OPEC Slashes Production Again. Big Surprise There!

OPEC, today, in their emergency meeting, decided to cut daily production by 1.5 million barrels beginning next month. The price of oil, since hitting a high in July, has dropped 55%, as of yesteday's closing. OPEC, in their statement today, stated the "The financial crisis is having a noticeable impact on the world economy dampening the demand for oil." Essentially, OPEC is more concerned with their being an oversupply of oil on the market. In particular, supply growth going forward. I seriously doubt OPEC nations are concerned about the short-term supply of their product.

I can definitely understand why OPEC would want to keep the price of their product high. Over the course of the last two years, OPEC nations have been benefiting from high oil prices. Earlier this week, the Iranian oil minister, Gholam Hossein Nozari, boasted that "The era of cheap oil is finished!" Both the Iranians and Venezuelans are in favor of gouging their consumers, specifically those of us who live in the good ole USA, to fill their coffers.

Why should we continue to deal with a cartel, especially a cartel that if it operated in the U.S. would be illegal, to procure fossil fuels? Especially from countries that do not really give two shakes about our country? As of right now, OPEC's move has backfired on them with oil dropping to $64.40 per barrel.

Obviously, OPEC's position is that they do not care about economic conditions. They do not seem to care that if they keep their prices high, they suffer like the rest of us. Instead of taking a longer-term view of their market, they decide they need their money now, which could very well backfire on them, if it encourages their customers to accelerate their research and development efforts for alternative sources of fuel. Regardless, nations, and in particular the U.S. needs to be devoting research money to developing alternative sources of fuel. It's a question of national security. We should not have our national security depend on a cartel of countries who, by the grace of providence, have been blessed with high supplies of a certain natural resource.

We need to be working on this situation now before it becomes too late, and before we become even more beholden to black gold than we already are.

Reference links:

• OPEC Cuts Oil Production in Move to Boost Prices
• OPEC Slashing Output
• Oil Below $65; OPEC Cut Fails to Halt Slide

First Month's Hockey Thoughts

We are now a month into the 07-08 campaign, and I must say, I am quite disappointed in the way the Capitals have started out their season. I was totally psyched, like everyone else here in Washington, when the Caps rolled off to three victories in a row. That hope came shattering down to earth with the Caps going into a funk. After our defeat against the Lightning on Saturday, we are now a dismal 6-10-1 and last in the eastern conference.

The Caps also are having great difficulty in putting the puck in the net. The Caps are also performing worse than they were this time last year! With the talent they have on the roster this season, the record should be improved. As a season ticket holder, I am dismayed by the fact that we keep on finding the same ways to lose games as we have the previous three campaigns. To be honest, I am starting to get discouraged.

The Caps are off until Thursday when they play the Panthers. I hope they take the extended time off to work on the power play and the offense, and hopefully more puck control. The Caps need to begin putting in a full 60 minute effort, or else we will be looking outside in yet again once April comes along. I am getting tired of seeing nothing but losing and uninspired hockey. They better start picking it up soon.

Two More Grades....

After a long second seven weeks, I have received both of my grades for my classes. I received an A in both classes. Obviously, I'm quite pleased with the grades I received in both classes. Fortunately for me, I won't ever have to take two classes again during a seven week session. It kept me so busy that I had very little time for anything else. Now I have a two week break until classes start once again for the summer session. I'm going to enjoy the fact that I received two A's and recharge as much as I possibly can before the 21st.

Caption This! The Queen in Jamestown, VA

As I'm sure we have all seen in the news, Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, is on an official state visit here in the country. She is mainly here for what is the biggest celebration in recent memory for the Commonwealth of Virginia, the quad-centennial of the founding of the Jamestown Colony. The Queen received a great southern welcome upon her arrival in Richmond with her husband Prince Philip.

Obviously, this is a great honor for our Commonwealth, to be hosting the Queen. Today, she was in Jamestown to tour the original site of the colony, and to see the progress made by archeologists digging up remains of the original fort. Which, if you haven't been down there lately, I highly encourage everyone to do so, it's quite a site!

