Production Drops Causing Loss of Profit in Canadian Oil Sands

According to the Financial Post, I found this to be an interesting article and maybe you will too. If so, please feel free to leave your comments. Thank you.

Canadian Oil Sands profit hit as production drops

Quarterly profit at Canadian Oil Sands Ltd., owner of the biggest stake in the Syncrude Canada Ltd. Oil sands joint venture, fell slightly as production dropped due to unplanned maintenance on a major processing unit, the company said on Monday.

The company, which owns 37% of Syncrude, reduced its production target for the year, blaming the outage of the coker unit, but raised its dividend by 17% to 35¢ a share, saying business fundamentals are strong. Canadian Oil Sands earned $321-million, or 66¢ a share, in the first quarter, down from year-earlier $324 million (67¢).

The results beat an average estimate among analysts of 54¢ a share, according to Thomson Reuters.
Cash flow, a glimpse into the company’s ability to fund development, was $454-million, or 94¢ a share, down 5% from $478-million (99¢).

During the quarter, Syncrude was plagued by the latest in a series of unplanned outages at its upgrading plant, which turns extra-heavy crude from the northern Alberta oil sands into refinery-ready oil.

The coker unit, called 8-1, was down for a month of repairs following what was termed as a minor fire.

That cut production in March, prompting the Syncrude partners to push back planned maintenance on another coker.

Canadian Oil Sands stated 8-1 restarted at full rates in April.

The company’s average sales price was $97.07 a barrel in the quarter, compared with $93.04 in the first quarter of 2011.

Sales volumes net to the company averaged.....read more at the original source: Financial Post.

Roundup Invention

Have you ever wondered who invented Roundup, the herbicide glyphosate? 
I'm mind blown after finding out what I have about this intriguing topic.
Here's a write up on it which is quite intriguing.

The Monsanto Company (NYSE: MON) is a multinational agricultural biotechnology corporation. It is the world's leading producer of the herbicide glyphosate, marketed in the Roundup brand of herbicides, and in other brands. Monsanto is also the leading producer of genetically engineered (GE) seed; it provides the technology in 90% of the genetically engineered seeds used in the US market.^[2] It is headquartered in Creve Coeur, Missouri.^[3]
Agracetus, owned by Monsanto, exclusively produces Roundup Ready soybean seed for the commercial market. In 2005, it finalized the purchase of Seminis Inc, making it the world's largest conventional seed company.
Monsanto's development and marketing of genetically engineered seed and bovine growth hormone, as well as its aggressive litigation, political lobbying practices, seed commercialization practices and "strong-arming" of the seed industry^[4] have made the company controversial around the world and a primary target of the alter-globalization movement and environmental activists. In 2009 Monsanto came under scrutiny from the U.S. Justice Department, investigating whether its activities in the soybean markets were breaking anti-trust rules.^[4][5]

Read more on the invention and everything about Roundup on Invention That Modify Everything.

Top Lies In The World

Top Lies in The World is absolutely mind bending. I have been slapping my head over it since my brother brought it to my attention. See for yourself and please comment about what you think.



I'm sure there's many more than just these top 20 lies in the world... but this is a beginning.... which will take lifetimes to figure out for many.

Anodyne Medical Therapy

An interesting read. Developing new trend - Anodyne Medical Therapy.

Nurturing the mind/body connection
with new tools for relief of pain and anxiety
in emergencies and during medical and dental procedures.

