Those Were the Days

Over My Shoulder a Backward Glance

Thank Goodness 2009 has ended. Let’s take a look back. The year is 1909.
One hundred years ago. What a difference a century makes!

The average life expectancy was 47 years.

Only 14 percent of the homes had a bathtub.

Only 8 percent of the homes had a telephone.

There were only 8,000 cars and only 144 miles Of paved roads.

The maximum speed limit in most cities was 10 mph.

The tallest structure in the world was the Eiffel Tower

The average wage in 1909 was 22 cents per hour.

The average worker made between $200 and $400 per year ..

A competent accountant could expect to earn $2000 per year, a dentist $2,500 per year, a veterinarian between $1,500 and $4,000 per year, and a mechanical engineer about $5,000 per year.

More than 95 percent of all births took place at HOME.

Ninety percent of all doctors had NO COLLEGE EDUCATION!

Instead, they attended so-called medical schools, many of which were condemned in the press AND government as 'substandard'.

Sugar cost four cents a pound.

Eggs were fourteen cents a dozen.

Coffee was fifteen cents a pound.

Most women only washed their hair once a month, And used Borax or egg yolks for shampoo.

Canada passed a law that prohibited poor people from entering into their country for any reason..

Five leading causes of death were:
1. Pneumonia and influenza
2. Tuberculosis
3. Diarrhea
4. Heart disease
5. Stroke

The American flag had 45 stars.

The population of Las Vegas, Nevada, was only 30!

Crossword puzzles, canned beer, and ice tea hadn't been invented yet.

There was no Mother's Day or Father's Day.

Two out of every 10 adults couldn't read or write.
Only 6 percent of all Americans had graduated from high school.

Marijuana, heroin, and morphine were all available over the counter at the local corner drugstores. Back then pharmacists said, "Heroin clears the complexion, gives buoyancy to the mind, regulates the stomach and bowels and is, in fact, a perfect guardian of health.

Eighteen percent of households had at least one full-time servant or domestic help.

There were about 230 reported murders in the ENTIRE U.S.A.!

1910 Politics: The close electoral split between Democrats and Republicans in the years following the Civil War was altered in the elections of 1896. In that year the Republican William McKinley won the presidency with a decisive victory over agrarian Democrat William Jennings Bryan. Thereafter, the Republican Party held a majority of congressional seats for twenty-six of the thirty-four years from 1896 to 1930 and, with only two exceptions, won every presidential election from 1896 until 1932. Except for the 1910s the Republicans dominated American politics for the first third of the twentieth century. From 1910 to 1918 the Democratic Party held a majority of seats in Congress, and Democrat Woodrow Wilson won both presidential elections held during the decade.

On the national level, the United States faced such issues as immigration, the living conditions of the poor, political corruption, conservation of natural resources, women suffrage, child labor and labor working conditions. William Howard Taft was president, having succeeded Teddy Roosevelt who was president from 1901 to 1909. Taft, a Republican, lost his popularity due to his defense of the Payne-Aldrich Tariff Act of 1909. Tariffs were a leading political issue and the Republican platform in 1908 sought to lower tariff rates. Big business favored tariffs because it protected their products. Southerners and farmers in the Midwest wanted to lower tariffs so that their products would be more affordable. Taft worked closely with Nelson Aldrich of Rhode Island, the boss of the U.S. Senate, to create a bill that instead of lowering tariffs increased them. In so doing, he alienated his party as well as the former president, Teddy Roosevelt. Roosevelt was committed to regulating big business, also known as the Trusts, lowering tariffs and conserving the environment. His platform was named, the “New Nationalism.” Taft, as a conservative Republican, turned his back on reform and in the process, helped precipitate a split in the Republican Party. As a result, Teddy Roosevelt created the Bull Moose Party. With this split, it ushered in Democratic candidate Woodrow Wilson.

Wilson, a southerner who had been a professor and president of Princeton University, was running for governor of New Jersey in 1910. He advocated reform of Princeton along the lines of the English university house system which became unpopular. Therefore, he ran a successful race for governor where he pushed through important reforms such as a primary elections law, anti-corruption measures and employers’ liability. In running for president, he consulted with Louis Brandeis of the U.S. Supreme Court and came up with the platform of the “New Freedom.” This platform advocated freedom from monopolies as opposed to Roosevelt’s attempt to regulate monopolies. Later as president, Wilson accomplished much: three constitutional amendments that dealt with direct popular election of senators, prohibition and suffrage for women; the Clayton Antitrust Act, establishment of the Federal Reserve banking system, and the Federal Child Labor Law.

Teddy Roosevelt in 1910 was on safari in East Africa, enjoying his freedom from the strain of politics in the wake of his presidency. Of note during his administration was the creation of the Panama Canal, his negotiations for a cessation of hostilities of the Russo-Japanese war in 1905, his Nobel Prize for Peace, the regulation of big business, and the conservation of national resources. Teddy selected Taft, the secretary of war, as his successor for president. However, Taft never enjoyed his job as president. He would much rather have stayed with jurisprudence. As a result, he lost his reelection bid and ultimately would become Chief Justice of the Supreme Court from 1921-1930.

Eugene Debs, a socialist, had the most radical political outlook. The national secretary and treasurer of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen, he was a leader in the Pullman strike in 1894. He later organized the Social Democratic Party of America and became the presidential candidate of the Socialist Party from 1900 to 1920. He was imprisoned for three years, convicted and sentenced for violation of the Espionage Act of 1918.