Vice President Dick Cheney accompanied Her Majesty and Governor Tim Kaine on a tour of the Jamestown settlement. You can find VP Cheney's remarks here.

However, what I found most interesting of all, was the picture I have posted with this entry, of the Queen and Cheney. I'm wondering what she's thinking here. One thing is for sure, it doesn't appear to be a friendly look, it more looks like she's glaring at him. This, of course, is perfectly fine, in my opinion, Cheney deserves glares such as this. It just got me to thinking, is this how other foreign dignitaries view Cheney? That, of course, could be the question of the hour.

End of Academic Year

Phew! It's been quite some time since I posted anything, I know. I have been keeping myself quite busy the last several months. Most of the time has been split between work and school. I, for one, am looking forward to the end of the academic year in the next week. It's been a hectic beginning of the year. Well, I should say, it's mostly been the last seven weeks that's been hectic.

I have been taking two classes this seven weeks and it has kept me severely busy. I've had very little time for much of anything else outside of work. This is the main reason why I'm glad I'm just about done with the semester. I'll have a brief two to three week break until summer classes begin in on May 14. During the Summer I'll only have one class, Information Technology for Managers, so I hope to not be as busy. Hopefully I'll be able to take in a few baseball games with my girlfriend and enjoy some of the summer before my trip to Disneyworld at the end of July.

First session of Fall 06 Term Completed

I just finished up the first seven week session of the fall term.  I took Quantitative Methods, and I found it to be the most difficult class of the program thusfar.  I spent so much time reading and doing homework than in any other class to date.

I was caught off guard with the level of difficulty of the class.  I struggled the entire seven weeks, but, in the end, I was able to come away with a passing grade.  I got a B+ in the class.  Not the A that I was hoping for at the onset of the course, but, as I've mentioned, with the difficulty level of the class, I'll take my B+ and be very happy.

I have now started the second session of class and it is a business research class.  There are only two requirements for the class, a research project with a presentation, and an online discussion.  The class is designed to equip me to prepare this research project.  At this point in the class, I don't foresee any difficulty with being able to perform well in this class. 

Trip to Jacksonville

It's the tail end of summer, and there's no better way to end it than by making a two and a half day trip to Jacksonville, Florida. I leave for Jacksonville tomorrow evening after work. I certainly hope this trip will tie up most of the loose ends that we still have for this exercise. There is another planning meeting for the exercise on the 7th of September. I won't be attending that meeting, as I have to be in class that evening. That is another post altogether. Hopefully the trip will occur without a hitch. It's supposed to rain a little while I am there, but that shouldn't be too bad. I don't mind going out of town for a couple of days, it's always good to leave DC, but, at the same time, wish I was going somewhere just a little nicer.

Caps Season Ticket Holder Gift Quandry

The other day, as part of my Caps season tickets, I received my order form for this year's season ticket gift. This year's gift is my choice of an autographed stick either by Olie Kolzig or Alex Ovechkin. This is a difficult decision on my part as I like both players a lot. Olie only has a few seasons left and holds all the Caps goaltending records, whereas, Alex is up and coming and is going to be a superstar in the league. I will be happy with either or, but since I have to choose, I am not sure which one I should choose.

Final Accounting Grades

I have completed my Spring 2006 class, Financial and Managerial Accounting, about a week and a half ago. I have all my final grades in for the course. I managed to get the extra credit points for perfect attendance, a 93 on our group project which was an analysis of Southwest Airlines, and a 161 out of 200 points on the final. These final grades resulted in me getting an A- in accounting, not too shabby for a lot of work.

