10 Thoughts for December 21, 2014

1. That pineapple express that hit Oregon this weekend, fizzled out. It turned out to be the same system that rained on my visit to Hawai'i, which I guess means that I brought the rains back with me.
2. I mentioned previously that Hawai'i has a lot more beautiful women there, I should also add, that there are also fewer morbidly obese women there, than here in Oregon. Oddly, I think the percentage of morbidly obese men in Hawai'i and Oregon are about the same -- not sure why that is so. 
3. I really don't understand why the San Francisco 49ers want to kick Jim Harbaugh to the curb, even as Harbaugh has gained multiple inquiries while still on the job. I hate the guy, but I totally respect his abilities as a coach. His record speaks for itself, even if this season hasn't gone as planned.
4. Wow, if you haven't seen the final episode of the Colbert Report, it's a must-see. The best-ever ending for a show. Ever. It's a reminder that Stephen Colbert will do a solid to the Late Show. Those who've seen the iconic classic movie, "Dr. Strangelove" will find that song familiar -- Vera Lynn's, "We'll meet again".
5. If you think that Saudi Arabia's decision, through OPEC, to keep the spigot wide open, is meant to lower US output, think again. Producers in the US and North America may have taken advantage of higher oil prices to invest (both R&D and in-field) into newer, more expensive technologies, but those costs are now sunk. Lower oil prices may shut down some extraction, but it will also shift extraction to lower-cost projects while the money sits on the sidelines on the more expensive projects. With Russia, the story is different, as its national budget is based on the oil price. They've previously pegged their 2015 budget to $95 / barrel oil. As we reach $50 oil, that's a massive cut in Russia's budget. Assuming Russia wants to offset that cut by selling off its foreign currency reserves, that only ends up exacerbating the fall of the Ruble. So I again tell you, it is the Obama Administration who has used its ties with SA to put the clamp down on Russia and others, and not the other way around. Who's the second-largest producer, whose budget relies on high prices? Not the US.
6. North Korea was angry at the US for blaming North Korea for the Sony hacking that North Korean media called a "righteous act". They demanded that they be included in the investigation. That's like Dick Cheney asking to be included on the team that vetted the Senate Torture Report.
7. Oh the fools who openly expose their naivete, when they state that NK doesn't have the capability to perform the hack on Sony. That they think that all of NK lives in the 19th century, is a testament of their idiocy. I'm not saying that NK absolutely performed this hack, but to suggest that they're incapable of such a hack is absolutely dumb.
8. Stare at this list. Ask yourself, how can Apple have an average salary of $45K while all other tech companies are much higher? Either the numbers are cooked, or Apple employees are *blissfully* underpaid.
9. I don't understand the anger against normalization of relations with Cuba. I remember back when the US was officially against the Sandinista in Nicaragua, but today, we have bilateral trade and good relations with Nicaragua, despite the continued power of the Sandinista. We have good relations with China, and they're the leading Communist nation in the world. Surely we can let Cuba be Cuba.
10. A couple of weeks ago I thought that the Seahawks looked like they were surging at the right time. And then tonight they blew out the Cardinals by manhandling them on both sides of the ball. They're one game away from locking up home field advantage throughout the playoffs, and that's a huge boost given the 12th man. BTW, were Seattle to repeat there are interesting coincidences shared with Jimmy Johnson and Pete Carroll, all of which everyone will be talking about, come February 1.