Aren’t you glad all the political hatred is behind us?

A little blogging music Maestro: Anything patriotic!

Dr. Forgot
http://drforgot.com

Crazy Clairton Cousins

Memories are made of this

Clairton Cousins: So many of us grew up in the halcyon days of Clairton. For the most part we were poor; many were children and grandchildren of immigrants, and most of us had parents or relatives who worked in the local steel mills. In our particular family there happened to be six male cousins within five years of age of one another. We met regularly at my grandparent’s house to celebrate holidays and generally for weekly family gatherings. My maternal grandparents were both Slavic immigrants with Diedo (grandfather) a Bosnian Serb, and Baba (grandmother) from Croatia. They lived in a duplex that they had build with their own hands and many hands from friends and relatives. The house was on Arch Street, one block off State Street and between St. Clair and Park Avenues. It was a five-minute walk from the mill gate so the second part of the duplex was usually rented out to a mill worker. Family lore has it that in the early days of their marriage – they were married in 1915 – the second house doubled as a place for many Slavic steelworkers on paydays to drink and gamble but I was never able to verify the veracity of that lore.

Evenings around the pot-bellied stove: During the get togethers at our grandparent’s house the girl cousins would wander off in one direction, the adults in another, and the six male cousins would head up into the cellar. Since the house was built into a hillside, the cellar was reached by going UP a few stairs instead of down, as a typical cellar. We would sit around the pot bellied stove and the older cousins would fill the younger cousins with stories of their imaginary feats of virtue and conquests of a lesser virtue. The younger cousins would listen in awe until Diedo would come in and admonish us not to go into the wine cellar where his homemade wines were brewing. He would explain in his broken English that the wines were not yet ready to drink and if we sneaked some we would first get sick then our hide would be tanned for not listening. He always concluded with a wink and, “But if you take, take from number three barrel. She’s a best.”

More than fifty years have passed since the six cousins sat around that pot-bellied stove and discussed life. The eldest cousin, yours truly, went off to college and settled in Las Vegas. The second, John, went to college and the Army, then settled in California and worked in the computer field. Cousin Tony moved to Florida and became a professional entertainer, singing in lounges and on cruise ships. Cousin Milan’s family moved to the Philadelphia area when the mills had a downturn and his father was transferred. Milan was an outstanding athlete and attended University of Maryland on a football scholarship. After graduation he settled near his parents and became a plant manager. Frank went into the auto repair business and stayed near his parents. Steve also went to college on an athletic scholarship and settled in Nevada and became a school principal.

Tragedy strikes: If the cousins were nothing else, they were all healthy – until a debilitating disease struck Frank. After several years of fighting he lost the battle. It was a realization that we were all getting to the age where we were no longer invulnerable. We lived thousands of miles away from one another but all kept in touch – sadly our meetings were most often to attend the funerals of our parents.

Tony was the first to get the inspiration for a Cousins reunion. For several years we were just not able to make time for a reunion but last year Tony flew to Vegas where he, Steve, and yours truly shared an evening of good food, good wine, and great memories. We phoned John and Milan from the restaurant and let them know what they were missing. This year the three of us again met in Las Vegas and drove to California to meet with John and had another great day of reminiscing, and another great dinner. We phoned Milan and let him know that next year we were going to invade his territory so all the remaining cousins could celebrate our lives and the roads we traveled.

We hit the lottery: During part of our reminiscing we always reflect on the state of the country. Yes, the country is in the midst of economic woes. Yes, we have troops overseas who are in harm’s way. Yes, the politics have become bitter and the country seems to be divided against itself, but we all hit the lottery. When our grandparents decided to leave their countries and come to America they guaranteed their offspring the opportunity to be anything we wanted and were capable of doing. They guaranteed that we and our families would be safe from wars on our soil, and that we would be more prosperous than any prior generation. Our children would be guaranteed an education, our world class universities would be available to anybody who wanted to take advantage of them regardless of family background. As a country we would give over $ 300 billion annually to those less fortunate. Despite needed changes in the health care system we have health care available to virtually everybody. A recent survey showed that nearly 80% of Americans are proud to be Americans. That puts in a tie with Ireland and ahead of Australia. No other country even comes close. So each year as we meet for our reunion, we will not only reflect on our times growing up, we also will take time to thank our grandparents for making the decision to come to America. Just being born here hit the lottery.

A little blogging music Maestro… “Those Were the Days,” by Mary Hopkin.

Dr. Forgot
http://drforgot.com

Happy Gnu Ear

State of the New Decade

Thank you Kingston Trio: The New Year always reminds me of a song that was popular four or five decades ago. See how little things have changed over the decades.

They're rioting in Africa, they're starving in Spain.
There's hurricanes in Florida, and Texas needs rain.
The whole world is festering with unhappy souls.
The French hate the Germans, the Germans hate the Poles.
Italians hate Yugoslavs, South Africans hate the Dutch.
And I don't like anybody very much!

But we can be tranquil, and thankful, and proud,
For mans' been endowed with a mushroom-shaped cloud.
And we know for certain that some lovely day
Someone will set the spark off, and we will all be blown away.

They're rioting in Africa, there's strife in Iran.
What nature doesn't do to us, will be done by our fellow man.

