Two Oil Companies, Seadrill and ConocoPhillips, Ripe for Rebound.

Summary

Saudi Arabia can or is no longer willing to sustain low crude oil prices.

Last round of public sector benefit cuts and large budget deficits indicate that the country is losing the oil war.

OPEC's decision to curtail production is a big win for U.S. shale oil companies.

I think oil can hit $60 in the next couple of months. Here are my two top bets for rising oil.

Last week, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) delivered a major surprise to world energy markets. The organization, which has earned a reputation for ineffective decision-making (and some would say for paralyzing itself, too) has agreed to curtail production in November in a bid to support crude oil prices.

"Resentment" by Gary Bryan

by Gary Bryan
From The Song, "Resentment"
Album: "The Problem With Love"

Can traits of previous lovers appear in a mother's future children?

Scientists have proved telegony exists, where offspring take on the characteristics of a mother's previous sexual partner.

An intriguing new study suggests children may indeed resemble a mother’s previous sexual partner.

The idea that the physical traits of

Pennsylvania woman falls but is strangled by her medical alert necklace.

An 86-year-old New Cumberland woman has fallen but will never get up again. She died after she tripped and her medical alert necklace caught on her walker and strangled her to death.

Roseann J. DiFrancesco was found dead in her bathroom on Feb. 15, according to the report from the Cumberland County Coroner's Office. Relatives had last spoken to her on Feb. 12.

She was found after a visiting nurse, unable to summon

Datil Pepper Dreams In Phoenix Arizona

Like so many people I had never heard of the datil pepper. My brother had moved to St. Augustine years ago and he told me about the datil pepper and how it was so popular with the people in the local area. Sauces, jellies, mustards and relishes are made from the peppers - many using 'secret' family recipes. He explained that datil peppers were largely grown by smaller, independent farmers and sold at farmer's markets and to Datil pepper sauce manufacturers. There were no large commercial farms at the time and I'm not sure if there are any today. His plan was to grow the peppers and make a few bucks. From his

The Obvious

"Living is easy with eyes closed. Misunderstanding all you see"
-John Lennon

John Lennon often stated the obvious in his lyrics. Sometimes that would irritate me. But I've learned that what might be obvious to me could be considered profound to another person. Just as I have discovered profundity in the simplest of phrases when I give thoughtful consideration to the words and open my mind to a deeper meaning. So, just because something is obvious doesn't necessarily mean it is not profound or instructive beyond its obviousness.

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Effects of LSD

A friend purposed that my taking of LSD as a teenager may have permanently changed the way my brain was wired. I told him that it most definitely did. That was point!

No Regrets - a song by Gary Bryan

No Regrets (unfinished song)
by Gary Bryan

Written in about 1972
Never wrote a chorus

With no regrets,
Or second thoughts,
My mind's too numb to grieve,
My heart is set,

Emergency Broadcasting Update

I was watching a New York TV station when one of those 'tests of the emergency broadcast system' interruptions came on. The guys voice sounds like he's using radio equipment from 1901 or maybe he's broadcasting from the moon. Yeah - he's on the moon. It sounds all static and scratchy. Get some good equipment emergency guys. In the event of an emergency we may not be able to understand what the hell you're saying. While you're all safe and cozy up there in your moon hut - we need information down here! And where did you get that buzzer? It sounds like someone is pushing the wrong answer button from 'What's My Line' - over and over. Hey - emergency broadcasting system, update your shit!

Sample Sale of Business Stock Purchase Agreement

       

The following business sale - structured, as a stock purchase agreement as opposed to an asset sale, is posted here because samples of these transactions are simply hard to find. It may be important to structure the sale of a business as an asset sale or as the sale of  stock. Buyers and sellers benefit in different ways. Please consult with a CPA that is familiar with business purchase agreements before you sign on the dotted line. And while the structure of the purchase agreement will be important, so too may be the distribution of assets for tax purposes.                                  

