More drilling is part of a strategy that works

I do not understand how anyone can say that drilling for offshore oil and oil elsewhere will not affect our situation. I also disagree when it is said it will not have an effect for years.

Let’s turn back the clock about 35 years. The oil gangsters of OPEC decided to cut the production of crude oil and drove up the price. The United States then decided to allocate several billion dollars to exploration for oil and for alternative energies. When the oil gangsters realized the United States was serious about this, they opened up the oil faucets and drove the price of crude oil back down, and in the process made that several-billion-dollar investment in new oil and energy sources unattractive.

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Vintage BMWs to rumble through county

Aptos will be overrun by vintage BMWs this weekend — 65 to be exact.

The BMW Vintage & Classic Car Club of America is holding a road rally for vintage BMW automobiles and motorcycles through Northern California, beginning Thursday at the Seascape Resort in Aptos.

Sixty-five vintage BMWs, manufactured between 1928 to 2002, are expected to participate in this year’s California Marathon, a rally which covers 2,000 miles of California roads. The rally starts in Aptos, then heads north to Eureka and southeast to South Lake Tahoe before returning to Aptos.

“We wanted to have the rally in California because it’s a wonderful place,” said club president Goetz Pfafflin, referring to the scenic Northern California roads with views of the Pacific Ocean.

This is the club’s first rally in California and its second in the United States. The club was established in 1973, but reorganized in 2003.

Pfafflin said the club’s first rally grew out of a European rally where he and seven others brought their vintage BMWs to Germany in 2001. They drove 2,500 miles through 11 countries before returning home.

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American Airlines waives third bag fee for traveling soldiers

American Airlines Inc. said Wednesday it will waive fees on third checked bags when the passenger is an active member of the U.S. military, effective immediately.

Fort Worth, Texas-based AMR Corp. (NYSE: AMR), the parent company of American Airlines, says fees on first and second checked bags have always been waived for active-duty soldiers. The carrier also said it knew soldiers traveling on duty were reimbursed by the military for fees paid beyond the first two bags.

Tom Del Valle, American’s senior vice president-airport services said Wednesday “after recently, hearing of the burden the military reimbursement process put on soliders traveling to war zones, the choice for us to forego payment for a third check bag from the Department of Defense was clear.”

American says the company’s previous policy allowed military personnel to travel with up to 190 pounds of luggage at no charge, which included a 100-pound bag, a 50-pound checked bag and another 40 pound-carry on bag.

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Lights go out in Georgia

RUSSIA’S lopsided five-day war with Georgia was nasty, brutish and short – to borrow philosopher Thomas Hobbes’ view of life. And as Russian President Dmitry Medvedev called a halt to fighting Tuesday, Moscow had achieved its war aims.

Georgian forces were driven from the separatist South Ossetia enclave that wants to join Russian North Ossetia. Georgia’s U.S.-trained military was routed and “disorganized” (in Mr. Medvedev’s words), having fled to the outskirts of their capital, Tbilisi.

The Russians pursued them into Georgia’s undisputed territory, destroying bases, airfields and command centres, bombing urban areas and taking control of the main east-west highway.

Georgia’s ambitions to join NATO and the European Union have been set back and its ability to offer Europe a secure oil-and-gas pipeline route that isn’t controlled by Russia has also been cast in doubt.

By humbling and destabilizing a troublesome U.S. ally, Moscow has shown there are limits to what America can or will do to confront Russia in its old sphere of influence.

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Software Business 2008 Conference Scheduled for October 30-31 in San Francisco

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 11 /PRNewswire/ — Webcom Communications, a leading media company that serves software, IT and technology markets, announced the program details for Software Business 2008, a two-day conference focused on current strategic business, financial and technology issues and growth opportunities facing executives and managers of software and SaaS companies. The conference is scheduled for October 30-31, 2008 at the San Francisco Marriott. Software industry leaders will give valuable insight on the most up-to-date developments and strategies in the software market. Software Business 2008 will feature more than 50 leading executives, managers, analysts and venture capitalists as presenters.

“Software executives need to stay competitive in the software industry,” said Shannon Given, program manager of Software Business 2008. “The conference will provide the latest strategies for growth into successful business models and future market opportunities.”

Software Business 2008 Keynote Presentations include:

– Is Hardware the Future of Software?

This presentation will examine whether hardware is the future of software, and if the ultimate evolution of IT may be a revival of the hardware/software bundle.

Jean-Pierre Garbani, vice president, principal analyst, Forrester Research, Inc.