Anodyne Awareness is a concise set of language and rapport techniques used by medical and dental professionals. As a new component of their practice, physicians, nurses, dentists, dental assistants and other health care professionals use Anodyne techniques to help patients very quickly relax and relieve pain and anxiety, regardless of the circumstances.
The specific Anodyne techniques have been refined through clinical use with hundreds of patients undergoing a wide variety of medical and dental procedures, and are successful with virtually every patient.
Because Anodyne is conversational and fluid, it accompanies any procedure without requiring extra time. In fact, Anodyne patients' greater ability to relax and cooperate saves time and enhances procedural efficiency.
The specific techniques of Anodyne Awareness are drawn from the fields of hypnosis, Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), intuitive awareness, guided imagery, and conscious breathing. Anodyne is grounded in clinical experience of what works quickly and effectively in the acute, time-conscious domain of modern medical and dental practice.
Anodyne is useful in any procedure where patient comfort is an issue and serves especially well as a complementary alternative to pharmacological conscious sedation for relief of pain and anxiety. Anodyne is also used to quickly control physiological processes such as blood pressure, heart rate, bleeding, peristalsis, and rapid metabolizing of chemical anesthesia. Because it is fluid and conversational, the Anodyne interaction takes no additional time and most often saves time.
Although Anodyne is technique-based, it is not a modality or form of therapy. Rather, it is a new way of bringing higher awareness and mindfulness to every patient interaction. Medical professionals also trained as Anodyne practitioners have many more choices for successfully interacting with patients. Patients feel empowered as they learn relaxation tools they can use anytime.

How Anodyne Works

While interviewing the patient or preparing them for a procedure, the practitioner internally accesses Anodyne Awareness and uses instant rapport techniques and special language patterns to help the patient relax.
If the patient is experiencing anxiety or pain, the practitioner uses Anodyne imagery, relaxation, breathing or pain control techniques to quickly relieve the patient's discomfort.
With the introduction of a potentially painful stimulus such as an injection, tube placement or catheter, the practitioner helps the patient shifts their awareness to competing sensations (e.g. warmth, coolness or fullness). Patients remain conscious and cooperative, responding to the staff when necessary.

Can we Convict an anodyne with passion?

Benefits of Anodyne

• Improves procedural safety
  
• Reduces or eliminates the need for medication, recovery time, and associated costs
  
• Decreases procedure time
  
• Decreases recovery time
  
• Mitigates or eliminates patients' fears and anxieties
  
• Greatly enhances patients' cooperation

Monkeys Brains And Probabilistic Reasoning

A new study in monkeys has identified which part of the brain is likely responsible for probabilistic reasoning, work that may shed light on how humans weigh their options when making a decision.

Probabilistic reasoning is the process of reaching a decision based on incomplete information, where the choice may not result in a desired outcome. Scientists at the University of Washington in Seattle trained two rhesus macaque monkeys to choose which specific combinations of shapes on a computer monitor might result in a reward—in this case, juice.

The monkeys made their choice by looking at either a red or green light. The researchers ran thousands of trials a
day, making it virtually impossible for the monkeys to memorize patterns, says lead researcher Michael Shadlen.

During the experiment,

Aquatic Lifeforms - Rare Catches

Mantis Shrimp - This highly intelligent hunter with claws can lash out at prey with the force of a gunshot. Larger varieties have been known to shatter glass or sever human fingers. Most are either "spearers" (with sharp, mantidlike claws) or "smashers" (with blunt, clublike claws for cracking hard-shelled prey). Rare among invertebrates are the monogamous mating habits that several species demonstrate. Mated pairs share a burrow, and the male hunts for both his mate and young.


Lumpfish - The longest lumpfish so far recorded from the American coast measured 23 inches, and weighed 13 1/4 pounds; the heaviest weighed 20 pounds but measured only 21 1/2 inches (both from Orient, N. Y.), and the proportion of weight to length varies similarly in smaller fish.


Humpback Anglerfish - This black seadevil, of the size of a tennis ball, is one of the weirdest fish in the world. Female humpback anglers have an enormous head dominated by a cavernous mouth full of long slender teeth that can fold backwards when prey is being swallowed.


Source: http://mysterious-zone.blogspot.com/2009/05/27-aquatic-lifeforms-you-never-caught.html

Incredible Sidewalk Chalk Art

I'm completely baffled at these amazing works of art. This guy (Julian Beever) is absolutely incredible with sidewalk chalk. I can't imagine having such extreme talent. This sort of thing is totally intriguing to me. Absolutely awesome.

I got a lot of these pictures in e-mails and ended up looking for more. Here's where my search landed me. http://www.impactlab.com/2006/03/09/amazing-3d-sidewalk-art-photos/