Important article from Time magazine

Given all the hub-bub about offshore drilling and insane gas prices, I think it's important to keep things in perspective, and it seems to me that this article from June does a good job of laying out some key facts. I have added emphasis to parts I consider especially interesting. For some reason, I couldn't reproduce the article as is to Blogger (although Time provides the service for numerous other blog sites...) so I just copied and pasted it in, which I hope is not violating any copyright rules (if it is, I hope my friend Siva will correct me gently on it. ;)

By the way, have you all registered to vote?


"Will More Drilling Mean Cheaper Gas?"
Wednesday, Jun. 18, 2008 By BRYAN WALSH

On Wednesday morning President George W. Bush urged Congress to overturn a 26-year ban on offshore oil drilling in the U.S. and open a part of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to petroleum exploration. Flanked by the secretaries of Energy and the Interior, Bush also proposed streamlining the construction process for new oil refineries, and explained that these moves would "take pressure off gas prices over time by expanding the amount of American-made oil and gasoline." Coming a day after Republican presumptive presidential nominee John McCain made a similar appeal to enhance domestic oil exploration, Bush was sending an unsubtle election-year message to the American public: I care about the economic toll of $4-a-gallon gas, and Democrats in Congress, who have opposed such an expansion, don't.

But there's a flaw in that logic: even if tomorrow we opened up every square mile of the outer continental shelf to offshore rigs, even if we drilled the entire state of Alaska and pulled new refineries out of thin air, the impact on gas prices would be minimal and delayed at best. A 2004 study by the government's Energy Information Administration (EIA) found that drilling in ANWR would trim the price of gas by 3.5 cents a gallon by 2027. (If oil prices continue to skyrocket, the savings would be greater, but not by much.) Opening up offshore areas to oil exploration — currently all coastal areas save a section of the Gulf of Mexico are off-limits, thanks to a congressional ban enacted in 1982 and supplemented by an executive order from the first President Bush — might cut the price of gas by 3 to 4 cents a gallon at most, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council. And the relief at the pump, such as it is, wouldn't be immediate — it would take several years, at least, for the oil to begin to flow, which is time enough for increased demand from China, India and the rest of the world to outpace those relatively meager savings. "Right now the price of oil is set on the global market," says Kevin Lindemer, executive managing director of the energy markets group for the research firm Global Insight. President Bush's move "would not have an impact."

The reason is simple: the U.S. has an estimated 3% of global petroleum reserves but consumes 24% of the world's oil. Offshore territories and public lands like ANWR that don't allow drilling may contain up to 75 billion barrels of oil, according to the EIA. That may sound like a lot, but it's not enough to make a significant difference in a world where global oil demand is expected to rise 30% by 2030, to nearly 120 million barrels a day. At best, greatly expanding domestic drilling might eventually lower the proportion of oil the U.S. imports — currently about 60% of its total supply — but petroleum is a global commodity, and the world market would soak up any additional American production. "This is a drop in the bucket," says Gernot Wagner, an economist with the Environmental Defense Fund.

Still, with Americans hurting at the pump, it may be difficult for environmentalists and other opponents of increased domestic drilling to resist the push for more oil, whatever the cost. As recently as his 2000 presidential run, McCain had been against offshore drilling, but he changed that position Tuesday, arguing that individual states should decide for themselves. (He remains against drilling ANWR, however, pointing out that "we called it a 'refuge' for a reason.' ") The Republican Governor of Florida, Charlie Crist — considered a possible vice-presidential candidate — also flip-flopped, backing McCain's position. Though Democratic Senator Barack Obama and most of his party are against the proposed expansion, McCain and his supporters may have the public on their side: a recent Gallup poll found that 57% of Americans believe we should open up new territories to drilling. "It could help in the long term," says Bruce Bullock, director of the Maguire Energy Institute at Southern Methodist University. Still, he acknowledges that even expanded drilling is unlikely to bring prices down much.

