IWA For Sunday 061310

Who Pays YOUR Salary

Hey folks,

Imagine going to your boss and telling him that you do not make enough money. Now imagine that you make over THREE TIMES what your Boss makes. That would take some monster size Gonads. Would it not?

Minimum wage in this country is $1320.00 a month. Pre-tax of course. Average rent in US $684/month, mortgage payment being averaged at around $1295/month. Forget about Food, electric, phone, Car, ETC.

Now YOU make $3960.00/month and you tell your Boss who makes about $1156.00/month, yes that is less than minimum wage, that it's just too hard for you, and you need a raise. Well, that is what our Idiot of the Week did.

According to the AFP - Slovenian PM tells students his salary is too low LJUBLJANA (AFP) –

Slovenian Prime Minister Borut Pahor told a group of students on Friday he could barely make it through the month with his salary and had to use savings, Slovenian media reported.

"I'm the head of government. My monthly salary is 3,002 euros (3,620 dollars). I can't survive (the month) with only my salary," Pahor told astonished student representatives, Internet news channel 24ur reported.

He later clarified that his financial problems were caused by representation expenses he had to pay as prime minister as he promised to do in 2009 when the government adopted austerity measures to overcome the world

economic crisis.

Friday's meeting was called in an attempt by the government to find a compromise solution with the students concerning a new labour market law that will curb the number of jobs they can do alongside their studies.

Some 30 students were detained and windows at the parliament's building were smashed at a demonstration against the proposed changes organised in May by the student organisations.

The average net salary in EU and euro member Slovenia in March was 967 euros while the minimum wage granted to workers was 562 euros.

967 EU Euros are worth $1156.06 United States Dollars, and the minimum wage granted to workers was 562 euros which is $681.54.

Imagine this folks. Their Minimum Wage is $638.46 LESS than ours. You think you got it tough here? Their average rent is between $400 to $500/month. Again, forget about food, electric, car, ETC.

Congratulations Prime Minister Borut Pahor, for coming out and whining to those that PAY your salary, yet make three times LESS than you, that you have it so tough, you ARE the Idiot of the Week. You know, you could just do like Obama. You need a raise? Just raise taxes. Screw the poeple actually paying for it.
Peter

Sources:
AFP - Slovenian PM tells students his salary is too low

Video History of Drill Here, Drill Now, Pay Less

From The Emails 101208

Hey folks,

This week in the From The Emails Segment, we are going to look into the history of the Dill Here, Drill Now, Pay Less, movement. You HAVE to see this Video. Also we are going to take a 17 minute tour of Burtus. I found this VERY interesting. If I wasn't married with a young child I think I would love that schedule. Two weeks on, two weeks off. {Smile}

First up, the victory that we all saw come to fruition. What you and I fought so hard for. Here is the Email.

Dear Peter,

A few weeks ago, we reported the exciting news that Congress planned to lift the offshore drilling ban. Thanks to the determined effort of Americans like you, October marks the first month in a quarter-century when it is legal to explore for energy offshore.

I wanted to share with you this short video timeline we put together of the many milestones of the "Drill Here, Drill Now, Pay Less" movement. As you watch, remember that your voice made this all possible.




This video is a testament to the power and potential of citizen leaders to create positive change. With your help, we ignited the national energy debate and mobilized a movement of pro-American energy supporters.

Lifting the offshore drilling ban is a huge victory, but many among the anti-energy elites have already said they will do everything they can to stop it. You can arm yourselves with the facts about America's energy potential with my new book, Drill Here, Drill Now, Pay Less (also available in audio) as well as Callista and my new DVD, co-produced by Citizens United, called We Have the Power.

Thank you for your continued involvement and support.

Sincerely,


Newt Gingrich

YOU did that. YOU did. We brought Congress kicking and screaming into letting the Ban expire. However, remember all the things we have been talking about. DO NOT GET COMPLACENT. If we let Obama win this thing, and we still have Pelosi and Reid running the show, I can guarantee you the Ban will be back.

So what is life like on one of these Rigs sitting out there? How do they work? Here is an interesting link, from our friends over at API, to a 17 minute tour of one of these Rigs, Brutus, done by Smart Energy.

The video was shot and edited by Margot Gerritsen, a video blogger and Stanford University engineering professor, who attended an API-sponsored tour of Shell’s Brutus platform in the Gulf of Mexico last fall. Although API arranged for her tour, we were not involved in the production of the video.

Margot sent me the link to the video yesterday and asked me to share it with bloggers who might like to see it. She also said you should feel free to link to it.

Smart Energy talks about this.

Brutus operates in around 3000 feet of water, and produces oil and gas from target zones between 12,500 and 17,500 feet below the seabed. We were invited by the American Petroleum Institute (API) to visit Brutus as part of a small group of bloggers. Unfortunately, Clay's plane decided not to leave San Francisco and therefore he could not make it. This explains the shaky footage from time to time, all shot by yours truly with my handheld little Canon.

Brutus is a Tension-Leg Platform (TLP) that is tethered to the sea floor by tendons. The facility makes all its own power -- generally from the natural gas it produces -- and desalinates sea water for drinking.

Brutus began operation in 2001, and was designed with a maximum capacity of 100,000 barrels of oil and 150 million cubic feet of gas per day. The current production is quite a bit less than that (the day before our visit production was around 30,000 barrels of oil), and Shell is investigating techniques to enhance production.

I especially enjoyed meeting the crew: the head safety officer who wears a hard hat with a sticker on it that says "organ donor", the drill foreman known as "Tadpole", and the big boss who spent quite a bit of time with us to explain the running of an offshore operation, amongst others.

Here is the Video Link.

Again I feel I really must caution you not to get complacent with the plummeting gas prices. OPEC is meeting in the begining of next month to decide if they will or will not decrease production. We need to Drill Here, Drill Now, and GUARANTEE that we will continue to pay less. We need to make sure that those that are bent on stopping us, does not get a foot in the door to the White House. We need to continue to fight for our freedoms and our independence.
Peter

Sources:
American Solutions
API
Smart Energy - A Tour of Brutus

Note: "From The Emails" is a weekly segment in the Friday edition of the OPNtalk Blog. If you care to send in News Articles, Comments, Stories, or anything else you may wish to share, please feel free to send it to opntalk@netscape.net As always, you never know what you are going to see here.