Tuesday, November 3, 2015

Quote of the Day

November 3, 2015
CNBC: Jay Leno on turning sea water to fuel

Roughly 71 percent of the Earth's surface is covered by water, with the oceans holding the majority of it. So it would be incredibly useful if scientists could somehow convert all that sea water into fuel.

Yes, it would be incredibly useful. In fact, it would be even more incredibly useful if scientists could somehow convert *all* the world's remaining forests into giant matches. Just think of the possibilities if scientists could someday do both!

Well, by using the current process, it takes more energy to extract the fuel than you actually get out of it.

Bah! It shouldn't stop us from converting all the world's sea water into fuel though. We just need to find more fuel!

Forehead. Desk. Whack. Whack. Whack.
at

27 comments:

  1. michaelNovember 4, 2015 at 9:45 AM

    Mark,

    I have a better solution. Since the human body is composed of 65% water it would be more desireable to use humans as fuel. The remaindeer can be used as compost. That is a winning strategy as it would certainly reduce the over population issue. I propose we start with politicians and then lawyers.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Stagflationary MarkNovember 4, 2015 at 1:58 PM

    michael,

    Brilliant! And as an added bonus, we can mine the gold crowns! ;)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Rob DawgNovember 4, 2015 at 11:04 PM

    Are human batteries more effective when hooked up in parallel or series?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Stagflationary MarkNovember 5, 2015 at 4:11 PM

    Rob Dawg,

    A series of trips to Golden Corral or Old Country Buffet seems to help. It's all about increasing the mass in e=mc^2.

    ReplyDelete
  5. TroyNovember 7, 2015 at 10:47 AM

    The oceans can provide more resources than animal protein, yes.

    At today's gold prices, that's a volume worth more than $150 trillion.

    Speaking of gold,

    http://i.imgur.com/x09W5ym.png

    interesting repeat from the early 80s setting up . . .

    ReplyDelete
  6. ShookieNovember 8, 2015 at 4:45 AM

    Troy, so we can look forward to lower rates and stock market prosperity! Yeah!!

    ReplyDelete
  7. TroyNovember 8, 2015 at 9:15 AM

    The 80s were the transition from the fiction of a hard-money economy to the fully debt-based one we have today.

    https://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/graph/?g=2t7X

    shows the quantum jump that took place 30 years ago, the settling into the new regime in the 1990s, and the second quantum transition last decade to where we are now.

    https://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/graph/?g=2t80

    shows how the consumer debt portion truly hit the wall last decade, but the good news is Gen Y is age 15 to 33 now and is going to start borrowing like crazy, just like the boomers did 30 years ago.

    Bad news is that we've already pre-loaded them up with educational debt, but they can be made to carry more.

    People think things are going to turn, but at the risk of sounding like Sebastian, I don't see it . . .

    https://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/graph/?g=2t8m

    is our demographic story. Red line is total pop 16+, counting retirees. They're not going to be working so much once the boomers hit 70, but they still present demand, and have incomes to spend.

    The 70s was the first upswing in employment, as women started getting real jobs. Things were tough for the trailing half of the bell curve, but by 1990 the boomers all had jobs, finally.

    After the 1990s recession we even went to more than full employment for some reason.

    Then the dotcom bust, the bubble economy of 2004-2008, the collapse, and since 2010 we've been rebuilding, trying to keep up with population growth.

    But we're still 8M jobs short of the 2008 state of the economy. Lots of retirees there, but there's still millions of jobs mission and yet to be created.

    All we need is more debt and we're good to go!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Who Struck JohnNovember 8, 2015 at 6:39 PM

    The underlying serious purpose of the USN research was to develop a process to use excess power from the nuclear reactors on a carrier to produce jet fuel while underway, thereby reducing the frequency of underway replenishment for the ship while conducting operations. In that context, it's a sensible thing to look at.

    The truly sad thing is that Jay Leno seizes on it, runs off at 90 degrees to the point, and makes sure nobody else gets the point either.

    Forehead. Desk. Whack whack whack.

    ReplyDelete
  9. deariemeNovember 11, 2015 at 3:53 PM

    I think we should be cleverer at exploiting fallen leaves. And bird poo. And sparrow farts.