STOCK PURCHASE AGREEMENT

Robin Bryan - The Wizard of Wood Carving

Robin Bryan grew up in Hialeah Florida, lived in Pittsburgh and Saint Augustine for several years,eventually settling in Breeding Kentucky where he has been operating his business of making canes, walking sticks and wood carvings since about 2003.

Astrud Gilberto Sings The Girl From Ipanema

'Arab Spring' Brings Muslim Brotherhood Dictator to Egypt

While the mainstream media and the Obama administration rejoiced at the so-called 'democracy' movement in Egypt (dubbed as part of the 'The Arab Spring'), a few radio talk show hosts and experts on international affairs warned of the possibility of the Muslim Brotherhood taking political control of Egypt. While the mainstream media largely scoffed at the notion, they would also insert comments that implied that the Muslim Brotherhood would rule with moderation and somehow reflect and nurture the

Gambling Dollars Wagered By Country

Maybe you, like me,  have always thought that because Americans had all the money in the world ( I know we don't anymore - but you know what I mean) that we would therefore have the most money to burn and it would follow that we would probably gamble more than other countries. Turns out that, when it comes to gambling, compared to the other countries of the world, Americans are rather low on the loser scale. While that may be surprising, you might be shocked when you find out who's atop the gambling heap of countries that drop the most money on gambling.

Dumb Ways To Die Song and Video

This is actually a public service advertisement to warn people about the dangers of being around trains. From the web site: "Most people are able to recognize for themselves that trains are big, fast and not to be messed with. But sadly, a few people just don't get it. And that's why we're running this campaign. To stop them from that brain fade, from doing something dumb and being hit by a train."  Apparently it's a pretty big problem in

How to Clean a Copper Chafing Dish

We put it to the test. A bottle of Heinz

Ketchup versus these badly oxidized,

copper chafing dishes.  

Several years ago my wife bought six vintage, copper plated chafing dishes. She picked them up for a song but the copper really needed cleaning. She tried a few copper cleaner type products but nothing worked very well. This year she searched the internet and found an amazingly easy way to bring tarnished copper plating back to life using something found in almost every refrigerator - Ketchup! We were simply astonished. 

All you have to do is spread the Ketchup (we used Heinz) on the copper, then

Cook Turkey in Electric Roaster Oven

1 whole turkey, thawed up to 20 lbs
1/4 cup olive oil or 1/4 cup butter
1 teaspoon seasoning salt
Directions:

1 Take the insert pan out of the roaster and pre-heat the roaster to it's highest setting (on mine it's 450, but 500 if your oven goes that high).

2 Prep the turkey by rinsing and patting dry. Sprinkle salt in the cavities. Stuff your turkey if desired. Note on stuffing: Don’t pre-stuff your turkey. Mix and

Napoleon Obama on Newsweek. GOP: If you're Old, or White - You're History!

This is one of the last printed covers that you'll see from Newsweek. They're going 100% digital soon.

I don't have much of a problem with the picture of Obama all dressed up like Napoleon Bonaparte. He won the election, and all that, so he and his friends can gloat. But the thing about old white guys is kind of strange. Let's suppose that "The Obama Conquest" refers to one article and the old white guys headline referrs to another. Some editor had to decide to put both on the cover at the same time. Was that because the editor is a little naive and insensitive?

If this same cover appeared in The Weekly Standard or The National Review there would be outrage in the main stream media; calling the publisher racist and incendiary. But since it's put out by one of their own, there's no racist implications. What they will say is that if you see anything racist about it - that actually proves that

Environmentalists Target Gibson Guitars!

Environmentalist groups out of tune on Gibson Guitars!

Gibson, the popular guitar manufacturer, is being singled out and bullied by the Obama administration over a questionable exotic wood shipment.

Now comes word that several far left-leaning environmentalist groups are grinding their jack-boots into Gibson, even though the company insists it has done nothing wrong and that the wood in question is legal and passed through both Indian and U.S. customs.

