Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: bailout, Brussels, CH4, Cyprus, ECB, energy, EU, euro, Gazprom, Israel, Lebanon, Levant, Levant Basin, Leviathan, Natural gas, Russia, Syria
Cyprus has known from the beginning that its bailout is tied to its potential petrol dollars, while the EU has attempted to couch this in all manner of moral-high-ground rhetoric.
What will the EU do now? Will it bail Cyprus out on kinder terms to keep Russia from getting hold of the island’s gas? Monday is D-Day: This is the deadline the European Central Bank has set for Cyprus to come up with $6 billion in order to “qualify” for a bailout package.
Cyprus is playing Russia and the EU offer each other right now, hoping to bring the specter of a deal with Russia close enough to make Brussels blink and give Cyprus more negotiating power.
Watch the deals in progress with this in mind: Not only is Cyprus’ financial collapse at stake here. Also at stake is Russia’s monopoly on the European gas market and the Europe’s entire gas future.
via Oilprice.com: EU Caught Playing Dirty and it’s all about Russian Gas.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: 1%, 100%, 99%, advertising, fake recycling, fakery, greenwashing, marketing, paper towels, recycled paper, recycling, safeway, snake oil salesmen, unsafeway
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: auto traffic, auto-pedestrian, bicycle, bicycling, bike, car-pedestrian, collisions, denver, Denver-Boulder, hit and run, traffic accidents, transportation, urban cycling
Denver’s traffic not following national trends.
Denver’s auto-pedestrian accidents were up 46 percent for the first eight weeks of 2013 over the previous two years. Another grim statistic also stands out: Last year, the city had 13 hit-and-run fatalities, more than the previous three years combined.
[…]
After two years of averaging about 31 auto-pedestrian incidents a month, the average jumped to 44 a month in January and February, according to Denver police statistics.
Hit-and-run cases averaged 8.5 a month in January and February — after 4.8 per month in 2011 and 6.1 in 2012.
[…]
Over the past decade, about 1,600 accidents involving pedestrians or cyclists were reported every year, according to a study by the Denver Regional Council of Governments.
In the 10-county region, 17 percent of all fatalities were pedestrians, and 3 percent were cyclists.
via Spike in Denver's auto-pedestrian cases has officials seeking answers – The Denver Post.
These “jumps” are based on a mere two months’ of accidents. Gotta keep an eye out to see if it continues.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: CH4, China, Chindia, CO2, coal, electricity, energy, India, Peak Smart, power plants
Forgetting to start our renewable energy project.
Global demand for coal is expected to grow to 8.9 billion tons by 2016 from 7.9 billion tons this year. China is expected to add about 160 new coal-fired plants to the 620 operating now, within four years. During that period, India will add more than 46 plants.
Oh well.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Fat Man, Fukushima, Hiroshima, Little Boy, Nagasaki, Potsdam, radiation, Stalin, Stimson, Tepco, Truman
WASHINGTON: US service members are suing the Tokyo Electric Power Co. for more than $2 billion on grounds the utility lied about the dangers of helping clean up the nuclear disaster that struck two years ago, a newspaper reported on Thursday.
The case was first filed by nine plaintiffs in December but has now expanded to 26, and another 100 are in the process of joining the suit, said Stars and Stripes newspaper.
[…]
The plaintiffs says the have suffered a number of ailments that they say are linked to their exposure, including headaches, difficulty concentrating, rectal bleeding, thyroid problems, cancer, tumors and gynecological bleeding.
via http://www.brecorder.com/world/southeast-asia/110808.html
So they say, things that go around come around and all that.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Belgium, CDC, distracted driving, EuroPNStyles, France, HeathStyles, little screens, mobile device use while driving, Portugal, Spain, texting while driving, twiddlin your screen, UK, urban cycling, watch the road
USA! USA!
click to enlarge
To assess the prevalence of mobile device use while driving in Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, the United Kingdom (UK), and the United States, CDC analyzed data from the 2011 EuroPNStyles and HealthStyles surveys. Prevalence estimates for self-reported talking on a cell phone while driving and reading or sending text or e-mail messages while driving were calculated. This report describes the results of that analysis, which indicated that, among drivers ages 18–64 years, the prevalence of talking on a cell phone while driving at least once in the past 30 days ranged from 21% in the UK to 69% in the United States, and the prevalence of drivers who had read or sent text or e-mail messages while driving at least once in the past 30 days ranged from 15% in Spain to 31% in Portugal and the United States.
via Mobile Device Use While Driving — United States and Seven European Countries, 2011.
