FB: American Rivers Conference

[sportsknight]

sk,

The death toll (fortunately) is no where near as high, but part of that is the incredible advances in battlefield medicine.  Alas, the number of returning soldiers with permanently life-altering injuries is many times as high as the number of deaths - something we (and of course even more so they) will be paying for for decades to come.  Here's food for thought: the US has now been at war in Iraq for longer than in BOTH World Wars combined (though not yet as long as in Vietnam).

Couple that with all the soldiers coming back with severe mental trauma, the suicide rate among Iraq War vets is incredibly tragic.  I work with a girl whose boyfriend was deployed with the 1-133rd until last July (they were away from home for right at 2 years thanks to an extended deployment to go along with the "surge"), and she has quietly told me that she's more afraid for his safety now than when he was over there.  I couldn't believe this, but I guess he had a job where he wasn't real close to the action in Iraq and didn't have to go on the long convoys that many in that unit did, but he was around the camp/base when the wounded and casualties would be brought back and that has supposedly had a tremendous effect on him.

[5 Words or Less]

$12 - Billion/month, cost of war

3.7 - days, Grinnell's endowment could fund war

7.8 - hours, BV's endowment could fund war

93 - minutes, Loras' endowment could fund war

[Mr. Ypsi]

sk,

The death toll (fortunately) is no where near as high, but part of that is the incredible advances in battlefield medicine.  Alas, the number of returning soldiers with permanently life-altering injuries is many times as high as the number of deaths - something we (and of course even more so they) will be paying for for decades to come.  Here's food for thought: the US has now been at war in Iraq for longer than in BOTH World Wars combined (though not yet as long as in Vietnam).

Couple that with all the soldiers coming back with severe mental trauma, the suicide rate among Iraq War vets is incredibly tragic.  I work with a girl whose boyfriend was deployed with the 1-133rd until last July (they were away from home for right at 2 years thanks to an extended deployment to go along with the "surge"), and she has quietly told me that she's more afraid for his safety now than when he was over there.  I couldn't believe this, but I guess he had a job where he wasn't real close to the action in Iraq and didn't have to go on the long convoys that many in that unit did, but he was around the camp/base when the wounded and casualties would be brought back and that has supposedly had a tremendous effect on him.

Hopefully (he says hopefully, but not truly convinced) we learned from the horrific treatment accorded Vietnam vets.  To give anything less than the very best care available (including psychiatric) would be anathema.

5 Words or Less: nice perspective.  Even Harvard would be bankrupt in barely a month.  Of course, according to Dick Cheney, the whole thing would be financed by Iraqi oil revenue within a few months.

[5 Words or Less]

691 - Billion $$, war cost since 9/11 (mostly borrowed)

10 - Billion $$, estimated cost to rebuild at twin tower site

2.4 - Trillion $$, taxpayer cost for war including intrest (payable through 2017)

2.7 - Trillion $$, FY 2007 Federal Budget

22.33 - $/bbl, Sept. 2001 oil price

121.84 - $/bbl, today's NYMEX oil price

167 - $/bbl, price of oil at which Iraqi oil production could fund the war in Iraq (maintaining the current Iraqi production level of 2.4 million bbl/day)

[Ralph Turner]

Bakken Oil Field in North Dakota.  400 Billion Barrels of new reserves.

Oil shale on federal lands.

Figure 34.  Projected consumption in the next 30 years.  That is the increase in demand.  Where will the increase in supply come from?

No one is addressing the fact that India and China are responsible for the increase in consumption in oil.  If those countries were not expanding their economies rapidly, there would be plenty of fuel for the US.

The largest middle class in the world is now in India, about 450M people.  They are acquiring household appliances and modern conveniences.

No one has identified where to add more BTU's or Megawatts or any other unit of power to supply our economy.

The buttes west of Abilene TX now are filled with windmills taking advantage of prime wind farms.  It only provides 2% of Texas' needs.  Last January, we had a cold day with no wind that almost took down the Texas electricity grid, because it was freezing and there was no wind to run the windmills.  Wind is not reliable, and it harms the  migratory fowl.

Science published an article by a team headed by Joseph Fargione of the Nature Conservancy...ethanol is not the answer.

The rest of the world is drilling for and finding more oil!

Brazil and here.

China and Cuba in the Gulf of Mexico where environmentalists prohibit the US from drilling.

Cuba's state-run oil company, Cubapetroleo, has inked a deal with China's Sinopec to explore for oil in its half of the Florida Strait and is using Chinese-made drilling equipment to conduct the exploration. Since oil fields do not respect international boundaries, Cuba and others will be pumping petroleum that should be ours.

Enviro-leftists who oppose drilling in the gulf should know that none other than Fidel Castro is taking advantage of the Outer Shelf. Cuba has gleaned $1.7 billion from oil and gas drilling as close as 60 miles from the Florida coast since 2004, according to Rep. John Peterson of Pennsylvania, and "is drilling closer to sovereign American property than we are."

Unless we are serious about conservation, to the point that even inter-collegiate athletics is a wasteful form of energy consumption, conservation will not do it.

