to be aggressive ENOUGH, quickly ENOUGH.
20. The faster you finish the fight, the less shot you will get.
21. Be polite. Be professional. But, have a plan to kill everyone you meet.
22. Be courteous to everyone, friendly to no one.
23. Your number one Option for Personal Security is a lifelong commit ment to avoidance, deterrence, and de-escalation.
24. Do not attend a gunfight with a handgun, the caliber of which does not start with a '.4'
Rules to live by -
History, for thousands of years, has shown good intentions and dialogue will work only to a certain point, then for freedom and democacy to succeed, military force will be need to stop mass killers and tyrants from dominating our world. There is no exception to this rule.
Liberal socialists that demand America stand down from protecting itself around the world and rely on other world leaders to make decesions for us will in the end find themselves living in a defeated empty shell that was once the most power and free country in the world.
The crime here is that this is what liberal socialists wanted in the first place.
A vote for the liberal Democrats will bring it all the pass.
But stand fast, the Marines are coming, so keep the faith, the battle is joined!
*USMC Rules for Gunfighting*
1. Bring a gun. Preferably, bring at least two guns. Bring all of your friends who have guns.
2. Anything worth shooting is worth shooting twice. Ammo is cheap. Your life is expensive.
3. Only hits count. The only thing worse than a miss is a slow miss.
4. If your shooting stance is good, you're probably not moving fast enough nor using cover correctly.
5. Move away from your attacker. Distance is your friend. (Lateral and diagonal movement are preferred.)
6. If you can choose what to bring to a gunfight, bring a long gun and a friend with a long gun.
7. In ten years nobody will remember the details of caliber, stance, or tactics. They will only remember who lived.
8. If you are not shooting, you should be communicating, reloading, and running.
9. Accuracy is relative: most combat shooting standards will be more dependent on 'pucker factor' than the inherent accuracy of the gun.
9.5 Use a gun that works EVERY TIME.
10. Someday someone may kill you with your own gun, but he should have to beat you to death with it because it is empty.
11. Always cheat; always win. The only unfair fight is the one you lose.
12. Have a plan.
13. Have a back-up plan, because the first one won't work.
14. Use cover or concealment as much as possible.
15. Flank your adversary when possible. Protect yours.
16. Don't drop your guard.
17. Always tactical load and threat scan 360 degrees.
18. Watch their hands. Hands kill. ('In God we trust. Everyone else, keep your hands where I can see them.')
19. Decide to be aggressive ENOUGH, quickly ENOUGH.
20. The faster you finish the fight, the less shot you will get.
21. Be polite. Be professional. But, have a plan to kill everyone you meet.
22. Be courteous to everyone, friendly to no one.
23. Your number one Option for Personal Security is a lifelong commit ment to avoidance, deterrence, and de-escalation.
24. Do not attend a gunfight with a handgun, the caliber of which does not start with a '.4'
Rules to live by -
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Free Markets Work : Looking for More Oil
If you ever thought the American dream for success was lost, just read this story - the spirit of adventure and the chance to become self sufficient, maybe even rich, drives people on to be what their dreams said they could be.
But the political climate today will crush this spirit if we allow it to happen. With the religious fanatics in the global warming church of surrender and socialism demanding we all eat bark and live in tents to save the world, the liberal Democrats demading any profit made by us must be shared with those that arn't smart enough to turn a profit, taxing the population out of existence to pay for social programs that only feed on more social programs that have proven over the years not to work, and believing we must stop using oil to drive our economy as it is destroying our planet.
When this all fails, the liberal will fall back on the one best excuse in their bag of tricks, that damn Bush - and you know a majority of the population will believe it - look how many voted for John Kerry - that alone defies explanation.
The American spirit of success is not dead yet and I believe it can not be easliy defeated. Take a long look at the candidates for president - find out what they believe and what they want to do to make this country better. Remember, Facts, not fantasy, must drive your decisions.
America lives - keep the faith, the battle is joined!
As Oil Prices Soar, Prospectors Return To Pennsylvania*
Old-Timers and Upstarts Chase After What's Left;
Sipping a Few Barrels**
By NEIL KING JR.February 19, 2008*
OIL CITY, Pa. -- In 1859, Edwin Drake drilled the world's first commercial oil well in this rural corner of northwestern Pennsylvania, helping kindle the petroleum age. But over time, most of the easy oil was extracted and the big companies moved on, leaving rusty oil wells and shut-down refineries in their wake.
Sky-high crude prices have now sparked what some locals see as the storied area's last hurrah. Hoping for a final gulp of black gold, old-timers and upstarts are going after what's left in the world's original oil patch with drill bits, nuclear scanning machines, dynamite, chemical explosives, high-pressure water -- and plain old grit. Soon they'll even try digging it up.
Piloting his truck up a newly carved road, Ronald Beck recalls questioning his own sanity in 2004, when he quit his timber-cutting job and poured his savings into installing an old drilling rig in the muddy oak forests here along the Allegheny River. "I was all twisted up inside," Mr. Beck says, swerving to avoid a fallen tree. "I couldn't sleep for weeks." His well, up a wooded incline, was no gusher. It gave up around 50 barrels a day for a month or so and then dwindled to less than a single, 42-gallon barrel a day. That may be miniscule amounts by industry standards, but with Pennsylvania crude then fetching around $34 a barrel, Mr. Beck managed to cover his $35,000 in expenses in less than a month.
*Budding Titan*
Today, the same high-quality crude earns over $90 a barrel, turning 33-year-old Mr. Beck into something of a budding oil titan. He has drilled 31 other new wells and hopes to double that number this year. Along with dozens of decades-old wells he took over from his late father, Mr. Beck now has some 160 small rigs pecking up crude across 10,000 acres of leases.
Dressed in stained coveralls and a baseball cap, Mr. Beck won't talk exact profits or production figures. "I don't want hate mail," he says, citing the difficult economic conditions faced by many of his neighbors. Like most everyone else here, Mr. Beck has good reason to believe that the good times won't last.Venango County's oily substrata has fueled and broken its share of dreams over the past 149 years. First the oil flowed by the boatload from boomtowns like Titusville and Pithole. Later the waxy stuff -- Pennsylvania crude's high wax content made it a popular engine lubricant -- trickled in dribs and drabs.
