They're at it again!

[Captain Insano]

Its not that we dont realize we are getting fucked, but there is nothing we can do about it. THe oil companies have all the politicians in their pockets. The govt is so corrupt, it is sad really

Kizzy, that is EXACTLY the mindset that the govt wants from you. There IS something you can do about it - vote their asses out of office.

The problem with this country is ignorance and misguided priorities.

Instead of worry about whether two tuggan and spazz can get married legally - how about we start voting on issues that REALLY matter? But, that's how the American people are - and thus - it is why this country is in the shape it's now. People don't vote on logic, they vote on emotion. W got elected a second time, not because the country was in better shape due his work - he got elected because his campaign played on the emotions of voters. "Hey I don't care if the economy is in trouble! I don't care if global warming is real! I don't care that the majority of graduates our high schools are pumping out can't read past a 6th grade level! I don't care that our jobs are being sold off to the lowest bidder overseas! -- by God W is going to stop homo's from getting married!!!!! THAT'S what's important!!!"

You CAN do something about it. Get out there and vote for a cand that will do something about it. And, if they don't you vote their ass out of office too.

When you stop caring and throw you hands in the air - they have won. That's exactly what they want.

Look you know what I don't like the prices at the pump more than anyone else...but really Americans are getting what they deserve: the shaft.


Voting anyone in or out of office isn't going to do jack shit. The oil companies own ALL the politicians. These are the richest most powerful men in the world.

This country needs a revolution...Like one of those violent ones. Americans get all up in arms for like 5 minutes about something, like gas, shake their fist at the moon, and then run back inside the house because CSI just came on....The next morning they get up and drive an Escalade 50 miles to work.

Our freedoms are rapidly eroding, quality of life is sinking, and we are being taxed to hell and back to pay an underqualified, inefficient government to squander what little resources we have. But, that really just doesn't matter.

The average American is a fucking moron, who will sit on their fat lazy ass before ever changing anything. They will still drive everywhere without thinking about how they can conserve or not use gas, they will shop at Walmart and send all our money to China, and then get pissed when someone tries to deport one of the 5 million more mexicans that jumped the border this year.


The only way this country will change is if the American consumer changes the way they spend, and starts being responsible.

[Diekan]

I totally agree with Diekan for the simple fact that the oil companies are turning larger profits than they ever have before. It should be very clear that without oil buisness would stop. Oil isn't a product we can just choose to stop using because we feel abused. Oil should be treated just like electricity. Regulated monopolies.

That is EXACTLY right.


Right now, with the way things are set up... it is affecting EVERYTHING. It takes oil to bring the food you eat to the grocery store. Oil to make the containers holding the milk you drink. How much of a price increase are you willing to put up with besides higher costs at the pump before you realize what's really going on?

Oil should be regulated like any other form of energy, but it's not... it's not because the "W's" of Washington are unwilling to step up to the plate and do it.

Let me guess - you're going to suggest we start growing our own food now, right? lol.

[Diekan]

Its not that we dont realize we are getting fucked, but there is nothing we can do about it. THe oil companies have all the politicians in their pockets. The govt is so corrupt, it is sad really

Kizzy, that is EXACTLY the mindset that the govt wants from you. There IS something you can do about it - vote their asses out of office.

The problem with this country is ignorance and misguided priorities.

Instead of worry about whether two tuggan and spazz can get married legally - how about we start voting on issues that REALLY matter? But, that's how the American people are - and thus - it is why this country is in the shape it's now. People don't vote on logic, they vote on emotion. W got elected a second time, not because the country was in better shape due his work - he got elected because his campaign played on the emotions of voters. "Hey I don't care if the economy is in trouble! I don't care if global warming is real! I don't care that the majority of graduates our high schools are pumping out can't read past a 6th grade level! I don't care that our jobs are being sold off to the lowest bidder overseas! -- by God W is going to stop homo's from getting married!!!!! THAT'S what's important!!!"

You CAN do something about it. Get out there and vote for a cand that will do something about it. And, if they don't you vote their ass out of office too.