I heard the quote that if America stopped consuming oil completely today, that every drop will be taken up by India and China by 2015.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Ralph, good evening.

But oil was not the discussion.  (Except in Cheney's delusions. )

Even if it were, even a Texan would have to acknowlege that oil is a finite resource.  We could debate how many years 'til it runs out, but no reasonable person could deny that it WILL run out.  The question is: what is the replacement.  And the answer is: I haven't the foggiest, but probably it is not ONE replacement, and I'll take any partial answers I can (though, please, no more corn ethanol!).

[Alfredeneumann]

From todays CR Gazette
COLLEGE ATHLETICS
Cochrane to be named AD at Cornell
  MOUNT VERNON — John Cochrane, Iowa Conference commissioner since 2001, will be named athletics director at Cornell College today, The Gazette has learned.
  Cornell will hold a media conference today at noon to make the official announcement. A source close to Cornell, who did not want to be identified, told The Gazette that Cochrane will replace interim AD Dick Simmons, who was appointed last August to replace Tina Hill.
  A Sioux City native, Cochrane lives in Mount Vernon with his wife, Kathleen, and their three children.

Now what does Walston do? Pres. of WC or Commissioner of IIAC?

[sportsknight]

From todays CR Gazette
COLLEGE ATHLETICS
Cochrane to be named AD at Cornell
  MOUNT VERNON — John Cochrane, Iowa Conference commissioner since 2001, will be named athletics director at Cornell College today, The Gazette has learned.
  Cornell will hold a media conference today at noon to make the official announcement. A source close to Cornell, who did not want to be identified, told The Gazette that Cochrane will replace interim AD Dick Simmons, who was appointed last August to replace Tina Hill.
  A Sioux City native, Cochrane lives in Mount Vernon with his wife, Kathleen, and their three children.

Wow, that is interesting news.  As good a commish as John has been for the IIAC, I have absolutely no idea what kind of an AD he will be.

[KCDutch]

22.33 - $/bbl, Sept. 2001 oil price

121.84 - $/bbl, today's NYMEX oil price

It might be hard to do in 5 words, but what is the point of these stats?  The war in Iraq is to be blamed for higher oil prices?

[doolittledog]

I hope we can get off the politics and back to the IIAC soon.

31 - UD record for most points in a game.  Sol Butler vs Buena Vista (1917)  5 touchdowns, 1 extra point!!!

[Walston Hoover]

Any runners on here?
I'm getting back into shape for the race season and plan on doing a couple 5-10k's and a half marathon or 2.
What sort of times do you guys get? I did a half marathon 5 years ago with minimal training and was right at 10/min/mile. I'd like to get that under 9, and for halfs, I think that would usually get me in the top half of finishers. What are some of your experiences with running? Would a half marathon under 2 hours be respectable? What about 5 or 10k times?

[Klompen]

I hope we can get off the politics and back to the IIAC soon.

31 - UD record for most points in a game.  Sol Butler vs Buena Vista (1917)  5 touchdowns, 1 extra point!!!

Ah, doolittle, now you are making me feel bad for being an over indulged Dutch fan.  That is just sad, first that 31 would be a record for most points in a game, then that the kicker would have only made one extra point out of 5 attempts.  I think I would have left this number (31) alone.    You mean Central went to 3 OT's with UD last year and UD still had less than 31 points?  Oh, man, I never realized just how spoiled we Dutch fans were.  

[Klompen]

Congratulations to John Cochrane on his new position.  Not quite sure whether a move from conference commissioner to AD is a move up or down, but I guess if you already live in Mount Vernon, it might have its advantages. 

I heard rumors at one time that Al D was looking for something else.  Might this be the position that takes him away from his alma mater?

[the_mayne_event]

Any runners on here?
I'm getting back into shape for the race season and plan on doing a couple 5-10k's and a half marathon or 2.
What sort of times do you guys get? I did a half marathon 5 years ago with minimal training and was right at 10/min/mile. I'd like to get that under 9, and for halfs, I think that would usually get me in the top half of finishers. What are some of your experiences with running? Would a half marathon under 2 hours be respectable? What about 5 or 10k times?

i ran a 5k last summer a year out of college, not training for it at all.  ran it in i believe 30-33 minutes, and hated every second of it.  it was slow, and i was shootin the ____ with most of the people that i ran it with (not a competitive run)

[doolittledog]

I hope we can get off the politics and back to the IIAC soon.

31 - UD record for most points in a game.  Sol Butler vs Buena Vista (1917)  5 touchdowns, 1 extra point!!!

Ah, doolittle, now you are making me feel bad for being an over indulged Dutch fan.  That is just sad, first that 31 would be a record for most points in a game, then that the kicker would have only made one extra point out of 5 attempts.  I think I would have left this number (31) alone.    You mean Central went to 3 OT's with UD last year and UD still had less than 31 points?  Oh, man, I never realized just how spoiled we Dutch fans were.  

That would be most points by 1 PLAYER in a game!!!

UD AVERAGED more than 31 points per game last season.