Mr. Drake, the first oil prospector, died broke. Refineries opened and closed. Pennzoil-Quaker State Co., once based in Oil City, moved on. Oil City and Titusville, the two county pillars, are hollowed-out versions of their former selves."This area has seen its share of depression," says Randy Seitz, who runs a civic group called the Oil Region Alliance that's trying to spur new development.Mr.
Beck operates his IMOD Oil Production LLC out of an office in his mother's house. His father, a former steel worker, bought up scads of old mineral leases through the lean years of the 1990s from Quaker State and other oil companies. He died in 2003 -- "just before the business got good again," his son says. IMOD stands for In Memory of Dad.
A few miles south, William Huber has responded in a simpler way to galloping oil prices. His father and grandfather, both lone operators like him, "used to make the earth shake" with the nitroglycerine they stuffed into the family's aging wells, he says. After the government banned nitro use for security reasons, Mr. Huber turned to dynamite to free up pockets of crude."This guy was down to a teacup a day until I dropped in a few sticks" of dynamite, Mr. Huber says, patting a rusty rig that emits an eerie squeal through the forest as it bobs up and down. The well -- circa 1920 -- now belches up a few barrels a week.
To survive the 1990s, when oil prices were languishing below $20-a-barrel, Mr. Huber and his wife boarded dogs in a kennel behind their house. Dogs still yap in the backyard, but 67-year-old Mr. Huber now pumps around 25 barrels a week from wells scattered through the surrounding woods. The income, around $9,000 a month at today's prices, "has made the dogs a lot less necessary," he says.Mr. Huber is also bringing some of his more decrepit wells back on line. He has ordered a few spare parts to revive one well, vintage 1865, down the road from his house. He's hoping the work will nab him a quick 50-barrel spurt before the well settles down to a few gallons a day.
*Grand Ideas*
Other folks have grander ideas. As is the case with most tapped out oil fields, geologists estimate that around 70% of the oil that was here when Drake arrived is still locked underground. The trick is how to get it.
One Canadian company, Rock Well Petroleum Inc., thinks it's got the solution. Having acquired the rights to 8,000 acres in the heart of Venango County, the company plans to dig several huge caverns, each more than 800-feet deep but large enough to drive a truck into. Miners will then bore and drill outward, letting the oil drain into the caverns. Pumps will bring the crude to the surface.
Rock Well already has an oil-mining venture at the old Greybull Field in central Wyoming. Dug last year, the operation is expected to drain off around 300 barrels of oil a day for the next 15 years. John Hoak, a Titusville native who runs Rock Well, told a gathering last month that the venture will suck millions of barrels from Venango County. All of which has spurred talk that sky-high oil prices may finally finish off the world's original oil patch. "If Rock Well does what it says, they could pretty much drain everything left in the sands around here," says 79-year-old Augie Holtz, an old Quaker State well operator and one of the county's most veteran oil men.
*McClintock No. 1*
Still, he is hesitant to be too absolute in his prediction. Mr. Holtz serves as caretaker to the world's oldest operating well, the famed McClintock No. 1, on behalf of the Drake Well Museum.Drilled in 1861 just north of Oil City, the well these days churns out mainly salt water. Dropping by one recent morning, Mr. Holtz catches a handful of the oily brine and takes a small slurp. "Tasty," he says.But give the well enough time, he says proudly, "and it comes up with oil, too." About 38 barrels last year, to be exact
But the political climate today will crush this spirit if we allow it to happen. With the religious fanatics in the global warming church of surrender and socialism demanding we all eat bark and live in tents to save the world, the liberal Democrats demading any profit made by us must be shared with those that arn't smart enough to turn a profit, taxing the population out of existence to pay for social programs that only feed on more social programs that have proven over the years not to work, and believing we must stop using oil to drive our economy as it is destroying our planet.
When this all fails, the liberal will fall back on the one best excuse in their bag of tricks, that damn Bush - and you know a majority of the population will believe it - look how many voted for John Kerry - that alone defies explanation.
The American spirit of success is not dead yet and I believe it can not be easliy defeated. Take a long look at the candidates for president - find out what they believe and what they want to do to make this country better. Remember, Facts, not fantasy, must drive your decisions.
America lives - keep the faith, the battle is joined!
As Oil Prices Soar, Prospectors Return To Pennsylvania*
Old-Timers and Upstarts Chase After What's Left;
Sipping a Few Barrels**
By NEIL KING JR.February 19, 2008*
OIL CITY, Pa. -- In 1859, Edwin Drake drilled the world's first commercial oil well in this rural corner of northwestern Pennsylvania, helping kindle the petroleum age. But over time, most of the easy oil was extracted and the big companies moved on, leaving rusty oil wells and shut-down refineries in their wake.
Sky-high crude prices have now sparked what some locals see as the storied area's last hurrah. Hoping for a final gulp of black gold, old-timers and upstarts are going after what's left in the world's original oil patch with drill bits, nuclear scanning machines, dynamite, chemical explosives, high-pressure water -- and plain old grit. Soon they'll even try digging it up.
Piloting his truck up a newly carved road, Ronald Beck recalls questioning his own sanity in 2004, when he quit his timber-cutting job and poured his savings into installing an old drilling rig in the muddy oak forests here along the Allegheny River. "I was all twisted up inside," Mr. Beck says, swerving to avoid a fallen tree. "I couldn't sleep for weeks." His well, up a wooded incline, was no gusher. It gave up around 50 barrels a day for a month or so and then dwindled to less than a single, 42-gallon barrel a day. That may be miniscule amounts by industry standards, but with Pennsylvania crude then fetching around $34 a barrel, Mr. Beck managed to cover his $35,000 in expenses in less than a month.
*Budding Titan*
Today, the same high-quality crude earns over $90 a barrel, turning 33-year-old Mr. Beck into something of a budding oil titan. He has drilled 31 other new wells and hopes to double that number this year. Along with dozens of decades-old wells he took over from his late father, Mr. Beck now has some 160 small rigs pecking up crude across 10,000 acres of leases.