When you stop caring and throw you hands in the air - they have won. That's exactly what they want.

Look you know what I don't like the prices at the pump more than anyone else...but really Americans are getting what they deserve: the shaft.


Voting anyone in or out of office isn't going to do jack shit. The oil companies own ALL the politicians. These are the richest most powerful men in the world.

This country needs a revolution...Like one of those violent ones. Americans get all up in arms for like 5 minutes about something, like gas, shake their fist at the moon, and then run back inside the house because CSI just came on....The next morning they get up and drive an Escalade 50 miles to work.

Our freedoms are rapidly eroding, quality of life is sinking, and we are being taxed to hell and back to pay an underqualified, inefficient government to squander what little resources we have. But, that really just doesn't matter.

The average American is a fucking moron, who will sit on their fat lazy ass before ever changing anything. They will still drive everywhere without thinking about how they can conserve or not use gas, they will shop at Walmart and send all our money to China, and then get pissed when someone tries to deport one of the 5 million more mexicans that jumped the border this year.


The only way this country will change is if the American consumer changes the way they spend, and starts being responsible.

wtf.... get out of my head and stop stealing my thoughts.

[Captain Insano]

Look, more oil is used by the American consumer driving around than in any other operation. Americans DO have the power to use less gas, but they don't. They have the power to send a drastic message to big Oil, but they aren't willing to make any sacrifices.


If EVERY American decreased their gas usage by say 20 percent do you have any idea how many BILLIONS of dollars the oil companies would lose? They would have to lower prices to get Americans buying again.

The other simple fact is that oil is running out. Plain and simple. It isn't a renewable energy source and the prices will continue to skyrocket as demand increases and supply decreases.

China can't even get enough oil to meet its little industrial revolution... In other words, there isn't much of chance even with conservation that gas will ever be really cheap again.

I think the apocalypse is coming so I will just fuel my vehicles with zombie flesh.

[Martrae]

Let me guess - you're going to suggest we start growing our own food now, right? lol.

Why not? Up until the last couple decades everyone had a family garden. It's not like it's hard to do.

Everything costs more now because people are unwilling to do things for themselves and we throw everything away. How many people do you know nowadays that patch their clothing? Hell, most people will throw away a shirt if they pop a button.

I can remember my grandmother saved and reused just about everything that came into her house. We, as a nation, just don't do that anymore.

[Snero]

i am not defending the oil companies gouging people but

I'm not moving to a shit hole like New York or Atlanta and pay 10 times the cost of living just so I can ride the bus to work.

right there, this is the price you pay to live where you live. If you chose to live in suberbia, you get a nicer house, generally cheaper and less crime BUT there is a draw back to that. You need to commute, it's harder to get around, you pay more in transportation. You simply can't whine that you're not getting it all, it's a trade off.

[Gidan]

Both of my grandparents would never buy vegitables from the store durring their growing season. Everything was home grown. I rarely see people who grow even close to what they did.

[Darcler]

We grow our own peaches and pears in our backyard. But I want to cut those fuckers down.
My dad grows his own tomatos, grapes, herbs, peaches and some other kind of fruit that hasnt grown this past year.

My dads parents grew every vegetabe they ate in their backyard. They lived in Downtown Dallas by lower Greenville. So it wasnt like they were out in the middle of nowhere.

[Tikker]

You're still not getting it are you?

SOME PEOPLE CAN'T TAKE THE BUS OR CARPOOL. NOT EVERYONE HAS THOSE MEANS AVAILABLE TO THEM.

you're the one not getting it


learn to ride a fucking bike you lazy shit

sure, you might have to leave an hour earlier, but you'll get off you fat duff, and save money while you're at it

[Diekan]

i am not defending the oil companies gouging people but

I'm not moving to a shit hole like New York or Atlanta and pay 10 times the cost of living just so I can ride the bus to work.

right there, this is the price you pay to live where you live. If you chose to live in suberbia, you get a nicer house, generally cheaper and less crime BUT there is a draw back to that. You need to commute, it's harder to get around, you pay more in transportation. You simply can't whine that you're not getting it all, it's a trade off.