Famous happenings on this date: On this date in history in:
1496 Leonardo daVinci unsuccessfully tries flying machine.
1521- The Pope excommunicated Martin Luther.
1667 Russia and Poland sign peace treaty.
1750 Tax revolt in Netherlands.
1777 George Washington’s army defeated Cornwall in the Battle of Princeton.
1821 First engineering college in U.S. opens in Troy, NY.
1833 Britain seized the Falkland Islands.
1870 Construction began on the Brooklyn Bridge.
1871 Henry Bradley patented oleomargarine.
1888 Marvin Stone invented the drinking straw.
1920 The Yankees acquired Babe Ruth from Boston and the curse was on.
1938 The March of Dimes was established.
1947 First televising of Congressional hearings.
1958 Sir Edmund Hillary reached the South Pole.
1959 Alaska became the 49th state.
1962 Pope John XXIII excommunicated Fidel Castro.
1967 Jack Ruby (who shot Lee Harvey Oswald) died.
1969 30,000 copies of John Lennon’s album “Two Virgins” confiscated.
1972 Don McLean’s gold record “American Pie” lasted 8:32.

Happy Birthday to: On this date the following people were born:
• 106 BC – Cicero, Roman statesman and philosopher (d. 43 BC)
• 1196 – Emperor Tsuchimikado of Japan (d. 1231)
• 1698 – Pietro Metastasio, Italian poet (d. 1782)
• 1710 – Richard Gridley, American Revolutionary soldier (d. 1796)
• 1719 – Francisco José Freire, Portuguese historian (d. 1773)
• 1722 – Fredric Hasselquist, Swedish naturalist (d. 1752)
• 1733 – Sir Richard Arkwright, British industrialist and inventor (d. 1792)
• 1760 – John Storm, American Revolutionary soldier (d. 1835)
• 1778 – Antoni Melchior Fijałkowski, Polish bishop (d. 1861)
• 1793 – Lucretia Mott, American women's rights activist (d. 1880)
• 1802 – Charles Pelham Villiers, British House of Commons member (d. 1898)
• 1803 – Douglas William Jerrold, British playwright (d. 1857)
• 1806 – Henriette Sontag, German soprano (d. 1854)
• 1810 – Antoine Thomson d'Abbadie, French geographer (d. 1897)
• 1819 – Charles Piazzi Smyth, Astronomer Royal for Scotland (d. 1900)
• 1821 – Dragotin Dežman, Slovenian politician, archeologist and botanist (d. 1889)
• 1831 – Savitribai Phule, Female social activist, first female teacher in India, and first female poet in Marathi language (d. 1897)
• 1836 – Sakamoto Ryoma, Japanese revolutionary (d. 1867)
• 1840 – Father Damien, Flemish missionary (d. 1889)
• 1855 – Hubert Bland, British socialist (d. 1914)
• 1861 – William Renshaw, British champion tennis player (d. 1904)
• 1862 – Sir Matthew Nathan, British Governor of Queensland and other places (d. 1939)
• 1865 – Henry Lytton, British actor and opera singer (d. 1936)
• 1870 – Henry Handel Richardson, Australian author (d. 1946)
• 1873 – Ichizo Kobayashi, Japanese businessman (d. 1957)
• 1875 – Alexandros Diomidis, governor of the Bank of Greece and Prime Minister of Greece (d. 1950)
• 1876 – Wilhelm Pieck, first President of East Germany (d. 1960)
• 1879 – Grace Coolidge, First Lady of the United States (d. 1957)
• 1883 – Clement Attlee, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1967)
• 1884 – Raoul von Koczalski, Polish pianist and composer (d. 1948)
• 1885 – Harry Elkins Widener, book collector, businessman, victim of the sinking of the RMS Titanic, and person after whom Harvard University's largest library is named (d. 1912)
• 1886 – John Gould Fletcher, American poet and author (d. 1950)
• 1886 – Josephine Hull, American actress (d. 1957)
• 1887 – August Macke, German painter (d. 1914)
• 1887 – Helen Parkhurst, American educator (d. 1973)
• 1892 – J. R. R. Tolkien, British writer (d. 1973)
• 1894 – ZaSu Pitts, American actress (d. 1963)
• 1895 – Borys Lyatoshynsky, Ukrainian composer (d. 1968)
• 1897 – Marion Davies, American actress (d. 1961)
• 1898 – Carlos Keller, Chilean fascist politician (d. 1974)
• 1900 – Donald J. Russell, North American railroad executive (d. 1985)
• 1901 – Ngô Đình Diệm, President of South Vietnam (d. 1963)
• 1905 – Ray Milland, British actor (d. 1986)
• 1905 – Anna May Wong, American actress (d. 1961)
• 1909 – Victor Borge, Danish entertainer (d. 2000)
• 1910 – Frenchy Bordagaray, American baseball player (d. 2000)
• 1911 – John Sturges, American director (d. 1982)
• 1912 – Renaude Lapointe, Canadian journalist and senator (d. 2002)
• 1912 – Armand Lohikoski, Finnish director (d. 2005)
• 1915 – Mady Rahl, German stage and film actress (d. 2009)
• 1915 – Jack Levine, American social realist painter
• 1916 – Maxene Andrews, American singer (The Andrews Sisters) (d. 1995)
• 1916 – Betty Furness, American actress (d. 1994)
• 1916 – Bernard Greenhouse, American cellist
• 1917 – Roger W. Straus, Jr., American publisher (d. 2004)