Dressed in stained coveralls and a baseball cap, Mr. Beck won't talk exact profits or production figures. "I don't want hate mail," he says, citing the difficult economic conditions faced by many of his neighbors. Like most everyone else here, Mr. Beck has good reason to believe that the good times won't last.Venango County's oily substrata has fueled and broken its share of dreams over the past 149 years. First the oil flowed by the boatload from boomtowns like Titusville and Pithole. Later the waxy stuff -- Pennsylvania crude's high wax content made it a popular engine lubricant -- trickled in dribs and drabs.
Mr. Drake, the first oil prospector, died broke. Refineries opened and closed. Pennzoil-Quaker State Co., once based in Oil City, moved on. Oil City and Titusville, the two county pillars, are hollowed-out versions of their former selves."This area has seen its share of depression," says Randy Seitz, who runs a civic group called the Oil Region Alliance that's trying to spur new development.Mr.
Beck operates his IMOD Oil Production LLC out of an office in his mother's house. His father, a former steel worker, bought up scads of old mineral leases through the lean years of the 1990s from Quaker State and other oil companies. He died in 2003 -- "just before the business got good again," his son says. IMOD stands for In Memory of Dad.
A few miles south, William Huber has responded in a simpler way to galloping oil prices. His father and grandfather, both lone operators like him, "used to make the earth shake" with the nitroglycerine they stuffed into the family's aging wells, he says. After the government banned nitro use for security reasons, Mr. Huber turned to dynamite to free up pockets of crude."This guy was down to a teacup a day until I dropped in a few sticks" of dynamite, Mr. Huber says, patting a rusty rig that emits an eerie squeal through the forest as it bobs up and down. The well -- circa 1920 -- now belches up a few barrels a week.
To survive the 1990s, when oil prices were languishing below $20-a-barrel, Mr. Huber and his wife boarded dogs in a kennel behind their house. Dogs still yap in the backyard, but 67-year-old Mr. Huber now pumps around 25 barrels a week from wells scattered through the surrounding woods. The income, around $9,000 a month at today's prices, "has made the dogs a lot less necessary," he says.Mr. Huber is also bringing some of his more decrepit wells back on line. He has ordered a few spare parts to revive one well, vintage 1865, down the road from his house. He's hoping the work will nab him a quick 50-barrel spurt before the well settles down to a few gallons a day.
*Grand Ideas*
Other folks have grander ideas. As is the case with most tapped out oil fields, geologists estimate that around 70% of the oil that was here when Drake arrived is still locked underground. The trick is how to get it.
One Canadian company, Rock Well Petroleum Inc., thinks it's got the solution. Having acquired the rights to 8,000 acres in the heart of Venango County, the company plans to dig several huge caverns, each more than 800-feet deep but large enough to drive a truck into. Miners will then bore and drill outward, letting the oil drain into the caverns. Pumps will bring the crude to the surface.
Rock Well already has an oil-mining venture at the old Greybull Field in central Wyoming. Dug last year, the operation is expected to drain off around 300 barrels of oil a day for the next 15 years. John Hoak, a Titusville native who runs Rock Well, told a gathering last month that the venture will suck millions of barrels from Venango County. All of which has spurred talk that sky-high oil prices may finally finish off the world's original oil patch. "If Rock Well does what it says, they could pretty much drain everything left in the sands around here," says 79-year-old Augie Holtz, an old Quaker State well operator and one of the county's most veteran oil men.
*McClintock No. 1*
Still, he is hesitant to be too absolute in his prediction. Mr. Holtz serves as caretaker to the world's oldest operating well, the famed McClintock No. 1, on behalf of the Drake Well Museum.Drilled in 1861 just north of Oil City, the well these days churns out mainly salt water. Dropping by one recent morning, Mr. Holtz catches a handful of the oily brine and takes a small slurp. "Tasty," he says.But give the well enough time, he says proudly, "and it comes up with oil, too." About 38 barrels last year, to be exact
As Oil Prices Soar, Prospectors Return To Pennsylvania*
Old-Timers and Upstarts Chase After What's Left;
Sipping a Few Barrels**
By NEIL KING JR.February 19, 2008*
OIL CITY, Pa. -- In 1859, Edwin Drake drilled the world's first commercial oil well in this rural corner of northwestern Pennsylvania, helping kindle the petroleum age. But over time, most of the easy oil was extracted and the big companies moved on, leaving rusty oil wells and shut-down refineries in their wake.Sky-high crude prices have now sparked what some locals see as the storied area's last hurrah. Hoping for a final gulp of black gold, old-timers and upstarts are going after what's left in the world's original oil patch with drill bits, nuclear scanning machines, dynamite, chemical explosives, high-pressure water -- and plain old grit. Soon they'll even try digging it up.Piloting his truck up a newly carved road, Ronald Beck recalls questioning his own sanity in 2004, when he quit his timber-cutting job and poured his savings into installing an old drilling rig in the muddy oak forests here along the Allegheny River. "I was all twisted up inside," Mr. Beck says, swerving to avoid a fallen tree. "I couldn't sleep for weeks."[map]His well, up a wooded incline, was no gusher. It gave up around 50 barrels a day for a month or so and then dwindled to less than a single, 42-gallon barrel a day. That may be miniscule amounts by industry standards, but with Pennsylvania crude then fetching around $34 a barrel, Mr. Beck managed to cover his $35,000 in expenses in less than a month.