Weekend Accounting Update

I have managed to double-check my accounting midterm examination prior to class this week. I did find a couple of mathematical errors, which I have managed to correct. I should be ready for it to be turned in on Tuesday evening. On Thursday, I started reading "The Goal" by Eli Goldratt. Over the course of the weekend I have also managed to read a good portion of it. I have around 50 pages left to read, and I must say, this is one of the most interesting books I have ever had to read in my academic career. I think the class is worth it just for the opportunity to read this book. The information in this book is going to help me immensely, and I'm glad I am reading it. I still have to read chapters three and eleven in the main textbook. I also have to get cracking on yet another internet assignment. Plenty of time to get all those things squared away.

US-Pakistani Alliance??

The last day or two I have heard on the news about President Bush going to Pakistan to meet with Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf. So this evening, I read on Foxnews.com an article about the President's trip in which Bush Expresses Solidarity with Pakistan, Musharraf.

This article talks about the alliance with Pakistan, and the efforts of Pakistan in the War on Terror. I have reason to question any such alliance with the Pakistanis, and, especially the sincerity of the Pakistani president, Pervez Musharraf. Why should our country trust a man who was not legitimately elected to office in a contested election? He claimed power, in 1999, in a bloodless coup, and in the aftermath of that coup stated that an election would be contested. More than six years later, no election has taken place. In fact, Musharraf recently changed his country's constitution to allow him to remain president AND to keep his uniform until 2007. This is a country, prior to September 11, that we had withdrawn our ambassador, and all foreign aid because of nuclear activity and indirectly, because of the lack of democratic elections in Pakistan. All of a sudden, after September 11th, the Pakistanis allow us access to their territory to launch an offensive against the Taliban in Afghanistan, and all of a sudden they're a valued ally? Something about this doesn't sound right. I find it awfully convenient. They also have vowed to help us round up Al Queda operatives and to assist us with our search for Osama Bin Laden.

Almost 5 years later, still no Bin Laden, but we keep on hearing the same tune from the Pakistanis.... "We'll eventually, with US help, will find Bin Laden and bring him to justice." Please... If Bin Laden is hiding in the mountainous border of Pakistan and Afghanistan, as he is rumored to, it will be difficult to find him. I truly believe that most of the Pakistani public does know the location of the US' number one wanted terrorist. The Pakistani public has no interest in helping Musharraf, nor us, find Bin Laden, as they agree with what he is fighting for, they don't like us as much as Bin Laden does. With that being said, I believe that as long as we continue to rely on the Pakistani military to help US operatives find Bin Laden, we will never find him, as the Pakistani military is most likely helping him hide.

This alliance is more of a marriage of convenience for the Pakistanis. It allows them to receive foreign aid to enable their government to better provide for its citizens, while doing very little in return. We will not find Bin Laden, and, quite frankly, I believe we are wasting our time enlisting their help.

GW Men Go Undefeated in A-10 Play

Today, at the Smith Center, the Colonial's went undefeated in Atlantic-10 Conference Play by beating Charlotte by a score of 86-85 in overtime. This marks only the fourth time in conference history that a team has gone undefeated in conference play. At 26-1, GW has the best record in Division I basketball. They also have the longest winning streak at 18, and the only one loss team in the Top 25. They have also claimed a first round bye in the Atlantic-10 tournament that takes place in Cincinnati next week. I am truly happy with the season that GW has had this year, and I hope we're able to win the tournament for the second year in a row. We should get a high seed this year in the NCAA tournament, and it would be phenomenal if we could make it past the first round this year. Hail to the buff and blue!

Accounting Midterm Completed

Today, around 1pm, I packed up my accounting stuff and I made my way over to the library in Old Town Fredericksburg to work on my accounting midterm. I wanted to work on it today and get it finished so I wouldn't have to worry about it all next week. Since my sister is home until tomorrow, and she had a few things she needed to work on, I brought her with me so she could get some of her work done. I didn't find the problems to be overly difficult, but they did take the longest amount of time to complete. Some of the multiple choice questions took me off guard, and took a little bit of time to find the answers for, but four hours later, I managed to get the exam completed by hand and inputted into Microsoft Word for the completed product.

