Major "Duh!" moment...Did speculation contribute to the price increases?

To believe that speculation was entirely absent in a market that was rapidly rising boggles the mind. Speculation always gravitates to such markets--I personally knew people who were putting their money into petrochemical funds as the price increased. T Boone Pickins speculated on an an oil company purchase near the peak in prices and lost close to a billion dollars.

There is always speculation in a volatile market. Denying it is a clear signal that the analyst is dishonest.

Denying speculation in the 2008 explosion of oil prices is even more ridiculous. The disappearance of surplus oil tanker space during the run-up (used by speculators to store oil), the precipitous drop in prices once the bubble broke, and the continued volatility in the market, which is guaranteed to attract short-term traders (known as "speculators" in the real world) are all huge flashing lights signaling rampant speculation.

Besides that we saw Enron preview just this sort of predatory energy trading using the California economy as a hostage. There are hundreds of people expressly trained to do exactly what we saw in 2008--manipulate the market and run-up prices in order to make billions trading energy futures.

Energy futures trading should only be permitted for the companies who will take delivery and use it. Energy trades should be taxed each time futures change hands. Market manipulators should be pursued on an international basis.

This is a no-brainer. I'm glad the Obama Administration is apparently injecting a little honesty into our scrutiny of energy markets.

Sensationalizing a tragic and isolated event for no better purpose than a shocking headline tells us far more about what is wrong with our country than the shallow analysis in this story.

I understand "that if it bleeds, it leads" but does Salon have any decency?

The problem, according to Pierpont, is that the wind farms emit a constant low-frequency vibration and noise, which human beings are sensitive to (not unlike fish’s sensitivity to noise in the water) and the wind farm vibrations can disrupt the inner ear’s vestibular system (responsible for balance and spatial orientation). Over a sustained period of time, people living too close to the wind farms can develop a disorder related to the inner ear disruption, WTS, which can cause nervousness, heart disorders, nightmares, problems and even cognitive development issues in small children.

If this is true, how have humans managed to survive in cities for centuries, with all their noise and vibration (yes, much of it low frequency)?

How about workers near dams or railyards, with low frequencies galore? Industrial settings in general? Folks living near busy freeways?

This is a clear case of hypochondriacs seeking attention and crackpot researcher chasing sensationalism.

Let the sensitive move away from the wind turbines--I'll buy their house for cheap and live there quite happily.

BTW, a friend of mine installed a wind turbine a couple of hundred feet from his house several years ago.

He's a rock climber, so I imagine the panic attacks and dizzy spells would bother him quite a bit. So far, he's very happy with his turbine. Digs climbing the tower for the view, actually...

You said it perfectly.

It was there, if you took off your blinders, the man didn't run from the far left, he ran from the center (as a black man would have to) always being properly deferntial to the systems in place that have come before him.

IF you were expecting Bernie Sanders (which I think many were) you voted for the wrong guy.

Nader 2012 if you want, but make mine Obama.

Except I think some of the Nadiroid whiners would be furious with Bernie Sanders as well.

There is a great deal we can do to compensate for our current greenhousing of the planet.

The scheme to make certain areas (especially in the tropics) more reflective, and therefore, less warm, is quite possible.

Of course, not everything would become white, but certain areas could become solar reflectors and make up for some of our carbon.

The solution to the greenhouse problem will not be made up of one or two things. We will have to do many things in concert to manage the problem, both short and long term.

That's just some darn good soap. The peppermint variety smells good enough to drink, and the essential oils make your skin feel all tingly.

I've washed a lot of my increasingly thin hair with the Good Doctor.

I don't want my kids to be perfect saints. But I do want them to wait until they're no longer children to start experimenting with substances.

I made it through High School chemical-free, although I was a major geek. Experiments after that had mixed results. But I knew who I was without the reality modification.

I've seen a lot of others who started early, and who made various chemical crutches part of their personalities crash and burn because they couldn't say "No" when they had to.

Kids need to learn how to deal with the world sober. After that, they'll have the reserves necessary so most of them will be able to make their way through the pitfalls of adult mental manipulation.

Not a good effort Anne.

Better stick to New Age pabulum.

LW, thank you for being concerned about your friend.

Cary, thank you for a beautiful response.