Though offshore drilling conjures up fears of catastrophic spills, the petroleum industry rightly argues that safety measures have improved considerably in recent years. A 2003 report by the National Research Council found that only 1% of the oil that polluted U.S. waters came from petroleum operations, like the offshore drilling platforms that run in the Gulf of Mexico — which also weathered Hurricane Katrina without massive spills. If it can be done in an environmentally friendly fashion — and with oil companies themselves footing the bill — opening up some new territory to drilling might be worth it. The reality is that our economy will run on petroleum for the foreseeable future, and that while investing in alternatives is the only way to secure truly low-cost energy over the long term, we'll still need oil for decades more. But any attempt to increase supply must be coupled with even heavier investment in energy efficiency and other methods to decrease oil demand — an approach that, to his credit, McCain has said will be a key part of his energy policy (although in the Senate he has skipped or voted against every fuel efficiency bill since 1990, according to the League of Conservation Voters). In any case, Bush's plan is unlikely to be realized — the Democratic-controlled Congress remains against it, and Bush can't open up the new territory on his own.

Even as Democrats and Republicans squabble over a relatively small amount of petroleum, we're missing out on the opportunity to truly break our addiction to crude. This week the Senate again failed to renew the tax credit for renewable energies like solar and wind; the credit, which expires at the end of the year, is key to the healthy growth of low-carbon alternatives. Without it, "the industry will simply stop," says Santiago Seage, CEO of the Spanish company Abengoa Solar. With energy demand skyrocketing, we'll need more oil, and alternatives like solar, and demand-side measures like toughened auto fuel efficiency standards or tax incentives for Americans to purchase less wasteful cars. We'll have to include action on global warming, like the recently defeated Warner-Lieberman carbon cap and trade bill. A study by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology found that under the bill, U.S. petroleum consumption would have dropped by nearly half by 2030 — savings far in excess of the amount of oil we could ever pull from Alaska or the coasts. "We can't drill our way out of this and we can't conserve our way out either," says Bullock. "We need both." Fair enough. But the sad truth is that neither drilling nor conservation will have an immediate effect on rising gas prices, even if they do have an immediate impact on the presidential race.

A very warm house

Well, it seems like a year since I posted anything here but it’s actually only been a month and a half… a month and a half explained by preparations for my Bastille day weekend housewarming party. On Saturday July 12, around 40 adults and 5 children joined me in my backyard for locally produced crémant (the champagne of Burgundy), cold cuts, salads and barbecued duck breast (this is France after all!) and various types of sausages, washed down with some local red wine. The last party-goers left around 5 am, with lots of people returning Sunday and Monday to eat leftovers that seemed to go on for days and days. I think it is safe to say that everyone had a good time. Reminiscent of my Champ de Mars picnics, folks had come from all over (besides the locals and the Parisians, some friends came from Alsace and others from Haute Savoie). It was wonderful, but 5 days later I’m still worn out from both the preparations and festivities…

We were incredibly lucky with the weather, as storms had been forecast all weekend long. Saturday was partly cloudy and not as hot as usual, and the rain held off until 1:32 am, at which point the crowd was small enough to fit on my covered terrace. The sun came back in its southern Burgundy splendour on Monday and hasn’t left us since.

Many thanks to all who came and those who gave of their muscle and time to help before and after with prep and clean-up, and the generous souls who brought lovely gifts!! My house and I are much the better for it!! Special mention for my boyfriend Jan, who not only was a tremendous help and fabulous co-host, but who also remained energetic and cheerful throughout the stress leading up to (and during) the big day.

There will be a separate photo album to follow once I gather all the pics together.

Rat rides Cat rides Dog

Corny, but charming and true...

En mai, fais ce qu'il te plait

There’s been so much going on here in Horn Morning that I actually forgot I had a blog for a while…
The biggest news of the past month of course being the adoption of “Pinkie” (obviously, not my choice of name but you can’t traumatise a 7-year old French dog by changing her name at this point!)
Here’s a brief catch-up in images.