The cost of transportation isn't much of a trade off. You get a simple, one bedroom, roach infested apartment in NYC for what? 1500 a month, easy. Add to that the astronomical crime rate and other super high prices for everything else... why should anyone be FORECED to live like that so Exxon can be justified in raping and pillaging our wallets?

You can't fit the entire country in a big cities - there simply isn't enough room.

You can't fault people for wanting to live in a safe place, a place that isn't polluted with assholes and roaches. Why the fuck should they?

Oil companies are taking advantage of us by jacking up prices on products we NEED to get by on. They should be regulated. They're still going to make a profit - it just wont be in the BILLIONS. To fucking bad. I'm sure they'll live.

[Zanchief]

i am not defending the oil companies gouging people but

I'm not moving to a shit hole like New York or Atlanta and pay 10 times the cost of living just so I can ride the bus to work.

right there, this is the price you pay to live where you live. If you chose to live in suberbia, you get a nicer house, generally cheaper and less crime BUT there is a draw back to that. You need to commute, it's harder to get around, you pay more in transportation. You simply can't whine that you're not getting it all, it's a trade off.

The cost of transportation isn't much of a trade off. You get a simple, one bedroom, roach infested apartment in NYC for what? 1500 a month, easy. Add to that the astronomical crime rate and other super high prices for everything else... why should anyone be FORECED to live like that so Exxon can be justified in raping and pillaging our wallets?

You can't fit the entire country in a big cities - there simply isn't enough room.

You can't fault people for wanting to live in a safe place, a place that isn't polluted with assholes and roaches. Why the fuck should they?

Oil companies are taking advantage of us by jacking up prices on products we NEED to get by on. They should be regulated. They're still going to make a profit - it just wont be in the BILLIONS. To fucking bad. I'm sure they'll live.

You should form a band of Jihadists who go around buring down oil reserves to quicken the usage of oil deposits.

You'd like make the news and be famous and shit.

[Martrae]

Typical American attitude. I won't take responsibility for the fix I'm in so I'll scream bloody murder for the government to take care of me.

[Spazz]

You tell em old man

[Spazz]

Typical down to the bone defend big buisness atitude mart. What do you propose we do about it so we can stop getting raped by exxon and be responsible forourownactions.

This is the kind of thing the government should get involved in ( and not the way they are involved in it now ) not bullshit like the whole list of regulated behaviors they have told adults they cant engage in.

[Lyion]

Tikker, what you are missing is the oil right now is the lifeblood of our economy. With oil prices rising, more companies lose profits, shipping becomes more expensive, restaurants have higher energy charges, schools need more money to bus students, and it's a domino effect that will hurt even a person who has never owned an auto.

The problem is oil speculation and who sets the cost of light, sweet crude. The government currently has nothing to do with this, outside of disallowing of new refineries which would increase production, and not allowing drilling in area's with huge surpluses of oil. It costs about 11 dollars to extract and refine a barrel of oil. The fact it's being sold for 75 is due to bullshit market speculation. We do not have a shortage of oil, so there is no valid reason for the cost to be this high, outside of collusion.

American consumption of oil has not increased over the last three years. It's flat. Three years ago oil was 25 dollars/barrel. Today it's 75/barrel. The short term price of crude is controlled by OPEC and the six major oil companies. Again, the government has nothing to do with this, outside of limiting the business and taxing the bejesus out of it. So, while blaming the government is a nice, popular thing to do, it's wholly inaccurate.

2/3 of the oil we use is imported from outside the U.S. Until we get alternative means of energy, promote greater use of Nuclear Power and get off the antiquated gas turbine engine being the center of most households we'll continue to be at the mercy of the oil barons and opec nations. The situation is worse due to the lack of real competition in the market.