*Budding Titan*Today, the same high-quality crude earns over $90 a barrel, turning 33-year-old Mr. Beck into something of a budding oil titan. He has drilled 31 other new wells and hopes to double that number this year. Along with dozens of decades-old wells he took over from his late father, Mr. Beck now has some 160 small rigs pecking up crude across 10,000 acres of leases.Dressed in stained coveralls and a baseball cap, Mr. Beck won't talk exact profits or production figures. "I don't want hate mail," he says, citing the difficult economic conditions faced by many of his neighbors. Like most everyone else here, Mr. Beck has good reason to believe that the good times won't last.Venango County's oily substrata has fueled and broken its share of dreams over the past 149 years. First the oil flowed by the boatload from boomtowns like Titusville and Pithole. Later the waxy stuff -- Pennsylvania crude's high wax content made it a popular engine lubricant -- trickled in dribs and drabs. Mr. Drake, the first oil prospector, died broke. Refineries opened and closed. Pennzoil-Quaker State Co., once based in Oil City, moved on. Oil City and Titusville, the two county pillars, are hollowed-out versions of their former selves."This area has seen its share of depression," says Randy Seitz, who runs a civic group called the Oil Region Alliance that's trying to spur new development.Mr. Beck operates his IMOD Oil Production LLC out of an office in his mother's house. His father, a former steel worker, bought up scads of old mineral leases through the lean years of the 1990s from Quaker State and other oil companies. He died in 2003 -- "just before the business got good again," his son says. IMOD stands for In Memory of Dad.A few miles south, William Huber has responded in a simpler way to galloping oil prices. His father and grandfather, both lone operators like him, "used to make the earth shake" with the nitroglycerine they stuffed into the family's aging wells, he says. After the government banned nitro use for security reasons, Mr. Huber turned to dynamite to free up pockets of crude."This guy was down to a teacup a day until I dropped in a few sticks" of dynamite, Mr. Huber says, patting a rusty rig that emits an eerie squeal through the forest as it bobs up and down. The well -- circa 1920 -- now belches up a few barrels a week.To survive the 1990s, when oil prices were languishing below $20-a-barrel, Mr. Huber and his wife boarded dogs in a kennel behind their house. Dogs still yap in the backyard, but 67-year-old Mr. Huber now pumps around 25 barrels a week from wells scattered through the surrounding woods. The income, around $9,000 a month at today's prices, "has made the dogs a lot less necessary," he says.Mr. Huber is also bringing some of his more decrepit wells back on line. He has ordered a few spare parts to revive one well, vintage 1865, down the road from his house. He's hoping the work will nab him a quick 50-barrel spurt before the well settles down to a few gallons a day.*Grand Ideas*Other folks have grander ideas. As is the case with most tapped out oil fields, geologists estimate that around 70% of the oil that was here when Drake arrived is still locked underground. The trick is how to get it.One Canadian company, Rock Well Petroleum Inc., thinks it's got the solution. Having acquired the rights to 8,000 acres in the heart of Venango County, the company plans to dig several huge caverns, each more than 800-feet deep but large enough to drive a truck into. Miners will then bore and drill outward, letting the oil drain into the caverns. Pumps will bring the crude to the surface.Rock Well already has an oil-mining venture at the old Greybull Field in central Wyoming. Dug last year, the operation is expected to drain off around 300 barrels of oil a day for the next 15 years. John Hoak, a Titusville native who runs Rock Well, told a gathering last month that the venture will suck millions of barrels from Venango County.All of which has spurred talk that sky-high oil prices may finally finish off the world's original oil patch. "If Rock Well does what it says, they could pretty much drain everything left in the sands around here," says 79-year-old Augie Holtz, an old Quaker State well operator and one of the county's most veteran oil men.*McClintock No. 1*Still, he is hesitant to be too absolute in his prediction. Mr. Holtz serves as caretaker to the world's oldest operating well, the famed McClintock No. 1, on behalf of the Drake Well Museum.Drilled in 1861 just north of Oil City, the well these days churns out mainly salt water. Dropping by one recent morning, Mr. Holtz catches a handful of the oily brine and takes a small slurp. "Tasty," he says.But give the well enough time, he says proudly, "and it comes up with oil, too." About 38 barrels last year, to be exact.*Write to *Neil King Jr. at neil.king@wsj.com^1
Old-Timers and Upstarts Chase After What's Left;
Sipping a Few Barrels**
By NEIL KING JR.February 19, 2008*
OIL CITY, Pa. -- In 1859, Edwin Drake drilled the world's first commercial oil well in this rural corner of northwestern Pennsylvania, helping kindle the petroleum age. But over time, most of the easy oil was extracted and the big companies moved on, leaving rusty oil wells and shut-down refineries in their wake.Sky-high crude prices have now sparked what some locals see as the storied area's last hurrah. Hoping for a final gulp of black gold, old-timers and upstarts are going after what's left in the world's original oil patch with drill bits, nuclear scanning machines, dynamite, chemical explosives, high-pressure water -- and plain old grit. Soon they'll even try digging it up.Piloting his truck up a newly carved road, Ronald Beck recalls questioning his own sanity in 2004, when he quit his timber-cutting job and poured his savings into installing an old drilling rig in the muddy oak forests here along the Allegheny River. "I was all twisted up inside," Mr. Beck says, swerving to avoid a fallen tree. "I couldn't sleep for weeks."[map]His well, up a wooded incline, was no gusher. It gave up around 50 barrels a day for a month or so and then dwindled to less than a single, 42-gallon barrel a day. That may be miniscule amounts by industry standards, but with Pennsylvania crude then fetching around $34 a barrel, Mr. Beck managed to cover his $35,000 in expenses in less than a month.*Budding Titan*Today, the same high-quality crude earns over $90 a barrel, turning 33-year-old Mr. Beck into something of a budding oil titan. He has drilled 31 other new wells and hopes to double that number this year. Along with dozens of decades-old wells he took over from his late father, Mr. Beck now has some 160 small rigs pecking up crude across 10,000 acres of leases.Dressed in stained coveralls and a baseball cap, Mr. Beck won't talk exact profits or production figures. "I don't want hate mail," he says, citing the difficult economic conditions faced by many of his neighbors. Like most everyone else here, Mr. Beck has good reason to believe that the good times won't last.Venango County's oily substrata has fueled and broken its share of dreams over the past 149 years. First the oil flowed by the boatload from boomtowns like Titusville and Pithole. Later the waxy stuff -- Pennsylvania crude's high wax content made it a popular engine lubricant -- trickled in dribs and drabs. Mr. Drake, the first oil prospector, died broke. Refineries opened and closed. Pennzoil-Quaker State Co., once based in Oil City, moved on. Oil City and Titusville, the two county pillars, are hollowed-out versions of their former selves."This area has seen its share of depression," says Randy Seitz, who runs a civic group called the Oil Region Alliance that's trying to spur new development.Mr. Beck operates his IMOD Oil Production LLC out of an office in his mother's house. His father, a former steel worker, bought up scads of old mineral leases through the lean years of the 1990s from Quaker State and other oil companies. He died in 2003 -- "just before the business got good again," his son says. IMOD stands for In Memory of Dad.A few miles south, William Huber