With the exam completed, I now have the week to do some other reading for class, and to start reading the book "The Goal" for class. This is a book that I would like to get read as quickly as possible. I ordered it from Amazon.com on Friday afternoon, I should have it on Monday, so it will give me tomorrow to possibly relax some before I get too much back into the swing of things for class. No class on Tuesday means a little bit of time to relax as well. I'm certainly glad I got the exam done and over with.

Midterm Thoughts On Accounting

As I mentioned in my post Midterm Spring 2006, this past Tuesday was the half-way point of my accounting class. For the most part, I am reasonably happy with my performance. I received another grade on Tuesday evening, I got 40 out of 50 points on another paper. To be perfectly honest, I was a little disappointed with that grade. Granted, I shouldn't be too disappointed, as I have 20 bonus points coming to me if I make perfect attendance for the semester. So I'm still sitting on an A, but I wish I didn't have to use so many of those points just at the midterm point of the class. I'm sure I have nothing to worry about, but still, it would be nice to have that cushion going into the final half of the course.

On Tuesday, the midterm was posted on the class' website on Blackboard. It has a total of 33 questions on it, 26 multiple choice questions and 7 problems. I think I'm going to go ahead and get this thing taken care of and out of the way this weekend. I believe I will go to the library in old town on Saturday, where there won't be any wireless internet access, I'll take a seat in the study room and get myself all squared away. Mostly, I just want to get this done and overwith, so I won't have to worry about it for an entire week and a half. The exam isn't due until the 14th, but the sooner I get it out of the way, the better, and I can get cracking on that book "The Goal" that I'm required to read.

Pharoaonic Sun Temple Found

Today, I came across this article on Foxnews.com, Pharoanic Sun Temple Found. This article interests me because I studied history for my undergraduate work at GW. I find it absolutely fascinating that this temple, theorized to be that of King Ramses II, was discovered in what is the old Heliopolis. This is simply an amazing discovery in Cairo, and I hope archeologists are able to gather a lot of information from this sun temple so we can have a better understanding of ancient Egyptian mythology and history. Discoveries like these make me wonder why I'm not in the business so I can discover stuff like this, it definitely would be a lot of fun I would think.

Accounting Homework Completed

This evening I have completed the rest of my accounting homework that is due tomorrow evening in class. I have also completed the last of the reading for th first half of the class. As I stated in my prior post, the midterm examination is being distributed tomorrow in class and I will have two weeks to complete it. I'm confident that I will be able to complete it without any difficulty.

The reading wasn't too bad this time around. I was required to read chapters nine and ten in the text. Chapter nine deals with the income statement and the statement of cash flows and chapter ten deals with corporate governance, explanatory notes, and other disclosures. It made for some interesting reading and this time around, I actually understood a good chunk of chapter ten, not as much of chapter nine though as I would've liked. After class tomorrow night, however, I should understand the material without any difficulty.

As for the midterm, I hate taking exams, I have never liked them. This and papers are the two things that I haven't missed since I have been finished with my undergraduate degree, but I suppose it's part of the whole package. I'm sure I have nothing to worry about, I have done pretty well on all the exams I have had in the program to date. Hopefully, this one will be no different.

Midterm Spring 2006

Tuesday will mark the midway point of the Spring 2006 semester. In accounting, we will conclude the first half of the class by finishing our final topics in financial accounting. On Tuesday evening we will also receive the midterm exam via Blackboard. I must say, I'm rather pleased with my progress this semester. At the beginning of the semester, I was concerned with my ability to master this material as I found it confusing in the very beginning.

The material is still complex, and at times, difficult to understand, but I feel I'm getting a better grasp of the material. Fortunately for me, the midterm exam is open book open notes, and I have two weeks from Tuesday to complete the exam. We will not have class on Tuesday, the 7th, for spring break for the university.

My progress thusfar:
FASB Concept #2 Paper - 50 points out of 50
Homework #1 - 46 points out of 50
Internet Assignment #1 - 50 points out of 50

Outstanding grades:
Internet Assignment #2 - 50 points possible

On Tuesday, I have another set of accounting problems due, and we are also going over chapters eight and nine for discussion. Tomorrow I will need to get my problems completed and start with the reading for this week's class. I'm confident that I will be able to get everything accomplished well in advance of the class date.