One of my oldest friends, Lisa B., got married!!
Félicitations!

I got a new welcome mat and Pinkie got a scarf from "Gramma"






Pinkie started making the rounds with her favourite vet, Jan (pronounced Yan)

Happiness is a warm dog

Food for thought

I can't remember who it was who said "Those who do not learn from the past are condemned to repeat it."

Media I love

Living overseas, I am blocked from watching videos on numerous sites based in the US. An annoying message pops up while the video is trying to load that says “Sorry this content is not available in your area”. I will not even begin to try to understand why… but it is very frustrating and incomprehensible to my logic. It keeps me from seeing news clips, movie trailers, etc.
A site that *never* does this is YouTube, and I totally dig it. Finding old music from my childhood, watching excerpts of my favourite films, keeping up with hilarious incidents like the Sarah Silverman/Jimmy Kimmel “feud”, I can spend hours and hours here.
Another site that does not block us “foreigners” is Ellen Degeneres’ TV show site. I LOVE Ellen. If I were a lesbian, she would be my dream girl. As I am a flaming heterosexual, she is my dream best friend. I have never seen anyone so funny in my entire life. Her show never fails to make me laugh out loud. I think she is a comic genius. I worship and adore her. She even manages to make me like people I think I hate (such as when she had Jenna Bush call up GW at the White House). I admire her intelligence and subtlety. Watch how she handles this total nutcase who is actually an elected politician, a representative from Oklahoma, which should scare every American on the planet “more than terrorism, more than Islam” to quote this total wackjob.

American Humour

Although everyone often jokes that I am more French than the French, I know that deeep-down, I will always be American when it comes to my sense of humour. This video cracks me up and I can't get enough of it, but I doubt that most of my French friends would get it...
The Jimmy Kimmel/Ben Affleck response is also funny, but not as much as this original zinger.

Winter in southern Burgundy

In the past month, we’ve had three (3) days of less-than perfect weather. Otherwise, it’s been week after of week of brilliant blue skies propped up by the massive branches of centuries-old trees that are still gorgeous even without their leaves and awe-inspiring landscapes that still move me to tears (not an exaggeration) even though I’ve been here for almost a year now…

Numerous people had warned me against the winter season, the dreary cold, the boredom for lack of cultural stimulation, desolate scenery, etc. I’ve had none of it. This winter has been one of the happiest I’ve had in years, and would have been perfect if only Sheba were still here…

Now that I’ve made it through the first winter, I’ve decided to give up the apartment in Paris after April or May (so if you’ve been thinking about coming for a visit and wanted to spend some time in the big city for free, better buy your tickets asap!) I’m experiencing some financial uncertainty and job precarity (you might have heard of the €5bn problem at my main client, Société Générale?) so I can no longer afford to keep paying rent on an apartment I never use. (And if you know of anyone who needs a French to English translator, please speak up! I’m desperate for work and feeling like Dustin Hoffman’s character in The Graduate:
I’m a little worried about my future…)

Other than that, I haven’t updated the blog recently because I didn’t have the words to express exactly how I’ve been feeling here, in my house and new region. But luckily for us all, some people do have the right words and one of my all-time favourite poems (thank you Michael S for introducing me to it almost 20 years ago) sums up my newfound bliss perfectly, so I’d like to share it with you, along with some images from the past couple of weeks. You could change “Rochester, Minnesota” to “Cormatin, France” to get the picture. Enjoy!

A Blessing
by James Wright

Just off the highway to Rochester, Minnesota,
Twilight bounds softly forth on the grass.
And the eyes of those two Indian ponies
Darken with kindness.
They have come gladly out of the willows
To welcome my friend and me.
We step over the barbed wire into the pasture
Where they have been grazing all day, alone.
They ripple tensely, they can hardly contain their happiness
That we have come.
They bow shyly as wet swans. They love each other.
There is no loneliness like theirs.
At home once more,
They begin munching the young tufts of spring in the darkness.
I would like to hold the slenderer one in my arms,
For she has walked over to me
And nuzzled my left hand.
She is black and white,
Her mane falls wild on her forehead,
And the light breeze moves me to caress her long ear
That is delicate as the skin over a girl's wrist.
Suddenly I realize
That if I stepped out of my body I would break
Into blossom.