• 1917 – General Vernon Walters, U.S. military officer, diplomat (d. 2002)
• 1920 – Renato Carosone, Italian musician (d. 2001)
• 1921 – John Russell, American actor (d. 1991)
• 1922 – Ronald Smith, British pianist (d. 2004)
• 1922 – Bill Travers, British actor and director (d. 1994)
• 1923 – Hank Stram, American football coach (d. 2005)
• 1923 – Charles Tingwell, Australian actor (d. 2009)
• 1924 – Doug Ellis, British entrepreneur
• 1924 – André Franquin, Belgian cartoonist (Gaston Lagaffe) (d. 1997)
• 1924 – Nell Rankin, American singer (d. 2005)
• 1926 – George Martin, British producer
• 1929 – Sergio Leone, Italian director (d. 1989)
• 1929 – Ernst Mahle, Brazilian composer
• 1930 – Marcel Dubé, Quebec playwright
• 1930 – Robert Loggia, American actor
• 1932 – Dabney Coleman, American actor
• 1932 – Coo Coo Marlin, American race car driver (d. 2005)
• 1932 – Tongolele, US-born dancer in Mexican movies
• 1935 – Raymond Garneau, French Canadian politician and businessman
• 1936 – David Vine, British sports commentator (d. 2009)
• 1937 – Seri Wangnaitham, Thai dancer and choreographer (d. 2007)
• 1939 – Nikos Alefantos, Greek football manager
• 1939 – Janice Crosio, Australian politician
• 1939 – Bobby Hull, Canadian hockey player
• 1939 – Ruben Reyes, Filipino Supreme Court jurist
• 1941 – Van Dyke Parks, American musician
• 1942 – John Marsden, Australian lawyer, gay activist (d. 2006)
• 1942 – John Thaw, British actor (d. 2002)
• 1943 – Jarl Alfredius, Swedish news anchor (d. 2009)
• 1944 – David Atherton, British conductor
• 1944 – Blanche d'Alpuget, Australian novelist, biographer
• 1945 – Stephen Stills, American musician
• 1946 – John Paul Jones, British musician (Led Zeppelin)
• 1946 – Cissy King, American entertainer
• 1949 – Sylvia Likens, American torture victim (d. 1965)
• 1950 – Victoria Principal, American actress
• 1951 – Gary Nairn, Australian politician
• 1952 – Jim Ross, American wrestling announcer
• 1954 – Dean Hart, Canadian wrestler (d. 1990)
• 1954 – Ned Lamont, American businessman and political figure
• 1954 – Ross the Boss, American guitarist
• 1955 – Palmolive, British musician (The Slits, The Raincoats)
• 1956 – Mel Gibson, Australian actor and director
• 1956 – Willy T. Ribbs, American race-car driver
• 1957 – Bojan Križај, Slovenian skier
• 1958 – Shim Hyung-rae, South Korean filmmaker
• 1958 – James J. Greco, American businessman
• 1960 – Sandeep Marwah Founder of Film City, Noida, India
• 1962 – Francesca Lia Block, American author
• 1963 – Vic Grimes, American professional wrestler
• 1963 – Alex Wheatle, British novelist
• 1963 – Jerome Young, American professional wrestler
• 1964 – Bruce LaBruce, Canadian filmmaker
• 1966 – Martin Galway, Northern Ireland composer
• 1969 – Michael Schumacher, German seven-time F1 World Champion
• 1969 – Gerda Weissensteiner, Italian bobsledder and luger
• 1970 – Christian Duguay, American comic actor
• 1970 – Mahaya Petrosian, Iranian actress
• 1970 – Matt Ross, American actor
• 1971 – Cory Cross, Canadian ice-hockey player
• 1972 – Yoon Chan, South Korean actor
• 1972 – Nichole Nordeman, American singer
• 1974 – Alessandro Petacchi, Italian cyclist
• 1975 – Thomas Bangalter, French DJ (Daft Punk)
• 1975 – Jason Marsden, American actor
• 1975 – Danica McKellar, American actress
• 1976 – Angelos Basinas, Greek footballer
• 1976 – Alisen Down, Canadian actress
• 1976 – Dinara Drukarova, Russian actress
• 1976 – Nicholas Gonzalez, American actor
• 1977 – Lee Bowyer, British footballer
• 1977 – A.J. Burnett, American baseball player
• 1977 – Mayumi Iizuka, Japanese voice actress (seiyū)
• 1978 – Liya Kebede, Ethiopian model
• 1978 – Kimberley Locke, American singer
• 1978 – Park Sol-mi, South Korean actress
• 1978 – Mike York, American ice hockey player
• 1980 – Bryan Clay, American decathlete
• 1980 – Angela Ruggiero, American ice hockey player
• 1980 – David Tyree, American football player
• 1981 – Eli Manning, American football player
• 1984 – Billy Mehmet, Irish footballer
• 1985 – John David Booty, American football player
• 1985 – Linas Kleiza, Lithuanian basketball player for the Denver Nuggets
• 1986 – Lloyd Polite, American R&B singer
• 1986 – Jacob Timpano, Australian footballer
• 1986 – Jessica O'Rourke, American footballer
• 1987 – Leonidas Panagopoulos, Greek footballer
• 1988 – Rodrigo de la Cadena, Mexican artist and performer
• 1989 – Alex D. Linz, American actor
• 1989 – Julia Nunes, American singer and ukulele player
• 1989 – Anya Rozova, Russian model and America's Next Top Model contestant
• 1989 – Mustapha Hussein, Saddam Hussein's grandson, Qusay Hussein's son (d. 2003)
A little blogging music Maestro… “Those Were the Days,” by Mary Hopkin.