has responded in a simpler way to galloping oil prices. His father and grandfather, both lone operators like him, "used to make the earth shake" with the nitroglycerine they stuffed into the family's aging wells, he says. After the government banned nitro use for security reasons, Mr. Huber turned to dynamite to free up pockets of crude."This guy was down to a teacup a day until I dropped in a few sticks" of dynamite, Mr. Huber says, patting a rusty rig that emits an eerie squeal through the forest as it bobs up and down. The well -- circa 1920 -- now belches up a few barrels a week.To survive the 1990s, when oil prices were languishing below $20-a-barrel, Mr. Huber and his wife boarded dogs in a kennel behind their house. Dogs still yap in the backyard, but 67-year-old Mr. Huber now pumps around 25 barrels a week from wells scattered through the surrounding woods. The income, around $9,000 a month at today's prices, "has made the dogs a lot less necessary," he says.Mr. Huber is also bringing some of his more decrepit wells back on line. He has ordered a few spare parts to revive one well, vintage 1865, down the road from his house. He's hoping the work will nab him a quick 50-barrel spurt before the well settles down to a few gallons a day.*Grand Ideas*Other folks have grander ideas. As is the case with most tapped out oil fields, geologists estimate that around 70% of the oil that was here when Drake arrived is still locked underground. The trick is how to get it.One Canadian company, Rock Well Petroleum Inc., thinks it's got the solution. Having acquired the rights to 8,000 acres in the heart of Venango County, the company plans to dig several huge caverns, each more than 800-feet deep but large enough to drive a truck into. Miners will then bore and drill outward, letting the oil drain into the caverns. Pumps will bring the crude to the surface.Rock Well already has an oil-mining venture at the old Greybull Field in central Wyoming. Dug last year, the operation is expected to drain off around 300 barrels of oil a day for the next 15 years. John Hoak, a Titusville native who runs Rock Well, told a gathering last month that the venture will suck millions of barrels from Venango County.All of which has spurred talk that sky-high oil prices may finally finish off the world's original oil patch. "If Rock Well does what it says, they could pretty much drain everything left in the sands around here," says 79-year-old Augie Holtz, an old Quaker State well operator and one of the county's most veteran oil men.*McClintock No. 1*Still, he is hesitant to be too absolute in his prediction. Mr. Holtz serves as caretaker to the world's oldest operating well, the famed McClintock No. 1, on behalf of the Drake Well Museum.Drilled in 1861 just north of Oil City, the well these days churns out mainly salt water. Dropping by one recent morning, Mr. Holtz catches a handful of the oily brine and takes a small slurp. "Tasty," he says.But give the well enough time, he says proudly, "and it comes up with oil, too." About 38 barrels last year, to be exact.*Write to *Neil King Jr. at neil.king@wsj.com
As Oil Prices Soar, Prospectors Return To Pennsylvania*
Old-Timers and Upstarts Chase After What's Left;
Sipping a Few Barrels**
By NEIL KING JR.February 19, 2008*
OIL CITY, Pa. -- In 1859, Edwin Drake drilled the world's first commercial oil well in this rural corner of northwestern Pennsylvania, helping kindle the petroleum age. But over time, most of the easy oil was extracted and the big companies moved on, leaving rusty oil wells and shut-down refineries in their wake.Sky-high crude prices have now sparked what some locals see as the storied area's last hurrah. Hoping for a final gulp of black gold, old-timers and upstarts are going after what's left in the world's original oil patch with drill bits, nuclear scanning machines, dynamite, chemical explosives, high-pressure water -- and plain old grit. Soon they'll even try digging it up.Piloting his truck up a newly carved road, Ronald Beck recalls questioning his own sanity in 2004, when he quit his timber-cutting job and poured his savings into installing an old drilling rig in the muddy oak forests here along the Allegheny River. "I was all twisted up inside," Mr. Beck says, swerving to avoid a fallen tree. "I couldn't sleep for weeks."[map]His well, up a wooded incline, was no gusher. It gave up around 50 barrels a day for a month or so and then dwindled to less than a single, 42-gallon barrel a day. That may be miniscule amounts by industry standards, but with Pennsylvania crude then fetching around $34 a barrel, Mr. Beck managed to cover his $35,000 in expenses in less than a month.*Budding Titan*Today, the same high-quality crude earns over $90 a barrel, turning 33-year-old Mr. Beck into something of a budding oil titan. He has drilled 31 other new wells and hopes to double that number this year. Along with dozens of decades-old wells he took over from his late father, Mr. Beck now has some 160 small rigs pecking up crude across 10,000 acres of leases.Dressed in stained coveralls and a baseball cap, Mr. Beck won't talk exact profits or production figures. "I don't want hate mail," he says, citing the difficult economic conditions faced by many of his neighbors. Like most everyone else here, Mr. Beck has good reason to believe that the good times won't last.Venango County's oily substrata has fueled and broken its share of dreams over the past 149 years. First the oil flowed by the boatload from boomtowns like Titusville and Pithole. Later the waxy stuff -- Pennsylvania crude's high wax content made it a popular engine lubricant -- trickled in dribs and drabs. Mr. Drake, the first oil prospector, died broke. Refineries opened and closed. Pennzoil-Quaker State Co., once based in Oil City, moved on. Oil City and Titusville, the two county pillars, are hollowed-out versions of their former selves."This area has seen its share of depression," says Randy Seitz, who runs a civic group called the Oil Region Alliance that's trying to spur new development.Mr. Beck operates his IMOD Oil Production LLC out of an office in his mother's house. His father, a former steel worker, bought up scads of old mineral leases through the lean years of the 1990s from Quaker State and other oil companies. He died in 2003 -- "just before the business got good again," his son says. IMOD stands for In Memory of Dad.A few miles south, William Huber has responded in a simpler way to galloping oil prices. His father and grandfather, both lone operators like him, "used to make the earth shake" with the nitroglycerine they stuffed into the family's aging wells, he says. After the government banned nitro use for security reasons, Mr. Huber turned to dynamite to free up pockets of crude."This guy was down to a teacup a day until I dropped in a few sticks" of dynamite, Mr. Huber says, patting a rusty rig that emits an eerie squeal through the forest as it bobs up and down. The well -- circa 1920 -- now belches up a few barrels a week.To survive the 1990s, when oil prices were languishing below $20-a-barrel, Mr. Huber and his wife boarded dogs in a kennel behind their house. Dogs still yap in the backyard, but 67-year-old Mr. Huber now pumps around 25 barrels a week from wells scattered through the surrounding woods. The income, around $9,000 a month at today's prices, "has made the dogs a lot less necessary," he says.Mr. Huber is also bringing some of his more decrepit wells back on line. He has ordered a few spare parts to revive one well, vintage 1865, down the road from his house. He's hoping the work will nab him a quick 50-barrel spurt before the well settles down to a few gallons a day.