Elephants Loose In Texas River

The Oil and the Glory: The Weekly Wrap: July 9, 2011

The Kremlin Contest : Perusing the first week of entries in our friendly, low-risk wagering contest for who will be Russia's next president, I've discovered that I am not alone: Many conclude that Vladimir Putin will step aside and permit Dmitry Medvedev to remain Russia's president. But where are the Putin bettors -- the multitudes who are sure that Putin will return to the Kremlin in elections next year? Get your bets in: You must name who will be president, who will be prime minister, and the date on which Putin will disclose his choice. You must also name your small, non-cash wager (one contestant has wagered a shot glass; I have wagered a glass of Rioja). Remember that, if you lose, you must mail your wager directly to the winner. You can use the email link in the "About this Blog" box on the right, or my twitter address: @stevelevine. The deadline is Sept. 1.

When oil is next door: On paper, the gasoline-guzzling United States has no oil scarcity problem. To the south, Venezuela has 211 billion barrels of oil reserves, second only to Saudi Arabia. To the north, Canada's Alberta province possesses a conservative estimate of 175 billion barrels of oil. At home, there are the newly prolific volumes of the Bakken and Eagle Ford oil shales, and new plays in the Gulf of Mexico. So why do Americans fret about the supposed peaking of oil? Because of geopolitical, environmental and self-imposed impediments that keep these enormous volumes at arm's length.

Alberta  is the piece of this picture that's on my mind today. Chip Cummins and Edward Welsch weigh in with a long, page-one piece in the Wall Street Journal on the province's long, grueling campaign to persuade its southern neighbor -- the United States -- to accept a near doubling of current oil exports to 1.1 million barrels a day, and more down the road. The hang-up is that the crude comes from oil sands (pictured above), which get a lot of Americans riled up because of the pollution created during production and refining.

The worries about oil sands have led Alberta and the companies working there to try to make the sands more environmentally acceptable. For instance, unlike shale gas drillers in the United States, who all-but refuse to police themselves and go transparent, Alberta has adopted a pro-active carbon offset program . They say that, all in all, oil sands are now no more polluting than almost any other form of oil drilling.

Yankees win the game, but lose Colon | River Avenue Blues

The Yankees can’t have anything nice. Friday night’s blowout win over the Indians was clouded by the official announcement of Joba Chamberlain ‘s upcoming Tommy John surgery. Saturday afternoon’s shutout win cost the Yankees their number two starter, as Bartolo Colon suffered a strained hamstring covering first base in the seventh inning. The win counts in the standings, but the net result of the day was a loss for New York.

As great as he’s been this season, there’s always been an elephant in the room when Colon pitches. This could be the last start, the last batter, the last pitch … he could blow up at any moment. He did blow up today, but not in the way we all figured. Bartolo’s right arm is fine (thankfully), it was a bum hammy that took him down. That’s like a rhino going down because it stepped on a thumb tack while the hunter was loading his rifle.

Colon was again masterful on Saturday, carving up his former team with his usual diet of four and two-seamers to both sides of the plate. He struck out the first two he faced and retired 14 of the first 16 men he faced on a measly 59 pitches. Bartolo threw ten pitches in each of the third, fourth, and fifth innings, and only one batter made it as far as second base against him. Colon’s day ended at just 83 pitches with two outs in the seventh, when the hamstring gave out as he covered first base on a ground ball by Shin-Soo Choo. He had struck out six, walked one, allowed two hits, and gotten seven ground ball outs to that point. I feel like a broken record because we say this after every start, but Colon was brilliant. Unfortunately this day had a tragic ending.

It’s pretty cool when a guy has a dozen homers through a third of the season and it feels like we’re waiting for him to heat up. That’s kinda the situation with Alex Rodriguez , who seems to be victimized by his own greatness more than anyone in his the history of the universe. Homers like the one he hit today, a fourth inning solo shot that broke a scoreless tie, go underappreciated because he’s so damn good. Less than 24 hours after hitting a ball into the left field bleachers, Alex connected on a 1-0 fastball and drove it through the wind into the Indians’ bullpen. It wasn’t as majestic as Friday’s homer, but it gave the Yankees a lead on a day when their starter was cruising and their core relievers were rested. We’ll forget about it in a week, but it’s just a gentle reminder that A-Rod is always capable of changing the complexion of a game with one swing.

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El Paso Dam and Elephant Butte Dam, Testimony submitted to the Committee on Foreign Affairs on bill (H. R. 9710) to provide for the equitable distribution of the waters of the Rio Grande. River between the United States of America and the United States of Mexico, and for the purpose of building an international dam and reservoir on said river at El Paso, Tex

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