Dr. Forgot
http://drforgot.com

Interest in Shale Refuses to Pale

Had a Cool Yule? Have a Frantic First
and Marcellus Shale Revisited

Are we in recovery yet: Let’s see, Christmas day plus a couple. My best guess is that you had at least one of the following awkward moments grace your Christmas day festivities: Grandpa made the kids squeal when he took out his teeth, somebody burned the turkey and dinner plans had to be altered, family members who’d said they couldn’t make it showed up – at least one was crude, obnoxious, and drunk. Two brothers-in-law got into a fight. Grandma comments that your brother’s “trophy” wife dresses like a tramp. Somebody forgot to take the stuffing out of the turkey before baking and it caught fire. Halfway through dessert somebody realized the giblet gravy had not been put on the table. Somebody asked the newly married couple when they are going to start their family and got the finger in response, and finally, somebody said, “This is the last time we’re doing this. Next year we eat out.”

Hidden gold or fool’s gold: We would like to share a few more bits of information regarding Marcellus Shale and the impact it might have on Clairton and the entire Southwestern Pennsylvania region. Some see it as the savior of the region’s economy and others see it as one more snake oil pitch. But the facts are that things have happened quickly and there are some heavy hitters interested in the pursuit of a potential bonanza.

Discuss it and they will come: Several months ago event coordinators planned to host a Pittsburgh conference for natural gas producers. They expected somewhere between 200 and 300 attendees. Once registrations for the conference began to arrive it became clear that the numbers would exceed the projection – so much so that the conference venue was changed from a downtown hotel to the Convention Center in order to accommodate the nearly 1,500 attendees.

The giant sleeps tonight: The Marcellus Shale range, which extends from Tennessee to New York, is not a recently-discovered phenomenon. Neither is the technology required to extract natural gas from the shale a recently-discovered technique. What happened to spark interest in the gas was the publication of two reports; one by a Texas natural gas company, whose annual report documented production of the first natural gas wells, drilled in Washington County, PA. The following month a geology professor from Penn State co-authored a report with a colleague from a university in New York that further discussed the potential for the extraction of natural gas from the rock bed far underneath the rich Pennsylvania (and neighboring states) soil. In the report, the estimated amount of underground gas was increased from about 2 trillion (reported earlier by a U.S. Geological Survey) cubic feet to 516 trillion cubic feet of gas – up to 250 times the earlier estimate.

If gas production were to even closely approach its estimated potential, another Penn State study reports, the result could initially be the creation of some 30,000 new jobs in Pennsylvania. The following year that number could jump to 48,000 and the year after to 98,000 new jobs directly and indirectly related to Marcellus Shale development. By 2020 the development could add $13.5 billion to the state’s economy and create more than 176,000 new jobs. Collectively, these reports have begun a rush to be the first to exploit the new industry.

Where the wealth lies: In order to reach the Marcellus Shale layer of rock and extract the gas bonanza, it is first necessary to drill a well 6,000 to 8,000 feet straight down. Once Shale layer has been penetrated the drilling apparatus must turn 90 degrees and drill horizontally, as the caverns that contain the gas lie horizontally. A portion of the well is then sealed and water is pumped in. The pressure fractures the surrounding rock and allows for more gas recovery over a wider area. This process is called “hydrofracking.”

Timing is everything: The hydrofracking technique has been around for decades, as has the knowledge that rich gas deposits lie beneath the soil but it had not been economically practical to pursue the gas until a natural disaster hit. Beginning late August 2005 three storms; Katrina, Rita, and Wilma struck the Gulf of Mexico causing massive disruptions in the nation’s natural gas supply. As a result the price of natural gas doubled and doubled again, then skyrocketed from $2.00 per BTU to nearly $16.00 per BTU by the end of the year. Still, it was thought that Marcellus Shale gas deposits were buried too deep to be removed economically. However, after a few test drillings and importing the use of hydrofracking from West Texas (it had been used in other regions for nearly 30 years but not along the Marcellus range) made the gas more easily accessible. Once the horizontal-then-vertical drilling was coupled with hydrofracking, production increased dramatically. Hence, by 2007 the Marcellus Shale Range, more specifically, Southwestern Pennsylvania, became THE place to consider drilling for natural gas.

It’s never that easy: Although the natural gas producers are excited and the residents of Southwestern Pennsylvania are hopeful, environmentalists are worried and have erected a “Proceed with Caution” approach. Their biggest concern has to do with the wastewater produced with hydrofracking. One of the drilling companies has developed a system for recycling all its wastewater, another recycles part of its flowback and disposes the remainder through state or federal facilities. A third possibility for the recycling of the wastewater has been suggested – extracting the salt for use as snow removal deposits on roadways. Environmentalists, Industry representatives, and government agencies have formed the Marcellus Shale Coalition, a 62-member group that is examining possible risks and solutions.