*Grand Ideas*Other folks have grander ideas. As is the case with most tapped out oil fields, geologists estimate that around 70% of the oil that was here when Drake arrived is still locked underground. The trick is how to get it.One Canadian company, Rock Well Petroleum Inc., thinks it's got the solution. Having acquired the rights to 8,000 acres in the heart of Venango County, the company plans to dig several huge caverns, each more than 800-feet deep but large enough to drive a truck into. Miners will then bore and drill outward, letting the oil drain into the caverns. Pumps will bring the crude to the surface.Rock Well already has an oil-mining venture at the old Greybull Field in central Wyoming. Dug last year, the operation is expected to drain off around 300 barrels of oil a day for the next 15 years. John Hoak, a Titusville native who runs Rock Well, told a gathering last month that the venture will suck millions of barrels from Venango County.All of which has spurred talk that sky-high oil prices may finally finish off the world's original oil patch. "If Rock Well does what it says, they could pretty much drain everything left in the sands around here," says 79-year-old Augie Holtz, an old Quaker State well operator and one of the county's most veteran oil men.*McClintock No. 1*Still, he is hesitant to be too absolute in his prediction. Mr. Holtz serves as caretaker to the world's oldest operating well, the famed McClintock No. 1, on behalf of the Drake Well Museum.Drilled in 1861 just north of Oil City, the well these days churns out mainly salt water. Dropping by one recent morning, Mr. Holtz catches a handful of the oily brine and takes a small slurp. "Tasty," he says.But give the well enough time, he says proudly, "and it comes up with oil, too." About 38 barrels last year, to be exact.*Write to *Neil King Jr. at neil.king@wsj.com^1
Old-Timers and Upstarts Chase After What's Left;
Sipping a Few Barrels**
By NEIL KING JR.February 19, 2008*
OIL CITY, Pa. -- In 1859, Edwin Drake drilled the world's first commercial oil well in this rural corner of northwestern Pennsylvania, helping kindle the petroleum age. But over time, most of the easy oil was extracted and the big companies moved on, leaving rusty oil wells and shut-down refineries in their wake.Sky-high crude prices have now sparked what some locals see as the storied area's last hurrah. Hoping for a final gulp of black gold, old-timers and upstarts are going after what's left in the world's original oil patch with drill bits, nuclear scanning machines, dynamite, chemical explosives, high-pressure water -- and plain old grit. Soon they'll even try digging it up.Piloting his truck up a newly carved road, Ronald Beck recalls questioning his own sanity in 2004, when he quit his timber-cutting job and poured his savings into installing an old drilling rig in the muddy oak forests here along the Allegheny River. "I was all twisted up inside," Mr. Beck says, swerving to avoid a fallen tree. "I couldn't sleep for weeks."[map]His well, up a wooded incline, was no gusher. It gave up around 50 barrels a day for a month or so and then dwindled to less than a single, 42-gallon barrel a day. That may be miniscule amounts by industry standards, but with Pennsylvania crude then fetching around $34 a barrel, Mr. Beck managed to cover his $35,000 in expenses in less than a month.*Budding Titan*Today, the same high-quality crude earns over $90 a barrel, turning 33-year-old Mr. Beck into something of a budding oil titan. He has drilled 31 other new wells and hopes to double that number this year. Along with dozens of decades-old wells he took over from his late father, Mr. Beck now has some 160 small rigs pecking up crude across 10,000 acres of leases.Dressed in stained coveralls and a baseball cap, Mr. Beck won't talk exact profits or production figures. "I don't want hate mail," he says, citing the difficult economic conditions faced by many of his neighbors. Like most everyone else here, Mr. Beck has good reason to believe that the good times won't last.Venango County's oily substrata has fueled and broken its share of dreams over the past 149 years. First the oil flowed by the boatload from boomtowns like Titusville and Pithole. Later the waxy stuff -- Pennsylvania crude's high wax content made it a popular engine lubricant -- trickled in dribs and drabs. Mr. Drake, the first oil prospector, died broke. Refineries opened and closed. Pennzoil-Quaker State Co., once based in Oil City, moved on. Oil City and Titusville, the two county pillars, are hollowed-out versions of their former selves."This area has seen its share of depression," says Randy Seitz, who runs a civic group called the Oil Region Alliance that's trying to spur new development.Mr. Beck operates his IMOD Oil Production LLC out of an office in his mother's house. His father, a former steel worker, bought up scads of old mineral leases through the lean years of the 1990s from Quaker State and other oil companies. He died in 2003 -- "just before the business got good again," his son says. IMOD stands for In Memory of Dad.A few miles south, William Huber has responded in a simpler way to galloping oil prices. His father and grandfather, both lone operators like him, "used to make the earth shake" with the nitroglycerine they stuffed into the family's aging wells, he says. After the government banned nitro use for security reasons, Mr. Huber turned to dynamite to free up pockets of crude."This guy was down to a teacup a day until I dropped in a few sticks" of dynamite, Mr. Huber says, patting a rusty rig that emits an eerie squeal through the forest as it bobs up and down. The well -- circa 1920 -- now belches up a few barrels a week.To survive the 1990s, when oil prices were languishing below $20-a-barrel, Mr. Huber and his wife boarded dogs in a kennel behind their house. Dogs still yap in the backyard, but 67-year-old Mr. Huber now pumps around 25 barrels a week from wells scattered through the surrounding woods. The income, around $9,000 a month at today's prices, "has made the dogs a lot less necessary," he says.Mr. Huber is also bringing some of his more decrepit wells back on line. He has ordered a few spare parts to revive one well, vintage 1865, down the road from his house. He's hoping the work will nab him a quick 50-barrel spurt before the well settles down to a few gallons a day.