Even more surprising is the fact that Gibson has been honored in the past for their “green standards and practices” and supports the very law (Lacey Law) that is now being used against them.

It appears that the facts don’t seem to matter in this case… that’s why last week Grassfire Nation launched a national petition supporting Gibson -- giving citizens an opportunity to speak out against Obama’s assault on private business and arrogant misuse of power.

Henry Juszkiewicz, Chairman and CEO of Gibson said it best, calling the assault by Obama’s Justice Department an “unjust, unfair and potentially illegal” action that has shutdown production, jeopardized hundreds of jobs and cost millions!

This is a gross abuse of power that must be aggressively challenged by freedom-loving Americans from coast-to-coast.

ACTION: Right now there are more than 37,000 signers with roughly a week before the cutoff date to prepare the petitions for delivery. Please take a moment to add your name to this important petition so that we may include you in our upcoming delivery. Then alert your friends today and help send a strong statement to Obama and his job-killing henchmen. Grassfire Nation’s Eric Odom will be speaking at the rally and hand-delivering tens of thousands of “I Stand with Gibson” petitions!

From GrassFire.com
   

Do the millionaires really pay less taxes?

Below is an article by Jonathan Karl (AP), that I happen to find on the ABC News website. I immediately copied it and pasted it here because I couldn't believe that ABC, usually so agreeable with the President's proposals, would allow a 'fact-check'  on him and his "Jobs Bill" Speech. The article basically exposes Obama as being less than honest about the amount of taxes that the wealthiest Americans pay.

Treasury Secretary Geithner yesterday declined to answer a key question about the president’s proposed “Buffett Rule”:  How many millionaires and billionaires pay lower tax rates than middle-income families?

The answer: not that many.

The nonpartisan Tax Policy Center has crunched the numbers and found that Warren Buffett and his secretary are the exception to the rule.  For the most part, the wealthy pay a significantly higher percentage of their income in taxes than middle-income workers.

The key numbers:  this year those earning over $1 million will pay, on average, 29.1 percent on federal taxes.  Those earning between $50,000 and $75,000 will pay 15 percent.

That’s not to say that there aren’t wealthy people who are even better than Buffett at avoiding taxes.  In 2009, 1,470 people with incomes over $1 million a year paid absolutely no taxes.  But that represents less than 1 percent of those earning over $1 million a year.  Raising their taxes may be the fair thing to do, but it will not bring in much revenue.

There were 236,883 taxpayers who earned more than $1 million in 2009.  That’s less than two-tenths of one percent of all filers.

The Top 400 tax filers  – the very richest Americans – do pay a lower rate of just 18.11 percent of their total income.  Why?  Many of them are hedge fund managers and people like Buffet — their income is pegged how much their investment fund grows.  For some reason, this income is counted as so-called “carried interest” (even though it is not interest at all; it’s more like a performance bonus) and is taxed at the lower 15 percent capital gains rate.

It’s a loophole for hedge managers, pure and simple.  But while it may be an outrage that these uber-rich hedge fund managers pay such a low rate compared to the rest of us, there are just not many of them out there.

But the top 400 tax filers represent a tiny sliver – just .00028 percent of all filers. The vast majority of those earning over $1 million a year pay at a higher rate, which is why the average tax rate for this group, according to the Tax Foundation, is 29.1 percent of taxable income.  And, yes, this number includes income taxes, payroll taxes and capital gains taxes.

The numbers change a bit if you look at total income before deductions and tax credits (Adjusted Gross Income), according to another non-partisan group, The Tax Foundation. Here’s how the numbers breakdown using IRS data from 2009 on Adjusted Gross Income for the income groups at issue in this discussion:

-           $10 million a year paid 22 percent.
-          $1 million  to $10 million paid 25 percent.
-          $50,000 to $75,000 paid 7 percent.

The rate for the middle-income filers drop because many individual deductions and tax credits are phased out for higher income taxpayers.


by Jonathan Karl