In order for the Marcellus Shale natural gas exploration and mining to continue successfully, gas prices must stay above $ 3.50 per BTU. Recent prices have stabilized in the $5.00 per BTU range which bodes well for the industry and business in the region for years to come. Already several of our readers have written to report they’ve been approached by companies wishing to drill on or under their land in exchange for royalties.

Much of the information in this post was provided by former Clairtonian Thomas Nixon of Nixon and Associates, and an article by Elwin Green.

A little blogging music Maestro… “Classical Gas” by Chicago.

Dr. Forgot
http://drforgot.com

What the Shale? Clairton wins!

Of Marcellus Shale and Football Champs

Date Opponent Time/Result
Fri., Sep 4 at Laurel L15 - 8
Fri., Sep 11 Monessen W46 - 0
Fri., Sep 18 Frazier W62 - 7
Fri., Sep 25 at Bentworth W53 - 0
Fri., Oct 2 at Fort Cherry W45 - 6
Fri., Oct 9 Chartiers-Houston W63 - 3
Fri., Oct 16 at Burgettstown W53 - 0
Fri., Oct 23 at Avella W59 - 0
Fri., Oct 30 Serra Catholic W39 - 7
Fri., Nov 6 South Side Beaver W61 - 0
Fri., Nov 13 at Avonworth W24 - 0
Fri., Nov 20 at Laurel W33 - 0
Fri., Nov 27 Rochester W14 - 13
Fri., Dec 4 Conemaugh Township W46 - 0
Fri., Dec 11 Farrell W13 - 7
Fri., Dec 18 Bishop McCort W15 - 3


More Marcellus Mania: Our previous post regarding the possibility of Marcellus Shale discoveries as a possible boon to the Clairton economy brought a host of responses – some positive, some negative, but many hopeful. Several readers reported that they or their neighbors or family have already signed leases and others have reported being contacted by companies seeking permission to drill on or under their land. Environmental organizations and local watershed groups have expressed concerns over the potential impact of Marcellus Shale natural gas development on public water supplies and water quality. As a pre-emptive strike one company has announced that it will donate $750,000 to the Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC) to underwrite the deployment of a remote water quality monitoring network in the upper reaches of the Susquehanna River watershed.

It is obvious that economic benefits and job creation from Marcellus Shale development will be tempered by the environmental precautions and safety measures taken by the industry. On the other hand, if Marcellus Shale gas production is to proceed, perhaps the monitoring by environmental groups will create even more jobs. Town hall meetings are being held throughout the region to educate the locals regarding the potential and potential risk of mining natural gas from Marcellus Shale. We invite comments from readers who have attended those meetings and will share the comments and reactions of attendees. More to come.

Bears just do it: Clairton is the Rodney Dangerfield of communities and by extension so are its schools and athletic teams. And the worst offenders in the dissing of Clairton are its own citizens current and past. On a Clairton bulletin board the Bears football team was predicted to choke this season, especially after the first game that resulted in a loss. As the Bears rebounded from that non-conference loss, even after drubbing the same team that had beaten them earlier in the season, locals and former locals still insisted the team would choke. They are bums and thugs. They will play an uppity private school in the playoffs. Bishop McCort prepares their young men for Penn State; Clairton prepares its young men for the state pen. No way do the Bears have the self discipline to complete a season as state champs. Coach Nola doesn’t know how to coach and the players will eventually fold. So went the online bulletin board. However when the dust cleared, NOT!

No touchdown for Johnstown: Bishop McCort High School is a private Catholic school in the hard luck town of Johnstown, PA. Johnstown is most famous for the Great Flood that happened 120 years ago. Ok, the school also had a player in the 1960s by the name of Jack Ham who went on to Penn State then had a stellar career with the Steelers. The McCort Crimson Crushers football team has a proud tradition. The private parochial school opened in 1929 and it costs thousands of dollars in tuition to attend. Its football team was undefeated (14-0) going into the State playoffs. Clairton High School is a public high school, also rich in tradition with an excellent football team. Last year Clairton lost a heartbreaker in the State championship game and this year lost its season opener, which could have broken the Bear’s spirit. But it didn’t.

McCort came into the game as District 7 champs, Clairton as District 6 champs. McCort did not go into Hershey for the playoffs the night before as Clairton did. Instead they kept to their normal routine for an away game. But the Bears, whose season included 8 shutouts, who outscored their opponents by a total score of 619-58, or an average of about 41-4, and whose defense had not allowed a touchdown throughout the entire playoffs, were loaded for… well, Crushers.

Going into the fourth quarter Clairton’s vaunted defense was again too stingy to give up a touchdown but the offense had managed only a field goal – their first of the season - and the score was tied at 3. The Bears drove to the Crusher one yard line and Desimon Green forced his way into the end zone for a touchdown. Five minutes later running back Deonte Howard broke free for an 80 yard scamper to score the final touchdown in the game. Final score: Clairton Bears 15, previously unbeaten Bishop McCort Crimson Crusaders 3. Congratulations to the State Champion Clairton Bears.

