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    Tuesday

    Midas Touch... Not!

    Silicon Valley "gurus" learning about oil & gas the hard way

    Ummm, it appears that the big brains who run Silicon Valley don't always do things better. TheAlarmClock.com and PEHub.com both ran stories recently calling attention to Kleiner Perkins' big investment in Teralliance. For those not interested in reading about this train wreck, here's my annotated summary of the story:

    A tech firm, based in the energy hub of Newport Beach, California, pitches Silicon Valley VCs with the idea of using, of all things, SCIENCE to "replace the imaginations of geologists about where to drill for new hydrocarbons." (Seriosly, that's a real quote.) Light bulbs start going off all along Sand Hill Road.

    VC firm Kleiner Perkins figures it's about time somebody put those backwards, barely prehensile oil and gas goons in their place. The champions of green help raise $300 million in equity plus an equally large amount of debt for the visionary company. Said technology company implodes. Hilarity ensues.

    How could this boondoggle have been avoided? The brainiacs could have checked the course catalogs of any one of California's fine educational establishments and discovered, gasp, geology IS a science. The end. .:.

    Monday

    The Growing Fog of a Growing War

    See-saw battle over gun exports to Mexico

    As reported last week, the border conflict is emerging as a major local, regional, national, and international story that puts Texas front and center. Michael Yon issued another story today, citing an article by San Antonio Express-News journalist Todd Bensman.

    The Express-News article provides the source of the statistic that 90% of weapons are coming from the U.S. Additionally the SA newspaper has  a three part series called "Texas' Deadliest Export" on gunrunning. Interestingly, the most commented story on the Express-News site is an article posted today detailing the extent of ammunition shortages in south Texas.

    Yon nicely summarizes his take by saying: "When it comes to the issue of guns to Mexico, the jury has not convened, and so it can hardly be out.  I will treat Mexico the same way I treated Iraq:  Listen to everyone; trust nothing; draw independent conclusions." .:.

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