Obama Fakeout Obscures High Oil Price Policy

Few in the MSM have picked up on the ludicrousness of President Obama's and the IEA's surprise Strategic Petroleum Reserve announcement late this past week. It was intended to disrupt speculation in oil prices/futures, particularly in the price of Brent crude which was way out of line and causing no end of vexation in Europe. Read all about it in my latest Washington Times Communities column under my new blog/column head, The Prudent Man.

The real story here, however, is more complex. The administration has done everything it possibly can to squeeze oil, gas, and coal supplies/usage in this country, the better to drive fuel prices up to unnatural, unaffordable heights, thus causing the US populace to beg the Feds to support non-fossil fuel alternatives. I.e., the administration is still enslaved to the myth of global warming climate change and will destroy this country and its middle class to force a non-solution on an unwilling people, all of which, of course, is subsidized by the taxpayers. Roughly 19% of whom, BTW, are out of work for some reason.

Prudent Man: New Column in Washington Times Communities

Since budgetary and economic topics come up on HazZzmat more often these days, I've decided to remove most of my market and financial observations to my new column over at the Washington Times Communities, the site where a number of Times writers (and some new ones) migrated after that paper's severe downsizing about a year and a half ago.

The new column is called "The Prudent Man" and my initial entry explains why.

Today's offering is Part I of a two-part series on the very nearly criminally negligent IPO (Initial Public Offering) of LinkedIn stock to the general public--most of whom never had a chance to get a single share while the Big Boys got enough to buy several hotels on Boardwalk or, at the very least, a few tropical islands.

I'll be putting up one or two columns a week on the new site in what I hope is not a vain attempt to educate investors as to how the game is really played. And, if possible, to build a little pressure in Washington and in New York to stop the fleecing of small investors as well as the gradual erosion of the small businesses that still constitute the backbone of this country.

Meanwhile, readers in the DC metro area will continue to find my performing arts news and reviews in my Curtain Up! column, also at the Washington Times Communities.

Cleveland Orchestra's "Don Giovanni"

Since I'm back in town, I've just now posted my review of the Cleveland Orchestra's marvelous, recently-concluded production of Mozart's Don Giovanni. Check it out here in my column "Curtain Up!" in the Washington Times Communities online.

While your in the neighborhood, check out Politics, another area for which the Washington Times is justly famous. Good stuff here on both sides of the spectrum.

Washington National Opera's Boffo "Butterfly"

Awesome performance from our local DC Opera company, which has had its fiscal problems lately. Nonetheless, they can still put on one heck of a performance when they have a mind to, and their current production of Puccini's Madama Butterfly is a case in point.

Read my full review with pix via my column, Curtain Up! And check out other local arts, politics, news, and reviews at the Washington Times Communities.

Cypress String Quartet Disappoints at Wolf Trap

Didactic, disappointing performance by the Cypress String Quartet Friday evening at "The Barns," a delightful performing arts facility at Wolf Trap here in northern Virginia, a venue better known for its outdoor Filene Center. The quartet actually accompanied a banal film that softly bashes America, a tired yet continuous meme constantly pushed by the left. For my review of the performance, click here to learn about "The Cypress Quartet's muddled America."

For those who haven't checked my bio sketch lately, I still review music, theater, and the arts for the Washington Times, currently online under their Washington Times Communities tab, subtab "Entertain Us." You can find my reviews in my column "Curtain Up!" I might as well let you know they're there. 

Meanwhile, I'll be posting another review either later tonight or early tomorrow on the Washington National Opera's new production of Puccini's Madama Butterfly. Not to telegraph my opinion, but I'll give you a hint: See if you can get a ticket.