*Grand Ideas*Other folks have grander ideas. As is the case with most tapped out oil fields, geologists estimate that around 70% of the oil that was here when Drake arrived is still locked underground. The trick is how to get it.One Canadian company, Rock Well Petroleum Inc., thinks it's got the solution. Having acquired the rights to 8,000 acres in the heart of Venango County, the company plans to dig several huge caverns, each more than 800-feet deep but large enough to drive a truck into. Miners will then bore and drill outward, letting the oil drain into the caverns. Pumps will bring the crude to the surface.Rock Well already has an oil-mining venture at the old Greybull Field in central Wyoming. Dug last year, the operation is expected to drain off around 300 barrels of oil a day for the next 15 years. John Hoak, a Titusville native who runs Rock Well, told a gathering last month that the venture will suck millions of barrels from Venango County.All of which has spurred talk that sky-high oil prices may finally finish off the world's original oil patch. "If Rock Well does what it says, they could pretty much drain everything left in the sands around here," says 79-year-old Augie Holtz, an old Quaker State well operator and one of the county's most veteran oil men.*McClintock No. 1*Still, he is hesitant to be too absolute in his prediction. Mr. Holtz serves as caretaker to the world's oldest operating well, the famed McClintock No. 1, on behalf of the Drake Well Museum.Drilled in 1861 just north of Oil City, the well these days churns out mainly salt water. Dropping by one recent morning, Mr. Holtz catches a handful of the oily brine and takes a small slurp. "Tasty," he says.But give the well enough time, he says proudly, "and it comes up with oil, too." About 38 barrels last year, to be exact.*Write to *Neil King Jr. at neil.king@wsj.com
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
More Money for Trail Lawyers / Liberal Democrats
Here we have just one more indication of how the liberal establishment will run our lives by giving trail lawyers more power with consent from a liberal government.
This is just one more nail in our own coffin if we allow this to become law - as this article lays out, it has already passed the house and will more than likely pass in the senate -
When do you think it will be time to step up the the plate and say enough is enough of this nonsense? I can guarantee it will mushroom if you vote for the liberal Democrats, progressives and socialists.
Stand fast and 'Keep the faith, the battle is joined!'
'SAFETY' INSANITY'
By JEFF STIER February 20, 2008 --
CONGRESS is poised to pass a massive giveaway to the ambulance-chasing trial attorneys - under the guise of protecting consumers. The proposed law would give the 50 state attorneys general new powers to sue the makers of allegedly unsafe products - and even to demand help in their suits from the federal Consumer Product Safety Commission.
Headline-hungry AGs will even be able to sue over products the CPSC has already found to be safe. In other words, national standards will effectively go out the window, as politically ambitious AGs compete to bash business so as to win popularity for future elections. The legislation - which the House has already passed and the Senate's likely to pass - would hamper CPSC's mission by creating multiple unscientific "safety" standards. Each AG's vision of what the latest scientific studies imply about purported dangers would prevail in a given state, rather than the CPSC's own (far more expert) findings.
All this would mean a bonanza to trial lawyers - who'd stand to make hundreds of millions from relentless lawsuits within just a few years, since each state would become a new roulette-wheel of potential jury verdicts against manufacturers. The bill would also require the CPSC to immediately post even the most preliminary reports of allegedly hazardous products to a public database - a plain incitement to hasty panic, preparing the ground for future suits.
This would discourage manufacturers from providing important information to the agency early on - and so could harm CPSC's ability to prevent real potential hazards. Further encouraging bogus complaints, the bill would grant unprecedented "whistle-blower" protection to any employee who alleges a fear of product danger - an easy way to secure your job until your case is adjudicated.
The Senate version of the bill grants unprecedented powers to state attorneys general to enforce federal safety laws. As acting CPSC Chairwoman Nancy Nord explains, that would undermine one of the main reasons the agency was created - to establish national product-safety standards.
For example, California recently chose to ban phthalates (an important and safe component of some plastics) - a foolish and unscientific policy, but at least one that the state's Legislature and governor adopted democratically. But under Congress' "reform," each of the 50 state AGs could not only bypass federal officials but also his or her state lawmakers, and unilaterally drive phthalate-containing products from the shelves in his or her state, declaring them a "banned hazardous substance" despite their proven safety.
Federal scientists and local lawmakers alike would be shunted aside in favor of the wisdom (or lack thereof) of your local crusading AG, effectively one of America's 50 new science czars. It would then be up to a federal district court to decide whether the product was in fact a hazard.
Imagine the chaos, with various AGs targeting different products in the different states. It would be a nightmare for manufacturers and for consumers, who'd no longer know what was safe. Activist groups have also succeeded in getting wording into the bill that lowers the level of allowed lead paint - even though the current limit already incorporates the precaution of allowing far less than science tells us is safe. But only lawyers and ideologues support the false claim that "there is no safe level of exposure to lead.
"The current, already extra-safe, lead standards caused an unprecedented number of toy recalls last year - such as a callback of Barbie dolls because the paint in the iris of the doll's eye exceeded federal guidelines. In fact, children were never at risk from such tiny amounts.Yet the publicity from those recalls may prompt Congress to lower the allowable level to an even more minuscule level - and to forbid the CPSC from considering whether a child is likely actually to be exposed to dangerous levels. And recalls would be mandatory in all cases.
Let's be clear: Setting tougher standards because of last year's record number of recalls is the same as lowering the speed limit simply because more people were caught speeding - even though the highways remained just as safe. There's no logic to it. Government agencies usually like to gain more power. Rarely is legislation so bad that the agency being offered new powers say it doesn't want them. Yet Chairwoman Nord complained that the Senate bill "would harm product safety and put the American people at greater risk.
"The only real winners here are avaracious plaintiff's lawyers and ambitious AGs.