Expresso doses of wisdom, coolness or fun

My cousin Shauna turned me on to this website, which sends a tasty daily snack of a newsletter that I really enjoy. It often whets my appetite for more, but mostly it's the perfect little nugget that gives your day a boost. Although it might just be a chick thing...

One of my recent favourites: http://bethree.com/2007/12/31/every-time-you-open-a-door-you-close-one/

Check it out!

After reading the following article

I might change the name of my blog to "A Migrant Worker Life"...

http://www.gadling.com/2007/12/29/how-is-an-expat-different-from-a-migrant-worker/

Meanwhile, an image from New Year's Day in the park that runs behind my house.

Happy 2008!!

Signs that at 39, I’m still very immature

I could probably draw up a top 10 (or even top 20!) list of all the signs that show that I am still very immature for someone of such an advanced age, but this link right here probably sums them all up in a nutshell:

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1719818773

Happy Holidays!!

The scary and sad state of US public education, proof 3

The scary and sad state of US public education, proof 2

The scary and sad state of US public education, proof 1

Book clubs: chic or clique?

My friend Amory has recently moved abroad, to southern Italy. In a savvy move to meet other expats, a rare breed in Puglia, she accepted an invitation to join a book club formed by local American wives. After attending one meeting, she was summarily informed that in fact, there had been a mistake and the club was actually “closed” and no longer accepting new members. Mind you, there’s only 5 people in this book club. What the f***?
This sort of childish behaviour really aggravates me. Obviously, these boring women who apparently never graduated out of junior high school social interaction and would probably fail miserably on “Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?” were intimidated by Amory’s acute intelligence, comely youthfulness and general coolness. But to make things worse, Amory described the one meeting she attended. They talked a little about urinary tract infections but then concentrated on the book, with nothing stronger than coffee on offer. My mind was blown:
What’s the point of a book club if you don’t drink wine and talk about sex?
After 39 years of life, I am still frequently bewildered by the comportment of American adults.

Meanwhile, for all of you might not be in a book club, here’s what I’m recommending this week:

For reading in French: L’élégance du hérisson by Muriel Barbery. Sadly for the English-only crowd, this has not yet been translated, and that will be a daunting task to try to convey the brilliance, poetry and charm of this delightful, moving, beautiful, simultaneously funny and sad book. Muchas gracias to Lisa B for loaning it and recommending it to me. Barbery's first novel, La Gourmandise, which *has* been translated into 12 languages but not yet English as far as I can find on the web, is now on its way to me as I write thanks to Amazon.

For reading in English: Interpreter of maladies, stories by Jhumpa Lahiri. A collection of short stories that once I started, I couldn’t put down, staying up til 3 am to finish. I can’t recall if a short story has ever moved me to tears before, but one of her gems did. I can’t wait to buy her follow-up novel The Namesake.

In my experience, children are a lot like cats. They are irresistibly drawn to people who are utterly allergic to them; they are wholly unpredictable, can smother you with boundless affection and then suddenly, inexplicably no longer be aware you exist. And of course, they are thoroughly lovable despite their flaws.
For reasons altogether unfathomable to me, children have become drawn to me over the past 5 years. I cannot think of a single child below the age of 7 that I met in my recent past who didn’t immediately take to me. While completely bewildered and surprised by this, I am also very flattered and humbled. I have no explanation for this curious phenomenon. And I hope I’m not jinxing myself by speaking of it!
My latest fan is Clémence, 21 months, the daughter of my friends Stéphane and Delphine. They stopped by the house unexpectedly last weekend for a short visit (Stéphane’s family lives in nearby Cluny). Clémence was a hoot. And in one of those child/cat parallels, as soon as her dad wanted to take a photo of us together (she insisted the only suitable place for her to sit during the entire visit was right next to me) her finger was glued to her nose, much to her lovely parents’ chagrin. I of course found it hilarious and consider Clémence to be something of a kindred spirit.
Sadly in the photos her beautiful blue eyes came out demon-red and the red-eye reduction filter couldn’t do a lot to help. Still, I found them worth sharing for the laugh. Note that she is an ambidextrous picker!

