Tuesday, July 5, 2011

The lights still will not come on . . .

The 500mmcf per day line, the so called bullet line, Harry Noah's bullet line, the pipeline that "doesn't pencil"--make economic sense--is a dead end.

There is only one permitted, dedicated right of way to tidewater, the one mile corridor created with TAPS.

I have never seen 61 people try so hard to ignore the obvious in the face of overwhelming information available as to the market for LNG, the route, and the economics.

"We have to do something to get gas to south central and Fairbanks, why there is a crisis coming,” cry the pols.

Squandering $214M to do nothing on project that is not viable is doing something? It is admitted by Chennault and Hawker that the State will have to subsidize the natural transported in that line, because the volume is too low and would raise the cost to consumers. It would be cheaper to import gas . . . from Russia.

The Legislature and the Governor need to have an epiphany to cover their ignoring the obvious and declare "now I see, now I see" and commit to the only project that is economically viable, the all-Alaska natural gas pipeline to Valdez, with the 250mmcf per day spur to the Enstar hub at Palmer. The gas liquids would be pulled off at FBKS, giving the interior new industry and fuels for the Bush.

What State ‘leader’ would ignore the ongoing benefits of the gas liquids used in-state? More importantly, why. Value added resource development has been the Holy Grail of Alaska’s resource development forever. Cheap energy will make possible what is otherwise too expensive. The impact would be tremendously beneficial to our agriculture, mining and timber sectors.

Maybe, former Gov. Sarah Palin can apologize to Alaskans for sticking it to them with AGIA after campaigning on the all-Alaska natural gas pipeline to the governor’s office.

I wonder if dear Sarah has promised Gov. Sean Parnell a seat in her cabinet so long as he continues AGIA so that she can claim “expertise” of oil and gas development as part of her grandiose scheme to become Sarah the First, Queen and President? She must have done so, as no rational, prudent human being of sound mind would continue with AGIA in the face of shale gas and the burgeoning LNG market.

In order to get out of the AGIA dead end, the State would have to declare AGIA uneconomical and prepare for a potential court battle. Or, continue to roll the dice with the end of TAPS. Gas development would spur more oil development.

Leadership is what is needed, but leadership is not what we have.

Instead, we have Mike Chennault and Mike Hawker's questionable melding of AHFC, the ARR, Noah's former group, and a committee of legislators comprising the Alaska Gas Development Corporation promoting a pipeline that everyone says is too expensive and must be subsidized forever. They created an unholy abomination of State and quasi-State corporations, all of which had no gas development mandate until Chennault and Hawker pushed it through to unseeing, unknowing and apparently, uninterested Legislature.

Meanwhile, AS 41.41 is ignored which created the Alaska Natural Gas Development Authority and the all-Alaska natural gas pipeline.

What is so hard about all of this that these fine folks in our Legislature cannot understand? LNG is the market, we have 40 years of history with the Japanese on LNG deliveries, why are we not taking advantage of our opportunities?

Like the Japanese want to deal with the . . . Russians? Or, the ME?

We need leadership in Juneau, not someone who has violated their oath of office with the appointment of two legislators to cabinet posts in violation of the law. Gov. Sean Parnell should be impeached for what he did in the Therriault and Dahlstrom cases. However, no one in the

Legislature has the cojones to step up in defense of the constitutional affront by this governor.
And, we pay the price with $200M more going down a rat hole just to make a couple of politicians 'feel good'.

Our opportunities on the world market wane as time passes and our leaders look for “inspiration”, all the while ignoring the obvious.

Saturday, July 2, 2011

The TSA is not making our skies safer

The Transportation Safety Administration is an oxymoron.

What the TSA does is not security.

The TSA serves to prevent the offending of those who should receive the strictest scrutiny from any transportation security system. Instead, TSA appears to be about harassment, intimidation, and sexual abuse of anyone but. With the new pat down policy, the TSA is a pervert’s dream come true.

One has to wonder if the individual doing the extensive, invasive and perverse, and illegal pat down might be getting a thrill out of the situation. How many of the TSA’s agents are active homosexuals and/or pedophiles?

Even former Governor Joe Foss of South Dakota, a Medal of Honor recipient for acts of courage in WWII, was forced to remove his medal, because the morons of the TSA believed the points on the Star could be used as a weapon. They actually wanted to take his medal from him. Insane. And, yet, Americans stood and watched this happen instead of reacting with outrage and shame.

Same for the molestation of small children and older Americans in the name of “safety”, while the Muslims of military age continue on unmolested.

Have we become so jaded that our most sacred rights can be abused without comment or protest?

The leadership of every anti-western jihadist group has to laugh at this absurdity.

Anyone who has been sexually or physically abused has to suffer serious trauma from this egregious violation of their person and civil rights that is the TSA screening process.

The same for women who have had mastectomies.

Further, the radiation levels from the full body scanners is now being questioned by the scientific community. The exposure to which increases the potential for skin cancer.

So, now, we not only have to allow and to endure molestation suffered because of the illegal suspension of our civil rights in this “zone of the TSA” and in the name of a placebo practice instead of effective security measures, but we have to suffer additional risk of skin cancer so that Michael Chertoff can make a buck?

If the emphasis is put where the problem is, 95 year old women and small children would not have to be molested in the name of political correctness.

Travel by commercial air would be safer.

The traveling public would not have to be subjected to clear and egregious violations of their 4th, 5th, 9th and 14th Amendment rights that is the TSA and its unconstitutional, perverted, idiotic and ineffective practices.

Muslims are a security risk by virtue of the tenets of Islam, and should be the primary focus of any security efforts at our airports. It is the result of the acts of Muslims on 9-11 and after that caused the formation of the TSA.

It seems to me, that Rep. Sharon Cissna, who suffered indignities no individual should have to undergo at the hands of the TSA, should introduce legislation to end TSA’s role in Alaska.

This act of political courage would place Alaska at the forefront of the sovereignty issue and show the feds that our Constitutional rights are valued above all at the State level.

There is absolutely no function of the TSA at our airports, which cannot be replaced by the State’s Airport Police, or, to make use of a very underused and available resource, even the Alaska State Defense Force could be used.

Eliminate the invasive searches, keep the metal scanners, use profiling and behavioral cues—in other words, adopt the proven and effective Israeli method of screening passengers.
Ted Stevens International Airport is State of Alaska property, not that of the federal government; the presence of the TSA is a violation of the 10th Amendment.

Were there to be State legislation introduced to protect Alaskans and to eliminate the TSA, would the feds cut of funding of any sort?

Did the federal DOT or Congress cut off funding for Montana’s highways after the enactment of the National Maximum Speed Limit? During this period, Montana maintained its 70 plus speed limits without penalty from the federal DOT.

There will be nothing beyond threats, as what is currently being done by the TSA to law abiding Americans is to violate and abuse the many to avoid offending the few.

It is time this affront to the rights and dignity of the majority that is the TSA ends.

It is time that our State leadership acted where our congressional leadership and our President will not.