Don’t let your heart be snowbound: The East Coast, including Clairton is blanketed with a snowstorm this weekend. The temperature in Las Vegas yesterday was nearly 70 degrees with plenty of sunshine. But that was not the case this time last year. From my blog one year ago today, “Yes, Las Vegas is in the Mohave Desert. Yes, the desert is hot and dry. Yes, the average precipitation in Las Vegas is about 2.75” annually, but when it rains, “gully washers” start high in the foothills on the west side of town and cascade down onto the Strip a little more than 300 feet below, then down to Henderson, another 300 feet or so, and finally into Lake Mead. The County has spent millions of dollars to tame the flooding with catch basins strategically placed throughout the Las Vegas Valley and for the most part it works pretty well. No longer do cars float in the Strip Hotel Casino parking lots, and those lucky enough to be visiting during a desert rainstorm are no longer treated to Mother Nature’s fury. But the snow… well, that’s another story.

Oh the weather outside was frightful: Earlier this week a storm blew down from Alaska and Canada and through the desert. This happens every 5-8 years or so and the Las Vegas valley sees a sprinkling of show but not very often and not for very long. But records are made to be broken, right? The 3.6 inches that fell on Vegas last Wednesday was the heaviest snowfall in recorded history. That is not a misprint 3.6 inches was a record. McCarran International airport was shut down tighter than the lid on a pickle jar, and I-15 northbound to Utah and southbound to California was shut down. U.S. 95 north toward Reno and south toward Boulder City and Arizona was shut down. The city came to a grinding halt. Thousands of airline passengers were stranded. Of course, there are worse places to be stranded than Las Vegas, unless of course, you gambled all your money and had your airline ticket pinned to the inside of your underwear. Nobody was Leaving Las Vegas.”

A little blogging music Maestro… The Clairton High School fight song played by the Clairton Band.

Dr. Forgot
http://drforgot.com

Rock Around the Clairton Clock

Marcellus Shale

Could Marcellus Shale be Clairton’s savior? Clairton, PA is located on the Monongahela River several miles south of Pittsburgh. The city was incorporated in 1903 and in the early 20th century boasted an amusement park, dance pavilion, and popular beach, all frequented by the upper crust of the Pittsburgh social scene. As the steel industry began to populate the area Clairton carved out its niche by housing the major coke producing plant in the world. Coke is the product that links coal to steel and thus is a crucial component in steel production. Clairton boomed. The local high school was one of the few in the area that sported a swimming pool. Residents’ taxes were low because the steel mill paid the bulk of the taxes. Services were first class – fire and police had state-of-the-art equipment and the city’s own street department kept the roads clear on snowy days and nghts so workers could get into and out of the steel mills. Times were good from the end of World War II into the late 1970s and early 80s.

A one-horse town: For all its good living – affordable housing, one of the most beautiful parks in the area, steady work; it was a one-industry town. The ancillary businesses were directly or indirectly supported by the steel industry, so when the steel industry began to rust, families moved away. The exodus was not like the influx. As entire families had moved into Clairton during boom years, families moved out in pieces. Many products of the highly rated Clairton high school went off to college or to the military service and found jobs elsewhere, leaving middle aged parents and elderly grandparents behind. Property values tumbled and people looking for work moved in but were too often unsuccessful in their quest. As time passed two main segments remained in the poverty-stricken town; the elderly who owned their homes, could not sell them, and lived on meager pensions and Social Security, and young people who moved into low rent housing but had little if any income. Like so many other one-industry towns, Clairton sank into the depression of poverty as evidenced by empty storefronts, limited public services, and a rising crime rate.

Enter Marcellus Shale: This writer knew little of Marcellus Shale prior to several informative correspondences form an ex-patriot Clairtonian who now resides in what used to be referred to as “dahntahn.” (That’s Pittsburgh for those of you uneducated in colloquial Clairton English). Devonian black shale is a rock called the Marcellus. It is black in color and easy for geologists to spot in the field and its slightly radioactive signature makes it easily recognizable. Marcellus Shale found beneath the earth’s surface, is organically rich and contains a large amount of natural gas, mostly propane and butane.

As recently as 2002 the United States Geological Survey in its Assessment of Undiscovered Oil and Gas Resources of the Appalachian Basin Province, calculated that the Marcellus Shale contained an estimated undiscovered resource of about 1.9 trillion cubic feet of gas. That's a lot of gas but it is spread over an enormous geographic area that extends from Tennessee to New York, with the majority of the range in Western PA, Eastern Ohio, Southwestern New York, and most of West Virginia.

How does the gas hide in that rock? Natural gas occurs within the Marcellus Shale in three ways: 1) within the pore spaces of the shale; 2) within vertical fractures (joints) that break through the shale; and, 3) adsorbed on mineral grains and organic material. Most of the recoverable gas is contained in the pore spaces. However, the gas has difficulty escaping through the pore spaces because they are very tiny and poorly connected.

Drilling began in Washington County, an hour south of Clairton in 2003 in an effort to determine the quality and quantity of natural gas in the Marcellus Shale Range. Until recently it was not considered cost effective to remove the gas from the rock. However new methods of drilling techniques have been developed that show much promise.

What does this mean for Clairton? A Fredonia State College professor calculated that there might be as much as 500 trillion cubic feet of gas within the Marcellus Shale Range. The huge amount of recoverable natural gas will likely start another boom. Just as the steel mills created cities in the Monongahela Valley, so might this new industry revive struggling municipalities. Lower transportation costs to heavily populated Eastern Seaboard states as well as to the Midwest will make the price even more attractive. It is also possible that land in Clairton as well as surrounding communities will be leased for drilling with long term royalties going to landowners. Since 2007 many local landowners have been approached by companies to lease their land for drilling.