    ReplyDelete
  10. ShookieNovember 18, 2015 at 3:41 AM

    I hope everything is ok with you Mark, and that your absence doesn't reflect a bad event.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Stagflationary MarkNovember 18, 2015 at 4:21 AM

    Shookie,

    Thanks for your concern but all is fine. I went a couple of days withoit much to say, and then it just sort of snowballed I guess. Not sure when I'll be posting regularly again.

    That said, big windstorm here in the Seattle area today (yesterday). We lost power for 6 hours and consider ourselves lucky. There are still a *lot* of people without power. Real wrath of flying spaghetti monster type stuff.

    Sorry for going AWOL.

    ReplyDelete
  12. ShookieNovember 19, 2015 at 4:20 AM

    Aint no Thang Mark! Its all good!! Glad to learn all is well.

    Here in Wisconsin, the wind is just moving in, with the promise of sub-freezing temps and potential snow on Saturday. On the bright side, only 6 months to go!

    ReplyDelete
  13. AnonymousNovember 20, 2015 at 3:50 PM

    Glad you are ok. I was concerned too. I hope that "Peak" sarcasm is still in our future! :-)

    ReplyDelete
  14. Stagflationary MarkNovember 21, 2015 at 11:53 PM

    Sarcasm performance, while brutal in the short-term, is still attractive over the long-term! Buy the dips! ;)

    ReplyDelete
  15. AnonymousNovember 23, 2015 at 6:38 PM

    Double down! Lol

    ReplyDelete
  16. TroyJanuary 24, 2016 at 1:00 PM

    https://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/graph/?g=3ehh

    I thought this was an interesting correlation.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Stagflationary MarkJanuary 25, 2016 at 10:48 AM

    Troy,

    The key word being "was" it would seem, not that we would necessarily expect corporate profits to go to zero if household credit expansion stopped.

    It does show that correlation does not prove causation, although there is certainly some causation in there!

    ReplyDelete
  18. TroyJanuary 25, 2016 at 10:07 PM

    https://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/graph/?g=3fbP

    Fed adds in green.

    ReplyDelete
  19. AllanFJanuary 29, 2016 at 8:35 PM

    Hey Mark, hope you've been well. I was messing around the interwebz and stumbled over this classic from the Statler Bros. and it made me think of you. :) Thought I would swing by and say hi.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1s8nRL2bPCU

    Cheers.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Stagflationary MarkJanuary 31, 2016 at 2:49 AM

    Hey Allan!

    All is goong pretty well, other than wrapping up a lengthy head cold and holding breath anxiously awaiting that rising interest rate environment the experts have continually predicted! ;)

    In all seriousness, the 30-year treasury bond should hit 10% once I commit to nemory the entire contents of War and Peace. I'll get right on that, lol. Sigh.

    ReplyDelete
  21. friedFebruary 2, 2016 at 12:17 PM

    Mark,
    Glad to know that you are ok, I do stop by to see if you have posted recently. Hope Honey is doing well also.
    I too miss peak sarcasm. Ain't nothing like it.

    ReplyDelete
  22. TroyFebruary 2, 2016 at 9:05 PM

    https://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/graph/?g=3kII

    Kuroda vs. The Bernanke

    ReplyDelete
  23. Stagflationary MarkFebruary 5, 2016 at 12:22 AM

    fried,

    I'll prrobably start sarcasmin' again when the economy starts acceleraing to the upside, the next recession is official, short-term interest rates go negative, and/or the financial "experts" stop warning of the imminent rising interest rate environment.

    Oops. Just the thought of it gave me a sarcasmasm. Can I say that in public? ;)

    ReplyDelete
  24. Stagflationary MarkFebruary 5, 2016 at 12:24 AM

    Troy,

    Et tu Japan? NIRP, it's not just for breakfast any longer. Sigh.

    ReplyDelete
  25. AnonymousFebruary 11, 2016 at 5:54 PM

    So.... those TIPS overlooking pretty good right now! Congrats.

    ReplyDelete
  26. AnonymousFebruary 11, 2016 at 5:55 PM

    Are looking..."Darn spell check!"

    ReplyDelete
  27. Stagflationary MarkFebruary 12, 2016 at 2:06 AM

    Anonymous,

    Yeah, that rising interest rate environment doesn't seem to be the "sure thing" that the "experts" kept warning us about, lol. Sigh.

    ReplyDelete