DO NOT LOOK AT THIS POST WHILE DRIVING
Filed under: maps | Tags: bone cancer, cesium, Cesium-137, contamination, Fukushima, HYSPLIT, hysplit model, Iodine-131, meltdown, multiple meltdown, NOAA, radiation, radioactive cesium, thyroid cancer
NOAA’s HYSPLIT model shows clouds of highly radioactive Cesium wafting over the US after Fuku blew sky high. Only one month’s worth shown.
To see animation:
http://www.sos.noaa.gov/Datasets/dataset.php?id=332
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: bicycle helmet laws, bicycle injuries, bicycle safety, bicycling injuries, Bike accidents, bike helmets, child cyclists, children and cycling, cycling, cycling injuries, helmet laws, helmets, mandatory helmet laws, transportation, urban cycling
Pinka Chatterji and Sara Markowitz, “Effects of Bicycle Helmet Laws on Children’s Injuries.” NBER Working Paper No. 18773. February 2013. JEL No. I0,K0
ABSTRACT
Cycling is popular among children, but results in thousands of injuries annually. In recent years, many states and localities have enacted bicycle helmet laws. We examine direct and indirect effects of these laws on injuries. Using hospital-level panel data and triple difference models, we find helmet laws are associated with reductions in bicycle-related head injuries among children. However, laws also are associated with decreases in non-head cycling injuries, as well as increases in head injuries from other wheeled sports. Thus, the observed reduction in bicycle-related head injuries may be due to reductions in bicycle riding induced by the laws.Pinka Chatterji
State University of New York at Albany Economics DepartmentSara Markowitz
Department of Economics Emory University
The auto industry loves mandatory helmet laws.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: amnasty, amnesty, Amnesty shamnesty, blood doping, Boogerd, Dekker, doping, EPO, pro cycling, psychling, Rabobank
This is what those ‘amnesty’ deals will look like for pro riders:
Under the pact, Dutch riders and staffers have until April 1 to come clean on their respective pasts [but not completely clean, of course]. Riders or staffers who confess to doping practices prior to 2008 will be issued six-month bans and fined two months’ wages. More severe bans of up to four years would be imposed for those who don’t confess during the amnesty window, but are later exposed.
And if anybody confesses to doping after 2008, the entire world will explode. So don’t do that, riders.
This whole thing is completely ridiculous. Stick a fork in it.
via Velonews: Boogerd’s confession causes stir in Dutch teams.
Filed under: maps | Tags: CH2M Hill, Cold War, FBI, Great Western Reservoir, Indiana Street, Jefferson County Parkway, Krey and Hardy, nuclear weapons, Plutonium, radioactive contamination, radioactive particles, Rockwell International, Rocky Flats, Standley Lake
…is about more than spreading the cancer of suburban development. It is also the latest installment in a long project to cover up history and erase responsibility.
click to enlarge
Distribution of plutonium contamination from Rocky Flats in becquerels per square meter (one becquerel equals one disintegration or burst of radiation per second). The original version of this map was prepared by P. W. Krey and E. P. Hardy of the Atomic Energy Commission’s Health and Safety Laboratory, New York City, and published in their 1970 report, “Plutonium in Soil Around the Rocky Flats Plant,” HASL 235. Sampling done in September 2011 along Indiana St. by independent scientist Marco Kaltofen showed that present deposits of plutonium are roughly equivalent to the levels measured by Krey and Hardy in 1970. The dotted red line shows the route of the proposed Jefferson Parkway.
via Leroy Moore: Rocky Flats and the Risk Society | LeRoyMoore's Blog.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Ben Jacques-Maynes, bicycle crash, bicycle racing, hit and run, Jamis, road rage, Sebastian Alexandre, Tuscon, Tyler Wren
Tyler Wren in VeloNews:
We departed for our ill-fated training ride on Friday at 10:00 a.m., headed out of town on Valencia Road, a common thoroughfare with a generous shoulder bounded by a white line. The 15-rider group was riding two-abreast in a long line, as far to the right as possible, in full accordance with Arizona traffic law. Our team’s strength and conditioning coach Todd Herriott and I were on the front, he on my left, closest to the passing traffic. Kinkade’s tan Oldsmobile Aurora suddenly and violently impacted Todd’s left side. He and I crashed hard on the front of the group as Mr. Kinkade sped away. My teammates also reported that Mr. Kinkade was shouting obscenities at us during the attack through his open car window.
As Todd and I lay on the ground struggling to comprehend what had happened, my unscathed teammate Ben Jacques-Maynes sprinted past us in an impressive pursuit of the fleeing car. Ben did not manage to catch the perpetrator, but he swiftly came upon our team car, which was waiting for us at our next turn and breathlessly explained the situation to our sport director, Sebastian Alexandre. Sebastian quickly resumed the pursuit along with his serendipitous passenger, John Segesta, a professional photographer in possession of a DSLR camera with a telephoto lens. John photographed numerous cars and license plates before the pair returned to the scene of the crime for the team members to positively identify the driver and vehicle.
