"It is indeed a singular thing that people wish to pass laws to nullify the disagreeable consequences that the law of responsibility entails. Will they never realize that they do not eliminate these consequences but merely pass them along to other people? The result is one injustice the more and one moral the less." – Frederic Bastiat
Before I get onto Oil...
We bought an Irish Dexter Bull to be our new herd sire (BTW, I have added a new job description to add to my very varied bio - "Cattleman". Kinda catchy, don't you think?)
I have been considering miniature cattle for a while. In researching, I found the Dexter's are about the same size as the Miniature cattle breeds, but are not miniaturized. This is how they were developed over the years in Ireland and Scotland. They are said not to need any shelter (all cattle need shade), are entirely grass fed and require ZERO grain, and a 600 pound cow will still provide over 2 gallons of milk per day on a grass only diet.
I can tell you that a family of 5 just cannot eat an entire full sized bovine in a year, so the smaller size makes sense on that account as well as being easier on the fencing. Fence repair just ain't that much fun.
I name all of our farm animals from people in my past, and have granted the name "Johnny O'Donnell", Johnny O for short to this bull after my ski and surf partner of my youth. Here he is laying next to our family milk cow, Bonnie. As you can see, he is about 2/3 her size and weight - and Bonnie is a small cow as American bovine go.
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Siad another way... by MY estimate, Oil is less than 12% from a price that would begin to bring the economy down again, hard (which would also mean that energy demand would decline, bringing pressure on prices... so this is not advice to go long Oil here). $80 WTI used to be the price that the U.S. economy could simply not withstand... but its is MY opinion that with the recent decrease in Oil imports the price will have to go up by a commensurate amount to have the same effect. We shall see.
Me? I am long Exxon and Nat Gas, but not Oil (at the moment).
I just checked the futures market... Oil is now over $81 for the front month, and over $82 for November and December delivery. That these prices are even possible given the state of the economy and unemployment and with the US$ above 80 on the Dollar Index is indicative of the reality of the U.S. Oil import paradigm. Evidently, that paradigm's elasticity is being sorely tested... why else $81 Oil and high inventories? Clearly, the U.S. is no longer the Axe in the price of Oil.
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Read this excellent article on the state of Social Programs for the non-working population in Israel.
Note to American Left: Its not a race thing. Its not a social class thing. No country can withstand a growing population of tax receivers and a declining percentage of tax payers.
Note to American Right: No country can withstand the military costs associated with empire.