« October 09, 2011 - October 15, 2011 | Main | October 23, 2011 - October 29, 2011 »
October 22, 2011
Did you ever have Neil Young's passion? For even 5 minutes?
Posted by JD Hull at 09:58 PM | Comments (0)
October 21, 2011
Now What? With Colonel Gadhafi Gone, what about OPEC production?
See in Forbes "The Death of Gadhafi and the Future of Oil Markets". Excerpts:
Libyan oil production hit 1.559 million barrels of daily production back in 2010, according to OPEC. That was about 2% of global production and 5% of OPEC production. Civil war, though, disrupted flows to the point where in August production averaged 7 barrels a day. Over the third quarter, production averaged 151,000 barrels per day.
While it is hard to estimate the effect of Gadhafi’s death on oil markets, a look at WTI and Brent prices show a marked fall starting about 8 AM in New York, when the news initially surfaced. Markets bounced off their lows and by 2:26 PM, Brent was trading at $108.97 while WTI at $85.13.
Commodity analysts at JPMorgan note that news coming out of Libya in the last 6 weeks, practically all of it positive, suggest “the oil market is discounting a relatively rapid return of at least the first 700,000 barrels per day of production.”
Posted by JD Hull at 11:00 PM | Comments (0)
October 20, 2011
Natural Resources: Will Oklahoma "Sell Water to Save Water"?
Water, Drinking and Wastewater Systems, and the Catch-22 for Western states in 2011. We ran across this blog piece in Environmental Protection magazine entitled "Should Legislators Sell Water to Save Water in Oklahoma?" As worn-out water-related infrastructure in many states--from dams and bridges to sewage and drainage systems--continue be underfunded during the recession, we may be seeing more news items like it, especially concerning Western states where water supplies is always an issue. Further, and as the post points out, states like Oklahoma have few happy options. Excerpts:
Oklahoma water leaders are considering various options to not lose the state’s water supply – even mandates ordering the state to sell off water. Sell water to save water is the question. This proposition would make the state money to repair faulty infrastructure, but lose some of the state’s precious natural resources in the process.
In 2011, Oklahoma experienced one of the driest summers since 1921; along with much of the Central United States. The state can’t afford to hustle water to other parts of the nation when it’s already experiencing a water shortage. The potential water buyers would be states experiencing extreme drought, in the same classification as Oklahoma.
Apparently, Oklahoma isn’t the only state that has to face the water shortage reality. Nonetheless, Oklahoma is now stuck in a lose, lose situation with few options. So, should the state implement mandates to sell water to pay for infrastructure repairs that could save water?
Posted by JD Hull at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
Rule 12: Have Fun. If you're a professional, and it's Not Fun, please reevaluate.
Here's how my "boss", an unhappy energetic young Midwesterner, found fun, love, hard work, humility, a little sanity, power, friends and enemies--and kept them all--by practicing law in our nation's capitol. Rule 12 is from the grating but highly correct Rules of Client Service. Anyone can do Rule 12. First, be born good-looking, athletic, and charming into an affluent WASP family that settled here almost four centuries ago. Have family money. Date only twins or actresses who go to Smith. Second, go to school, work hard, make some more money. Third, build your own firm. Fire all but one pessimist. Get a grandiose notion of your targeted client base--and keep them coming back so you don't have to "market". Finally, start up your own "blog", even though you're not at all sure what a "blog" is--but you sure think a "blog" sounds suspiciously show-tunes and at best nerdy and passive-aggressive. Have someone teach you how to "work" the blog. Say anything. Ignite relationship-killing arguments in upstate New York towns you'll never visit; upset inept fellow suits you see every day. Paint older lawyers as Dorks, younger lawyers as Looters. And Do Have Fun.
WAC in 1967 with the Pennington Twins.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
October 18, 2011
"It's over, Muffy. Back to Suffolk. I'll mix the martinis. You pack the good swizzle sticks."
Go back to Boston! Go back to Plymouth Rock, Pilgrims! Get out! We are the future. You old white people. It is your duty to die.You are old and tired. Go on. We have beaten you. Leave like beaten rats.
--Augustin Cebada, Brown Berets, May 2010
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
October 17, 2011
Law's No Longer Local, Lester: Try a Tennessee Trial Lawyer.
What does it take be a great trial lawyer, anyway?
Nashville's John Day may have the answer. No surprise to us that fellow Midwesterner Day ended up here. Tennessee is the warrior-breeding Volunteer State. It hatches, and attracts, both brawlers and serious students of war. Record numbers of Tennessee men stepped up to fight in the 1812 and Mexican wars. Alvin York, World War I's most decorated American soldier, came from Pall Mall, near the Kentucky border. Like Texas--the only other semi-straight state so far this century--Tennessee is a Real Man's State.
In fact, a recent study by the prestigious Kitzbühel Institute showed that Tennessee male lawyers as an overall group are relatively, well, "masculine" compared to practitioners in other jurisdictions. And Volunteer State guy litigators are far less likely than their counterparts in other American states to: (1) move about the office with a sashay; (2) either talk on phone or type with a lisp (alarmingly on rise these days in "Chicago Land"--this includes Milwaukee and Indianapolis); or (3) wear their Cartier "Halo Scroll" diamond tiaras to work on casual Fridays or Saturday mornings.
Anyway, back to John Day. So John just had to move to Nashville? But hey, no problem. Law is no longer local. Great trial lawyers, litigators, deal people, IP attorneys and pretty anyone in demand works everywhere these days. In 2011, clients are "unbundling" the talent. You find it where it lives. You go get it. Use it. Read either John's fine Day on Torts, or his cover article 3 years ago in the the Tennessee Bar Journal.
Posted by JD Hull at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)