Dr. Pepper says it will give a free can of soda to everyone in the country if Guns ‘n’ Roses releases Chinese Democracy sometime in 2008. I really have no idea how to respond to this. (Hat tip: Rick Davis.)
I was often tempted to do something like this to my own TAs in college.
Cool photos of an abandoned, century-old outpost in Antarctica.
Well this could be good news.
Life Before Death. A moving, eerie series of photos taken of terminally ill people just before and just after death.
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TheAgitator.com
Is the oil story an April Fool’s joke? A quick Google search showed a bunch of blogs pointing to that same website. So is it the original source of the story? If so, how credible is an article that includes language like this:
One big run-on sentence with jingoist leanings? Shouldn’t this be major news and therefore covered by CNN, MSNBC, etc.?
Now I’m wondering if the Dr. Pepper story is an April Fool’s joke, as well…
I’m not used to crying at work.
I need to take a breather, now.
When my son was born, I suddenly became uncomfortably aware of my own mortality and, for the first time, began to fear it.
Christopher,
I think this might be legit. I searched on “Bakken Oil Formation” and the number one link was: https://www.dmr.nd.gov/ndgs/Bakken/newpostings/07272006_BakkenReserveEstimates.pdf which is a North Dakota government doc.
Also I think the Dr. Pepper thing might be legitimate. I recall seeing it posted on Digg or Slashdot last week sometime. However given how long GnR has been working on Chinese Democracy I doubt Dr. Pepper will have to make good on it’s promise.
If that TA was so easy-going, they should have made a joke of their own instead of chastising the student. Silly? Absolutely. Disrespectful? Not likely. How about something like this in response:
And you would know this exactly how, Mr. Baggins?
As much as I yearn for the days when everything will be powered by magical super efficient solar cells, a lot of new oil is on the whole good news.
What would a North Dakota oil sheik look like?
For those looking for more “legitimate” news sources:
Grand Forks Herald: http://tinyurl.com/2xtjkp
AP, via Forbes: http://tinyurl.com/22×27z
Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bakken_Formation
FORBES: http://tinyurl.com/22×27z
WIKI: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bakken_Formation
GRAND FORKS HERALD: http://tinyurl.com/2f4dgd
We haven’t even been allowed to make just REFINERIES in this country for like 30 years … you think the liberal hippies in this country are going to let us actually drill for oil again? They’ll probably declare ND a ‘wild life preserve’ and then still have the audacity to turn around and complain about the price of gas …..
From what I’ve read, there’s a giant pocket of oil like this in Alaska that we haven’t tapped either.
OK, so let’s say the amount of oil in the Bakken is as the USGS predicts. Let’s say it reduces our dependence on overseas oil. We’d still have to import some–at least to maintain reserves–and we’d still be no closer to a replacement for the internal-combustion engine, which is, let’s face it, a 19th century invention that needs to be replaced or at least revamped. Coal and oil are the biggest producers of carbons monoxide and dioxide, and we need to reduce those emissions–if not for global warming, then at least for cleaner air.
Dr. Pepper says it will give a free can of soda to everyone in the country if Guns ‘n’ Roses releases Chinese Democracy sometime in 2008.
I suppose somebody cares, though I can’t imagine who.
The pictures in the “Life Before Death” item hit close to home for me. I shed any wishful thinking about an afterlife many years ago and as I get older, I have come to realize that our 70 or 80 years is not really a lifetime, but merely a tease. It’s only as I get closer to death that I finally have learned how to live. And now that I know how to do it, I want to start over.
I think the story about the huge oil deposits is just a gubmint scheme to scare the Arabs into reducing oil prices.
James:
We haven’t even been allowed to make just REFINERIES in this country for like 30 years … you think the liberal hippies in this country are going to let us actually drill for oil again?
Two Points
1. I agree that the libs have stopped some refineries.
2. the Oil companies also benefit from a “refinery shortage”
How? Beacuse they even closed some refineries last year during peak demand - and then the price goes up. Their product price increases and their expenses go down - the end result is greater profits. Which is not necessarily bad unless you are a consumer or an entrepeneur that wants to start an oil company. The only (unlikely) concern then is that gov’t will confiscate those profits.
So long as they have enough product to meet demand, it does not matter how many refineries exist. If there wasn’t enough, public outcry of gas shortages would mandate more and the companies would build more.
To a great extent, Oil companies love the regulation - why? b/c it keeps the existing companies on top. R Balko profiles countless businesses that lobby for licensing and other regs for the sole purpose of restricting competition. Oil Execs are no different.
With the myriad of regs, could you or any group of investors start a new company? That is no accident.
“With the myriad of regs, could you or any group of investors start a new company? That is no accident.”
Indeed. Long gone are the days of the Daniel Plainview types who restricted competition by being a douche bag in ‘plain view’ - the current douche bagism is just hidden among laws and regs - the monopolists do loves them their monopolies! There just isn’t enough money out there for new blood!
The Lakota will be very happy to hear about their new oil field.
http://blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/2007/12/lakota-withdraw.html