In the next five to ten years we'll see advanced fuel cell vehicles roll out which will slowly remove the gas turbine engined vehicles. Hopefully, the people railing the most about oil and 'the average worker' will stop cockblocking nuclear plants which could vastly improve our energy situation.

/rant on

Fuck Opec. Fuck Hugo Chavez. Fuck the six cartels and their collusion. It'd be nice if Hezralf could sernd some suicide SUV attacks where they are needed. Not in Israel or Beirut, but at BP, Exxon, and Chevron HQ as those people fuck over hundreds of millions.

[Martrae]

Typical down to the bone defend big buisness atitude mart. What do you propose we do about it so we can stop getting raped by exxon and be responsible forourownactions.

This is the kind of thing the government should get involved in ( and not the way they are involved in it now ) not bullshit like the whole list of regulated behaviors they have told adults they cant engage in.

If you had bothered to read my posts you'd see what I'd already suggested.

[Minrott]

What I'd like to know is this. Just because Opec says that the price of oil is $75 a barrel, why does Mobil and Chevron and company have to sell Texas oil, Alaska oil, Gulf of Mexico oil at that same price?

Also, since the taxpayers own all of the deep water rigs, and the oil companies using them were supposed to pay a royalty for usage over $35 a barrel, why aren't they paying it now? There's $100 billion right off the top.

Finally, I hope it runs out tomorrow. I hope tomorrow it's fucking gone, because the first thing to happen is all the megotropolis' will starve. Bus passes won't do you much good when semi's can't truck your food in. Huge cities are the cancer of the world, and when something catastrophic does happen, they'll be the first to go. They have no self dependancy at all. Millions upon millions of paper pushing office workers packed into apartment buildings and not a stretch of grass in sight. Brilliant.

Me and my backwards hillbilly friends, we'll be just fine. Good luck trying to grow corn on the black top though.

[Phlegm]

What I'd like to know is this. Just because Opec says that the price of oil is $75 a barrel, why does Mobil and Chevron and company have to sell Texas oil, Alaska oil, Gulf of Mexico oil at that same price?

OPEC doesn't set the price of oil directly. They sucked a certain amount of oil out of the ground every month then send it to the commodity market. At the market, you have a bunch of bidders for the oil. These bidders are the ones that set the price of a barrel of oil. OPEC indirectly effect the oil prices by the level of production they set.

[Minrott]

Thanks, I did take Econ 101 and understand how it works. OPEC however, could increase production at a whim to level price. Rather, they will let it escalate for a good time, then when Venezuela or some other country producing oil from anything other than light sweet, pisses them off; they'll crash the market with a flood of oil, dropping the price to $25 a barrel, making any other process but theirs too expensive to be profitable while crushing any reason for people to pursue expensive alternatives since gas is $1.50 a gallon again.

[Arlos]

Government interference in commerce is never a good thing.

Oh yeah, it was SO awful when the government put in anti-monopoly and anti-insider-trading laws. That's government interfering with commerce, and such laws have hurt us OH so badly. Right. Really. Honest.

Complete lassaiz-faire economics benefits no one except those who run the biggest businesses. There MUST be regulations if you want to benefit the entirety of society. I would LOVE to see the big oil companies shackled or at worst, forced by statute to re-invest at least half their profits into alternative energy sources or something along those lines.

-Arlos

[Phlegm]

Thanks, I did take Econ 101 and understand how it works. OPEC however, could increase production at a whim to level price. Rather, they will let it escalate for a good time, then when Venezuela or some other country producing oil from anything other than light sweet, pisses them off; they'll crash the market with a flood of oil, dropping the price to $25 a barrel, making any other process but theirs too expensive to be profitable while crushing any reason for people to pursue expensive alternatives since gas is $1.50 a gallon again.

Right now OPEC and other non-OPEC countries are producing enough oil to satisfy all the orders. The reason the price is over $73 a barrel is because of speculators bidding it up.

[Diekan]

Government interference in commerce is never a good thing.