Falling

into a vibrant palette of flaming reds, oranges and golds, the Charolais fields remain vibrant green and the glorious sunshine against the robin’s egg-blue sky has a special autumn glow that I’ve never seen anywhere else. I think it is safe to say that October is my favourite time of year in the Saône et Loire.
It’s been a long time since I posted anything here, my absence stemming from a variety of reasons, mostly a lack of time and a sort of paralysis of the soul. After Sheba died, I went to the US for three weeks and avoided my grief by working tons, injecting money into the US GDP in shopping expeditions, and rafting down the Grand Canyon. Then I escorted my mom and soon-to-be-94 grandmother back to France for a two-week visit.
While we all about drove each other batty from a little too much family togetherness, I am so glad they came. Having them here kept me from lying around in bed all day, crying all the time over Sheba’s absence. This huge house seems barren and empty without him. So instead of mourning my devastating loss for days on end, immobilised by the pain, I was running around rearranging furniture, painting, sightseeing, shopping for the house, etc. There was no time for weeping, so I usually got some in at night when I went to bed. Every time I realise that I will never see him again, the pain is crippling. It still seems unreal to me. Thanks to all of you who have written with their condolences and support, which has been wonderful. And I want to extend special thanks to my mom and grandmother for putting up with my bouts of high tension, which they may or may not have realised stemmed from me trying to bottle up my grief, a task that often proved too much for me, with my sadness quickly erupting into anger.
Immediately after their departure, my friend Chris (aka CW) and his parents Lloyd and Carla came for a visit. Now that the house was in better shape thanks to all of Mom’s hard work, we were able to enjoy the fabulous weather and do some sightseeing, wine tasting and indulging in delicious meals – the best of Burgundy!
The heating system has been successfully installed and improvements are made to the house every week. I’m still taking reservations for this winter and have no plans for Christmas yet… If the insulation gets installed in time, I would love to have a huge New Year’s bash, so stay tuned…
Meanwhile, some photos to accompany the above text.

Mom and me at her house in Scottsdale

Mom and Gramma at dinner our first night in Paris with Roland.

An image from Jan Brueghel the Elder's Chateau de Mariemont, which although in Belgium, looks exactly like some of the landscape around here. (Photo I took without flash in the Dijon museum)

CW, me, Carla and Lloyd at La Potence.

The church in Juliénas.

Eric Clapton - Tears In Heaven

Autumn has arrived early this year, with cooler temperatures and soft rain falling on this late August day. Oddly, the sun is shining despite the nonstop rain. Somehow, this is appropriate.

A very kind young woman vet is on her way to my house to put Sheba to sleep.

For 17 years, he has been my closest companion, and the idea that he will no longer be accompanying the adventure of my life is unbearable to me.
His unique personality, amazing green eyes and bundle of warm love have gotten me through almost two full decades, pretty much my entire adult life. He has been a constant source of joy. Every day he has been waiting for me by the door when I come home, every night he has curled up beside me (or on me, depending on his mood). He is the smartest, most adorable, most affectionate and most beautiful cat I have ever known. To say I will miss him does not even come close to the truth.
My heart is breaking, a part of me is leaving forever.
My grief is boundless.
This is the worst day of my entire life.

Told you so, told you so, told you told you told you so!

After years of my raving about these wines, finally some experts are also starting to see the light. Unfortunately, this probably means prices will go up!
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/07/25/arts/trmacon.php?page=1