Jeff Stier is an associate director of the American Council on Science and Health (ACSH.org).
This is just one more nail in our own coffin if we allow this to become law - as this article lays out, it has already passed the house and will more than likely pass in the senate -
When do you think it will be time to step up the the plate and say enough is enough of this nonsense? I can guarantee it will mushroom if you vote for the liberal Democrats, progressives and socialists.
Stand fast and 'Keep the faith, the battle is joined!'
'SAFETY' INSANITY'
By JEFF STIER February 20, 2008 --
CONGRESS is poised to pass a massive giveaway to the ambulance-chasing trial attorneys - under the guise of protecting consumers. The proposed law would give the 50 state attorneys general new powers to sue the makers of allegedly unsafe products - and even to demand help in their suits from the federal Consumer Product Safety Commission.
Headline-hungry AGs will even be able to sue over products the CPSC has already found to be safe. In other words, national standards will effectively go out the window, as politically ambitious AGs compete to bash business so as to win popularity for future elections. The legislation - which the House has already passed and the Senate's likely to pass - would hamper CPSC's mission by creating multiple unscientific "safety" standards. Each AG's vision of what the latest scientific studies imply about purported dangers would prevail in a given state, rather than the CPSC's own (far more expert) findings.
All this would mean a bonanza to trial lawyers - who'd stand to make hundreds of millions from relentless lawsuits within just a few years, since each state would become a new roulette-wheel of potential jury verdicts against manufacturers. The bill would also require the CPSC to immediately post even the most preliminary reports of allegedly hazardous products to a public database - a plain incitement to hasty panic, preparing the ground for future suits.
This would discourage manufacturers from providing important information to the agency early on - and so could harm CPSC's ability to prevent real potential hazards. Further encouraging bogus complaints, the bill would grant unprecedented "whistle-blower" protection to any employee who alleges a fear of product danger - an easy way to secure your job until your case is adjudicated.
The Senate version of the bill grants unprecedented powers to state attorneys general to enforce federal safety laws. As acting CPSC Chairwoman Nancy Nord explains, that would undermine one of the main reasons the agency was created - to establish national product-safety standards.
For example, California recently chose to ban phthalates (an important and safe component of some plastics) - a foolish and unscientific policy, but at least one that the state's Legislature and governor adopted democratically. But under Congress' "reform," each of the 50 state AGs could not only bypass federal officials but also his or her state lawmakers, and unilaterally drive phthalate-containing products from the shelves in his or her state, declaring them a "banned hazardous substance" despite their proven safety.
Federal scientists and local lawmakers alike would be shunted aside in favor of the wisdom (or lack thereof) of your local crusading AG, effectively one of America's 50 new science czars. It would then be up to a federal district court to decide whether the product was in fact a hazard.
Imagine the chaos, with various AGs targeting different products in the different states. It would be a nightmare for manufacturers and for consumers, who'd no longer know what was safe. Activist groups have also succeeded in getting wording into the bill that lowers the level of allowed lead paint - even though the current limit already incorporates the precaution of allowing far less than science tells us is safe. But only lawyers and ideologues support the false claim that "there is no safe level of exposure to lead.
"The current, already extra-safe, lead standards caused an unprecedented number of toy recalls last year - such as a callback of Barbie dolls because the paint in the iris of the doll's eye exceeded federal guidelines. In fact, children were never at risk from such tiny amounts.Yet the publicity from those recalls may prompt Congress to lower the allowable level to an even more minuscule level - and to forbid the CPSC from considering whether a child is likely actually to be exposed to dangerous levels. And recalls would be mandatory in all cases.
Let's be clear: Setting tougher standards because of last year's record number of recalls is the same as lowering the speed limit simply because more people were caught speeding - even though the highways remained just as safe. There's no logic to it. Government agencies usually like to gain more power. Rarely is legislation so bad that the agency being offered new powers say it doesn't want them. Yet Chairwoman Nord complained that the Senate bill "would harm product safety and put the American people at greater risk.
"The only real winners here are avaracious plaintiff's lawyers and ambitious AGs.
Jeff Stier is an associate director of the American Council on Science and Health (ACSH.org).
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
What a Fantastic Medical System - Shoulder Surgery
I just went under the knife for a bone spur in my shoulder so I won't be posting for a few days -
What a good medical system we have in this country - in and out in three hours, no huge waiting times like with Hillary Care, that is socialized medicine, where the ordinary people die because no one cares anymore or the system just doesn't work, i.e. Canada or England. Even illegals and the poor have the same access here. I pay $250 per month plus Medicare and a co-pay - the poor person or illegal pays nothing. How can this be? The liberals say it's not so - but we all know liberals lie a lot.
It's the same medical system that the liberals want to scrap in favor of the socialist system in Cananda, England and or even Cuba - really, that's what they want for you and me, but wait - oh no, not for them, no, no, they will have the good system because they are our leaders and therefore must have the best care. Remember they are so much smarter then anyone else in the room.
We will get what we deserve and what we are worth as that is how the liberals see us, make no mistake about that. Prepare to die in the waiting room.
But hang in there, I will be back shortly to save the world from the corrupt liberals and other nasty nut jobs - heh -
Keep the faith, the battle is joined..
The Slickster!
What a good medical system we have in this country - in and out in three hours, no huge waiting times like with Hillary Care, that is socialized medicine, where the ordinary people die because no one cares anymore or the system just doesn't work, i.e. Canada or England. Even illegals and the poor have the same access here. I pay $250 per month plus Medicare and a co-pay - the poor person or illegal pays nothing. How can this be? The liberals say it's not so - but we all know liberals lie a lot.
It's the same medical system that the liberals want to scrap in favor of the socialist system in Cananda, England and or even Cuba - really, that's what they want for you and me, but wait - oh no, not for them, no, no, they will have the good system because they are our leaders and therefore must have the best care. Remember they are so much smarter then anyone else in the room.
We will get what we deserve and what we are worth as that is how the liberals see us, make no mistake about that. Prepare to die in the waiting room.
But hang in there, I will be back shortly to save the world from the corrupt liberals and other nasty nut jobs - heh -
Keep the faith, the battle is joined..
The Slickster!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
