More Random Musings...
Hello again everyone, welcome back to the blog that refuses to die.
Today's post concerns my thoughts on a variety of topics.
First, gas prices. Well, as everyone knows, gas is outrageous. In my area it is around $3.00 per gallon (+/-) for regular (87 octane). That is down from the high of roughly $3.19 per gallon. That high came 2 days after Hurricane Katrina hit the gulfcoast area. Now I understand that a goodly portion of our domestically consumed oil comes from the Gulf of Mexico, but what I cannot understand is how the price of gas can be affected so quickly. What I mean is, from the ground to your car oil takes several days/weeks to go from being raw crude oil to being refined gasoline. Therefore, I have to wonder why (if it takes even a few days to go from the rig to your local gas station) gas prices rose by roughly 50 to 60 cents only TWO DAYS after the hurricane. Even in the simplest of economic models, the time that it takes for gas prices to rise should be equal to the time that it takes to use the last of the available gulf-originated oil. What that means is if it takes a week to refine and deliver all of the gulf-originated oil, then it should take a week for gas prices to rise (prices should rise gradually as the supply gradually diminishes). The gas in the tanks at the local gas station was refined BEFORE the hurricane, therefore I have trouble seeing exactly how the hurricane caused gas (refined days or weeks before) to suddenly cost more! It isn't as if the storage costs increased. Hmmm, I think I have figured out this economic conundrum. The solution is quite simple...it is called price gouging. Now price gouging is illegal in nearly every state (if not all states), but do we see the government starting an investigation? Nope. After all, should the federal government start investigating the oil companies, the Republicans stand to lose some of their largest contributors. And right now Bush can't afford to lose contributors of any sort. I mean his approval rating has tanked, he has managed to bungle what could be the largest disaster relief effort in US history, and his policies in Iraq have led even his own party members to compare it to Vietnam! So investigating the oil companies is the last thing you will see the Bush Administration do. After all, GW is too busy trying to be a bungling, petty dictator to worry about the economic destruction of both the US and the common man! (And if he cannot grasp the ill effect that higher gas prices have on the economy of the US, then he is dumber than a bag of hammers!)
Thinking about the victims of the hurricane, I would urge all of the readers of this blog (those who have the means to do so, anyway) to contribute to the American Red Cross' disaster relief effort. You can find the Red Cross (usually) listed in your local phonebook or just do a Google search for their webpage. The last I heard (from the local news) was that they (the ARC) are looking for cash donations right now, but in the coming weeks they will be looking for blood donations. The news said that before coming to give blood you should give the Red Cross a call to schedule an appointment for giving (blood has a very limited shelf life). And whatever you do, don't count on FEMA to give these people any relief (after all, the Federal Emergency Mis-management Agency has already fumbled the ball more times than even CNN can count!)
And speaking of CNN, I think I have reached the Hurricane Katrina coverage saturation point. I've been watching the news and it seems that every other story is about the hurricane and the victims. Yes, it is bad, and yes, I pity the people who lost everything, but I think I am "hurricaned out". And I swear that the questions the reporters ask the survivors are becoming more and more ridiculous. I mean even more senseless than the "Gee, everything you know and loved is gone, and you've lost everything that you worked for your entire life...Tell our viewers, what's it like and how do you feel?" questions. I am just waiting to see a reporter ask some survivor "Gee, your property is under water, you've lost all of your material posessions, your entire family was killed, you are suicidally depressed and living in deplorable conditions. So, tell our viewers...How do you think the Saints will do this season?" I hope they keep the cameras rolling as the person being interviewed beats the reporter to death with his own microphone!! Now that's good tv!!
As always, I am Chuck and this has been my rant.
Today's post concerns my thoughts on a variety of topics.