The second half of the semester we will be studying managerial accounting. There will be another internet assignment due, as well as a response to a case study, and a response to a book entitled "The Goal." I will also need to complete a group project, a written assignment of 7-9 pages, along with a presentation. There will also be an additional examination.

If my performance in the first half of the class is any indication, I do not foresee too many difficulties the rest of the semester.

Summer 2006 Class Offerings

I know it's a little early to be discussing Summer classes, but I received an email from UMW indicating that enrollment for Summer classes begins on March 10. There are four classes being offered this summer that I need to take, three of which meet on Monday, the fourth on Thursday.

MBUS 502 - Financial Decision-Making for Managers:This course focuses on financial decision making in business. Emphasis is placed on the application of financial data to a wide range of management decisions designed to develop a conceptual and analytical understanding of financial management. Topics include, financial analysis, financial planning, financial investments and capital markets, security valuation techniques, working capital management fundamentals, and capital budgeting techniques.

MBUS 505 Quantitative Methods:Covers the concepts and processes used in managing, scheduling, planning and controlling. Topics include decision trees and decison modeling, statistical forecasting methodologies, transportation/assignment problems in linear programming, integer linear programming, network and queuing theory, PERT/CPM, SPC< business simulations, and Markov processes. Emphasis throughout the course on service operations.

MBUS 509 Information Technology for Managers:Students explore the various uses of information technology in private and public organizations in order to enhance business efficiency and market advantage. Particular attention is paid to the role of the information technology manager in today's work environment.

MBUS 516 Project Management:This course provides a comprehensive overview of project management. The course addresses the framework, culture, principles, and the basic techniques of project management. The course reviews the general stages of a project and describes how the stages interrelate. Basic tools of project management, such as work breakdown structure, scheduling, earned value analysis, and risk management, are introduced and used in student assignments. The elements of project management critical to the success of a project also are identified and explained.

The principles and tools are integrated and clarified through case studies from a variety of organizational settings and through creation of project management plans developed by students working in teams.

I'm seriously considering financial decision making for managers since accounting has been challenging and I figure I should get it done and over with. I have plenty of time to decide though.

Accounting Project Finished

Thank goodness! I have completed yet another accounting project. I decided to come over here to the library on the main campus of Mary Washington to work on it so I wouldn't be distracted. It would appear that it worked for this evening. This means I'll have all day tomorrow just to chill since I have completed my reading for this week's class. YIPPEE!!!!!! The paper only needed to be 3-5 pages in length and I was required to write about the type of industry that Home Depot competes within. I managed to write 4 pages. Not too bad. Hopefully I'll be able to get a good grade on it.

Team Slovakia Drops Team USA 2-1

Today I managed to catch the Team USA - Team Slovakia prelminary round game this afternoon. I must say, it was a very good game, a quick game, with the two teams being pretty evenly matched. After the first period the game was scoreless, with only one penalty assessed to Team USA, a bench minor, for too many men on the ice. In the second both teams exchanged power play tallies, one coming from Marian Hossa of Team Slovakia, and the other from Brian Rolston for Team USA. Early in the third, the Slovaks scored, what proved to be the game winner, off the stick of one of my favorite players, Peter Bondra. Now, I wouldn't have minded that so much if Team USA managed to at least tie the game. With the loss today, it makes things quite difficult for Team USA to advance to the medal round. In order to control their own destiny, they need to beat the Swedes tomorrow evening, and the Russians on Tuesday, if they don't do that, they need to hope for at least a tie, and that the Latvians or Kazaks don't put up good efforts in their last two games.

I would love to see Team USA make it to the medal round, but nothing is a given in this tournament, as the Canadians were upset as well today by a Swiss team that had no business beating them. I'm hoping for a much better effort by Team USA tomorrow against Sweden.