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Basketball the next football? Beijing sets the ball rolling

China vs USA to Iranians in Utah: this game is also about aspirations of city sidewalks, diverse societies in conversation

AUGUST 10, BEIJING: There is a theory, much cited but of apocryphal provenance, that basketball too was invented in China. It is, they say, akin to the ancient Chinese ball-game of shouju.

The veracity of the theory is not the point. If there be no connection to basketball from ancient China, we could just recast that one-liner about cricket in India and say, basketball is a Chinese game accidentally invented in America.

To gauge the Chinese affinity for basketball, don’t look only at the growing viewership for live NBA broadcasts, or at what was billed as the most watched basketball match in history when China took on the US tonight, with President George W Bush in attendance.

Consider just an aspiration.

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Series-bound HGSA throws a block party

HAMILTON — While Babe Ruth baseball teams from across Hamilton Township are taking their final steps this week toward what they hope will be a World Se ries appearance, a township softball team last night celebrated hav ing already achieved that goal.

In advance of its Thursday debut at the Babe Ruth 12-and-Under Softball World Series in Audubon, Pa., the Hamilton Hurricanes put on a block party last night at the Hamilton Girls Softball Association Complex off Nottingham Way.

“It’s finally time for the girls of Hamilton to shine,” Hamilton Township Council President Den nis Pone said, referencing the township’s great baseball history and drawing applause from the assembled players, family and friends. “What you guys have accomplished, only a handful of teams have accomplished and that’s amazing.”

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Fruit Picking: Jonny Flynn Leads Cuse’ As Top Point Guard in the Big East

The Syracuse Orange finished 19-12 in the 2007-08 season, which was actually an unexpected achievement, considering it was the team’s first year without its much-beloved, graduated guard Gerry McNamara.

A flashy playmaker named Jonny Flynn strolled into town with his work cut out for him.

In his rookie campaign, the heir to the McNamara position did a marvelous job for head coach Jim Boeheim and inspired faithful fans to cheer on nature’s candy.

Here is a recap of how Jonny Flynn became Syracuse’s leader and best player last season.

Flynn was a decorated high school basketball player coming out of Niagara Falls, playing on USA’s Nike Hoop Summit U-18 & U-19 Team, winning gold as part of the U-18 squad and silver as a member of the U-19 at the World Championships.

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JENKS – The Tulsa Metro Chamber has been named the nation’s best chamber by the American Chamber of Commerce Executives. The Chamber of the Year Award is the highest achievement in the chamber industry and was presented to Tulsa at a national conference in Pittsburgh, Penn.

ACCE annually recognizes a Chamber of Commerce for its work in Leading Businesses. Leading Communities. with the Chamber of the Year award. The award, sponsored by Microsoft Corp., recognizes excellence in operations, member services, and community leadership.

The Tulsa Metro Chamber qualified for the award when it scored favorably in a national overall operations survey and became one of the three finalists when its programs and operations were selected as being among the best in the nation by an expert panel of Chamber-industry professionals.

“Tulsa’s chamber is predominantly one of the strongest in the nation and an industry leader,” said Mike Neal, president and CEO.
“This is a great national recognition for the entire region,” said Annette Bowles, executive director of the Jenks Chamber of Commerce. “An award that puts Tulsa on the map, also calls attention to Jenks and the surrounding area.
“We are happy for the Tulsa Metro Chamber and all of the hard work that went into achieving this award”.
“Being named a ‘Chamber of the Year’ is a testament to new and expanded role chambers play in strengthening the economic vitality of their communities,” said Mick Fleming, president of the American Chamber of Commerce Executives. “We salute these chambers who are leaders in helping their member businesses to grow and their communities to succeed.”

Read more: JENKS – The Tulsa Metro Chamber has been named the nation’s best chamber by the American Chamber of Commerce Executives. The Chamber of the Year Award is the highest achievement in the chamber industry and was presented to Tulsa at a national conference in Pittsburgh, Penn.

Blog wars on Murky Coffee coffee policy

The dangers of the modern coffee-snob culture have been sharply revealed in an extremely bizarre story from Washington, USA.

There are been many reported incidents, even many from here in the UK, about arguments between customers and coffee house staff over how drinks are presented. In a culture in which more and more people now consider themselves experts, it has become very common for customers to send back espresso-based coffees which are not made to their liking.

Arguments over how certain drinks such as macchiattos should correctly be made have become more and more common.

The problem for the caterer is this: is the customer always right, or does the operator have the right to decide how they prepare and serve their beverages?

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