John nailed him — crystal clear in high-definition on his camera was a shot of Kinkade’s car and Arizona license plate.
via Tyler Wren Journal: A first-hand account of the Jamis hit-and-run.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: 2012, driving in the US, oil consumption, Peak Demand, Vmt
via http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/policyinformation/travel_monitoring/12dectvt/12dectvt.pdf
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Alice Cooper, API, Eighteen, energy, oil demand, peak oil, petroleum demand, US oil consumption
18-year low oil demand. 18 million barrels per day.
18 and I like it.
U.S. Oil Demand Fell to 18-Year Low for January, API Says – Bloomberg.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Adelaide, bicycle accidents, bicycling, car-bike collisions, cycling safety, two-wheeled hellions, urban cycling
Drivers in Adelaide, according to a study of police reports there:
T-intersections were the most dangerous locations for crashes, followed by straight roads, and signalled intersections.
Drivers were at fault in 79 per cent of crashes and cyclists 21 per cent.
via Four in every five crashes between cars and bicycles caused by driver of car | adelaidenow.
Will this knowledge finally spark the crackdown on scofflaw cyclists that we so desperately need to finally cease any and all terrorizing of little old ladies by these unabashed two-wheeled hellions? Let us pray.
Filed under: maps, Uncategorized | Tags: crude oil supply, Cushing, EIA, energy, oil pipelines, oil transportation, petroleum products, pipeline map, refineries, US oil production, WTI
Via EIA:
This Week In Petroleum Summary Printer-Friendly Version.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: conspicuity, high-vis, looked but failed to see, urban cycling
Helman, Weare, Palmer and Fernandez-Medina, “Literature review of interventions to improve conspicuity of motorcyclists and help avoid ‘looked but failed to see’ accidents,” 2012.
A really nice overview of motorcyclist conspicuity studies, with this nugget at the very end:
Special thanks are due to Cris Burgess for reviewing an earlier draft of this report. During the period of time when reviewing the draft, Cris was riding his motorcycle to work and was struck from behind by a bus. Thankfully, Cris sustained only minor injuries in the collision. The irony of the fact that at the time of the collision he was wearing a bright orange high-visibility jacket, and riding a motorcycle with daytime running lights, is not lost on the authors.
Using lights during the day, wearing hi-vis clothing, helps. It does not work reliably, however, as the effectiveness of the extra measure(s) will depend very much on the background and other aspects of the immediate environment, which are constantly changing.
Filed under: maps | Tags: Assem Abou Ibrahim, EEZ, Lebanon, licensing, MEOW, MEW, oil and gas exploration, oil exploration, oil production, PA
…has never been explored for hydrocarbons.
On behalf of the newly formed Petroleum Administration (PA), I would like to welcome you to this website that will focus on matters related to the 1st licensing round for hydrocarbon exploration within the Lebanese offshore EEZ (Exclusive Economic Zone). The PA would also like to thank the Ministry of Energy and Water (MEW) for its continued support during the transition process.
via LEB Licensing Round.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Brent, crude oil, Cushing, James Hamilton, peak oil, Seaway pipeline, spread, WTI
click to enlarge
Blue is Brent, black is WTI, green is the spread between them.
A relatively recent phenomenon explained by James Hamilton:
West Texas Intermediate is a particular grade of crude oil whose price is usually quoted in terms of delivery in Cushing, Oklahoma. Brent is a very similar crude from Europe’s North Sea. As similar products, you’d expect them to sell for close to the same price, and up until 2010 they usually did. But an increase in production in Canada and the central U.S. combined with a decrease in U.S. consumption has led to a surplus of oil in the central U.S. This overwhelmed existing infrastructure for cheap transportation of crude from Cushing to the coast, causing a big spread to develop between the prices of WTI and Brent.
via Econbrowser: Prices of gasoline and crude oil.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Basso, doping, EPO, Fuentes, Jaksche, pro cycling, Puerto, TDF, Tour de France
Jaksche said it was “riders who always end up paying.”
“Cycling is not a mafia, it’s a sport run by unscrupulous people,” he said. “Now the same people who were behind doping would later point their finger at us.”
via VeloNews: Jaksche leaves no doubt in Puerto testimony; Basso says he never transfused blood.
There are some ads appearing on this blorg. I didn’t put them there. I didn’t even know they were there until a few days ago. It’s a WordPress thing. They now charge 30 bucks a year for a no-ad blog. Sorry.
Industrialized Cyclist Notepad 