What about the downside? As in any other venture that takes something from the earth there are environmental potential downsides. Marcellus Shale is, quite literally, a tough nut to crack. It has to be fractured successfully in order to get economic quantities of gas to flow. These "frac" techniques have advanced to the point at which many fractures can be made along the length of the well in a single pass. Marcellus Shale also tends to extend laterally, so that's the shape a wellbore needs to take in order to hit the most pay. High pressure water is used in the horizontal drilling required to tap the resource. There are some concerns that the residue could get into the water table and cause an environmental hazard. This is still speculation, but it is one issue that needs to be addressed. With the air over Clairton and Glassport already ranking as in the top four of most polluted cities in America, there might be some reluctance to move forward with another procedure that could potentially cause harm.

Thanks to Tom and others who have forwarded information for this blog.

A little blogging music Maestro… Any good Rock nad Roll song. How about “19th Nervous Breakdown,” by the Rolling Stones..

Dr. Forgot
http://drforgot.com

Karen Dynan's Shopping Myths

Media Myths - Ho, Ho, Ho

Tis the season for the obligatory newspaper columns that total up the price of items found in the song "Twelve Days of Christmas." Instead of researching the price of French hens and calling birds - not to mention the fluctuating price of gold, we decided to share a column by Karen Dynan. She is vice president and co-director for economic studies at the Brookings Institute. This year Ms. Dynan discusses media myths and partial truths about Christmas shopping. She can be reached at kdynan@brookings.edu. Read and enjoy...

By Karen Dynan

Every year, TV coverage of the holiday shopping kickoff takes on the sort of breathless urgency typically reserved for hurricanes or car chases. We’re told that fate of the nation hinges on the contents of our shopping bags. Historically, we’ve obliged by overstuffing them: Bankruptcy filings tend to surge early each year as consumers struggle to pay their post-Christmas credit card bills.

But if one of this season’s hottest gifts — an $8, battery-operated toy hamster — is any indication, we seem to be scaling back a bit this year. And that might be all right, since much of the conventional wisdom linking holiday spending and the health of our economy turns out to have been, in many cases, myth.

Myth one — Most retail spending occurs around the holidays. With so much attention focused on shopping and sales during the holidays, people often assume that the vast majority of our spending takes place around this time of year. But over the past decade, only about 19 per cent of each year’s retail sales were in November and December — just a bit higher than the 17 per cent of total days in a year that fall in those two months. Of course, the holiday season’s importance varies by type of store, with those that sell nonessential goods more dependent on holiday cheer (and the spending it inspires). Toy stores and jewelry shops rack up about a third of their sales in November and December, whereas supermarkets and hardware stores see a much smaller blip in demand.

The winter holidays do beat out other much-hyped shopping seasons. For example, while sales at apparel and department stores tend to be stronger during the back-to-school season than they are early in the year, they’re a good deal more substantial in the weeks leading up to Christmas.

Myth two — This year’s holiday sales will tell us whether the economic recovery is real. Retail sales during last year’s holiday season were pretty much abysmal, with what economists call the “core’’ category (which excludes spending on cars) falling eight per cent compared with the 2007 holidays. While most analysts don’t think we will see that kind of decline this year, they aren’t expecting a blockbuster season. The consensus view is that consumer spending will rise only slowly in coming quarters, held back by weak labour markets, high consumer uncertainty and the big hit that households have taken to the value of their stocks and mutual funds, including those in their retirement portfolios.

Although consumer spending accounts for about 70 per cent of U.S. economic output, it has rarely led the way out of past economic downturns. Such spending doesn’t usually increase until income and overall economic activity do.

Myth three —The hoopla over electronic shopping notwithstanding, online sales made up less than four per cent of fourth-quarter U.S. retail sales last year. Although this represents a big increase since earlier this decade, online shopping remains a modest part of overall spending.

5. From an economist’s perspective, cash is the best gift.

Economists are known for arguing that giving your loved ones cold cash is better than giving them presents because people can spend the money on items of their own choosing. In “The Deadweight Loss of Christmas’’ — a famous article published in the American Economic Review in 1993 — Joel Waldfogel, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, presented evidence supporting this point. He’s now updated and expanded the argument in a book called “Scroogenomics: Why You Shouldn’t Buy Presents for the Holidays.’’ (Waldfogel may be arguing against gifts, but with this book, he’s also ready to profit from them: “Scroogenomics’’ is packaged as the sort of small, stocking-stuffer-ready book sold next to bookstore cash registers.)

Waldfogel surveyed college students and found that they valued the Christmas gifts they received at between 75 and 90 percent of their original price. Consider fruitcake: Is it worth as much to you when you receive it as it cost the giver to make or buy it? A strict interpretation of Waldfogel’s results implies that the difference between the price of a gift and the value its recipient attaches to it — which can add up to tens of billions of dollars a year nationally — is essentially wasted money.

But this logic misses the point of exchanging presents. Gifts have more than monetary worth; the effort and care involved in their selection gives them sentimental meaning. If what mattered most were their cash value, we wouldn’t exchange presents at all — we’d simply let whoever was going to give the more expensive gift pay the net difference to the other person. But even most economists will be found at the mall sometime in the coming weeks.

A little blogging music Maestro: "Its Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas," by Perry Como.

Dr. Forgot
http://drforgot.com