First, gas prices. Well, as everyone knows, gas is outrageous. In my area it is around $3.00 per gallon (+/-) for regular (87 octane). That is down from the high of roughly $3.19 per gallon. That high came 2 days after Hurricane Katrina hit the gulfcoast area. Now I understand that a goodly portion of our domestically consumed oil comes from the Gulf of Mexico, but what I cannot understand is how the price of gas can be affected so quickly. What I mean is, from the ground to your car oil takes several days/weeks to go from being raw crude oil to being refined gasoline. Therefore, I have to wonder why (if it takes even a few days to go from the rig to your local gas station) gas prices rose by roughly 50 to 60 cents only TWO DAYS after the hurricane. Even in the simplest of economic models, the time that it takes for gas prices to rise should be equal to the time that it takes to use the last of the available gulf-originated oil. What that means is if it takes a week to refine and deliver all of the gulf-originated oil, then it should take a week for gas prices to rise (prices should rise gradually as the supply gradually diminishes). The gas in the tanks at the local gas station was refined BEFORE the hurricane, therefore I have trouble seeing exactly how the hurricane caused gas (refined days or weeks before) to suddenly cost more! It isn't as if the storage costs increased. Hmmm, I think I have figured out this economic conundrum. The solution is quite simple...it is called price gouging. Now price gouging is illegal in nearly every state (if not all states), but do we see the government starting an investigation? Nope. After all, should the federal government start investigating the oil companies, the Republicans stand to lose some of their largest contributors. And right now Bush can't afford to lose contributors of any sort. I mean his approval rating has tanked, he has managed to bungle what could be the largest disaster relief effort in US history, and his policies in Iraq have led even his own party members to compare it to Vietnam! So investigating the oil companies is the last thing you will see the Bush Administration do. After all, GW is too busy trying to be a bungling, petty dictator to worry about the economic destruction of both the US and the common man! (And if he cannot grasp the ill effect that higher gas prices have on the economy of the US, then he is dumber than a bag of hammers!)
Thinking about the victims of the hurricane, I would urge all of the readers of this blog (those who have the means to do so, anyway) to contribute to the American Red Cross' disaster relief effort. You can find the Red Cross (usually) listed in your local phonebook or just do a Google search for their webpage. The last I heard (from the local news) was that they (the ARC) are looking for cash donations right now, but in the coming weeks they will be looking for blood donations. The news said that before coming to give blood you should give the Red Cross a call to schedule an appointment for giving (blood has a very limited shelf life). And whatever you do, don't count on FEMA to give these people any relief (after all, the Federal Emergency Mis-management Agency has already fumbled the ball more times than even CNN can count!)
And speaking of CNN, I think I have reached the Hurricane Katrina coverage saturation point. I've been watching the news and it seems that every other story is about the hurricane and the victims. Yes, it is bad, and yes, I pity the people who lost everything, but I think I am "hurricaned out". And I swear that the questions the reporters ask the survivors are becoming more and more ridiculous. I mean even more senseless than the "Gee, everything you know and loved is gone, and you've lost everything that you worked for your entire life...Tell our viewers, what's it like and how do you feel?" questions. I am just waiting to see a reporter ask some survivor "Gee, your property is under water, you've lost all of your material posessions, your entire family was killed, you are suicidally depressed and living in deplorable conditions. So, tell our viewers...How do you think the Saints will do this season?" I hope they keep the cameras rolling as the person being interviewed beats the reporter to death with his own microphone!! Now that's good tv!!
As always, I am Chuck and this has been my rant.
posted by Chuck | 01:59
1 Comments:
Anonymous,
Thank you for the comment. I am glad that you enjoy reading this blog.
As for checking back, I will warn you that updates to the blog are kind of sporadic. Basically, I post whenever I feel the need and whenever I have the time. So don't be disappointed if you don't see anything new for a few weeks (just keep checking or put this blog into an RSS feedreader. RSS feed= http://lobstercigs.blogspot.com/atom.xml )
I checked out your site on Canadian Immigration. It looks good (nice design, very concise and uncluttered, just as an informative site should be.) I never knew that immigrating to Canada was so complicated (must be to keep out all of us "uneducated" Americans. [j/k])
Once again, thanks for the kind comments.
--Chuck.
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