eFlourishing Masthead Outlined

 Published Weekly by Family Wealth Management, LLC 
          March 30, 2010                                                                                     Issue 10

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A Brief Economic Update on Oil

 

The theory of "Peak Oil", like the theory of "anthropogenic global warming", is, I believe, factually unsustainable. Both theories conveniently discount the scope and effects of natural phenomena and the unlimited potential of the liberated human mind. Fortunately, as Mrs. Cunningham taught her history students nearly fifty years ago, the truth will out. According to a recent Gallup poll (http://www.gallup.com/poll/126716/Environmental-Issues-Year-Low-Concern.aspx) , the number of people who take "Global Warming" seriously has fallen to 28%. "Peak Oil" is headed for the dust-bin of science, too.

 

Oil production increased in the Gulf of Mexico and North Dakota last year. Those increases more than offset declines elsewhere in the U.S. for the first annual increase in U.S. oil production since 1991. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported in its March 2010 Short-Term Energy Outlook that U.S. oil production in 2009 averaged 5.32 million barrels a day, up from 4.95 million in 2008. That's an 8% increase.

 

Several weeks ago, a subscriber/client sent me a link to some information about the Bakken Formation in North Dakota. I checked it out. According to a 2008 report by the U.S. Geological Survey, Bakken could increase technically recoverable reserves by up to 4 billion barrels. Though newsletter and stock promoters often exaggerate the potential of the Bakken Formation, the recent EIA Outlook shows that Bakken does add significantly to production. The increases in production in both the Gulf of Mexico and North Dakota's Bakken Formation show - yet again - how oil company investments in rapidly developing technology can increase both known reserves and current oil production.

 

As the economist Dr. Reisman reminds us, from its surface to its center - a distance of four thousand miles - the Earth is nothing but a solidly packed ball of natural resources. Even with the scientific and technological progress we've made during the 150-year history of the oil industry, we've succeeded in drilling in just a few places to a depth of only about seven miles - a pin prick.

 

 

The Health of the Republic

I am not a regular reader of either Salon or the Huffington Post, but the excerpts below reveal symptoms of a government with too much power. I want to emphasize that the issue is not party, it is power.  

From Salon (http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/ glenn_greenwald/2010/03/20/health_care/index.html):

...the way this bill was crafted fulfilled his campaign promises because he said he would include these industries "at the table":  please.  It's true that Obama did say that, and that this clearly meant he intended to try to accommodate some of their concerns so that they didn't wage jihad against his bill.  That's fair enough.  But it's also true that he repeatedly railed against the Washington practice of crafting bills by negotiating in secret with lobbyists and industry interests...

...the White House had agreed in secret with health care industry representatives that there would be no public option in a final bill, even as the President publicly feigned support for it and pretended to be fighting for it.

In other words, this bill was negotiated using the standard, secret, sleazy Beltway lobbyist/industry practices that candidate Obama frequently condemned and vowed to defeat.  And these industries extracted such huge benefits as a result of these secret deals -- a bill shaped to their liking and profit objectives - that they are essentially in favor of it.
 
eFlourishing Mar 30 2010 pic 
  

From Huffington Post (http://www.huffington post.com/2009/08/13/internal-memo-confirms-bi_n_25828 5.html):

 

A memo obtained by the Huffington Post confirms that the White House and the pharmaceutical lobby secretly agreed to precisely the sort of wide-ranging deal that both parties have been denying over the past week.

The memo, which according to a knowledgeable health care lobbyist was prepared by a person directly involved in the negotiations, lists exactly what the White House gave up, and what it got in return.

It says the White House agreed to oppose any congressional efforts to use the government's leverage to bargain for lower drug prices or import drugs from Canada - and also agreed not to pursue Medicare rebates or shift some drugs from Medicare Part B to Medicare Part D, which would cost Big Pharma billions in reduced reimbursements.

In exchange, the Pharmaceutical Researchers and Manufacturers Association (PhRMA) agreed to cut $80 billion in projected costs to taxpayers and senior citizens over ten years. Or, as the memo says: "Commitment of up to $80 billion, but not more than $80 billion."

 

The Last of the Mohicans, Almost

There is nothing new under the sun, but the history you don't know; or in my case, the genealogy.

One of the oldest Indian reservations in North America is reserve land granted to the Schaghticoke Indians (descendants of the Mohicans) in the year 1736 by the General Assembly of the Colony of Connecticut, forty years prior to the formation of the United States. As far as I know, the Schaghticoke do not run a casino. Still, they have my attention.

My great-grandfather, George Washington Harvey (1855 - 1939) was married to Mary Ann Winterbottom (1857- 1897); Mary Ann's mother was Mary Jane Bearce (1836 - 1901). Her father was James Winterbottom, who was born in England in 1828.

Mary Jane Bearce was the daughter of Sarah Austin (1795 - 1880) and Eli Hervey Bearse (1793 - 1857). Here is the entry point of my interest in the Schaghticoke Indians:

Oliver Canfield* (1729 - 1818), part Schaghticoke himself, had a housekeeper named Sarah Mauwee (1732 - ?), daughter of Joseph Mauwee, a Sachem (chief) of the Schaghticoke Nation. Oliver and Sarah conceived a daughter, who they named Freelove. Yes, that was her real name. Freelove Canfield was born on Long Mountain, Connecticut in 1758. Oliver and his wife, Tabitha Roberts (1732 - 1818), raised Freelove, along with their other three children. Tabitha later moved to Somme, Picardie, France, which is where she died.

On March 27, 1789, Freelove Canfield was married to Josiah Bearse, III* (1755 - 1845). Josiah was also part Schaghticoke. Together, Josiah and Freelove had eleven children. One of those children was Eli Hervey Bearse.

Yes, Eli Hervey Bearse is my great, great, great, great grandfather. Freelove Canfield Bearse is my great, great, great, great, great grandmother. Sarah Mauwee is my... Well, you get the idea.

Now you know what I did this past weekend. Gosh, that was fun - and I'm just getting started. http://www.ancestry.com

*Josiah Bearse, III, and Oliver Canfield both fought in the American Army during the Revolutionary War.

 

Until next week,

PATIENCE, DISCIPLINE, CONFIDENCE in the FUTURE! mh

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