Oh yeah, it was SO awful when the government put in anti-monopoly and anti-insider-trading laws. That's government interfering with commerce, and such laws have hurt us OH so badly. Right. Really. Honest.

Complete lassaiz-faire economics benefits no one except those who run the biggest businesses. There MUST be regulations if you want to benefit the entirety of society. I would LOVE to see the big oil companies shackled or at worst, forced by statute to re-invest at least half their profits into alternative energy sources or something along those lines.

-Arlos

I'm missing Monk for this posting - just so you know.

Both Arlos and Mart are right. We don't need government getting involved with all business. However, we DO need them to regulate the biggest of the big... certainly when said companies are producing something we must have to survive.

Do I think cable TV should be regulated? No. Nor, do I think Microsoft (as much as I hate them) should be regulated either. Why? Because their products are not necessary for life in the US. If you don't like paying 100+ per month for TV, don't watch it, or use an alternative. If you don't like paying 100 bucks for a copy of Windows... don't use it. Learn Linux.

When it comes to oil, however, I DO think it needs to be regulated. Just like insurance and electricity.

Lyion is absolutely correct. Can you think of ONE, just one item that you buy, use, sell, touch, eat, drink, whatever that isn't touched by oil in one way or another? Of all the corp's in this country big oil should be regulated.

There's already an un-declared war against the middle class. An out of control oil market is just adding to its demise.

Again, I really don't want the government telling McDonalds what they can or can't charge for a Big Mac... but fuel? YES.

Tax the living piss out of them. Take their bloated profits from them and use it for renewables research and implimentation. Punish them for their deeds.

Exxon should burn to the ground, and the CEO should die of a massive heart attack.

[Captain Insano]

Tikker, what you are missing is the oil right now is the lifeblood of our economy. With oil prices rising, more companies lose profits, shipping becomes more expensive, restaurants have higher energy charges, schools need more money to bus students, and it's a domino effect that will hurt even a person who has never owned an auto.

The problem is oil speculation and who sets the cost of light, sweet crude. The government currently has nothing to do with this, outside of disallowing of new refineries which would increase production, and not allowing drilling in area's with huge surpluses of oil. It costs about 11 dollars to extract and refine a barrel of oil. The fact it's being sold for 75 is due to bullshit market speculation. We do not have a shortage of oil, so there is no valid reason for the cost to be this high, outside of collusion.

American consumption of oil has not increased over the last three years. It's flat. Three years ago oil was 25 dollars/barrel. Today it's 75/barrel. The short term price of crude is controlled by OPEC and the six major oil companies. Again, the government has nothing to do with this, outside of limiting the business and taxing the bejesus out of it. So, while blaming the government is a nice, popular thing to do, it's wholly inaccurate.

2/3 of the oil we use is imported from outside the U.S. Until we get alternative means of energy, promote greater use of Nuclear Power and get off the antiquated gas turbine engine being the center of most households we'll continue to be at the mercy of the oil barons and opec nations. The situation is worse due to the lack of real competition in the market.

In the next five to ten years we'll see advanced fuel cell vehicles roll out which will slowly remove the gas turbine engined vehicles. Hopefully, the people railing the most about oil and 'the average worker' will stop cockblocking nuclear plants which could vastly improve our energy situation.

/rant on

Fuck Opec. Fuck Hugo Chavez. Fuck the six cartels and their collusion. It'd be nice if Hezralf could sernd some suicide SUV attacks where they are needed. Not in Israel or Beirut, but at BP, Exxon, and Chevron HQ as those people fuck over hundreds of millions.

I agree with all of this. When oil prices rise I see the effect it has on my business.. People stop spending and it blows.

But none of it matters until the average American decides to stand up and do something about it.

[Diekan]

And that's not going to happen because sadly most people are of the same mindset as Kizzy. "Nothing we can do, so just let it go"

[Tikker]

Tikker, what you are missing is the oil right now is the lifeblood of our economy.

no, you're missing my point

if oil is too expensive, find a different way to get around

find a different product to replace your oil needs

if it's supply and demand, remove the demand for oil