IT'S A GAS, GAS, GAS

Just to follow up on my gas prices rant...

Two stories appeared in local papers here about gas prices, one in the college paper and one in the city paper. The college paper has this to say:

The rising cost of gas is on everyone's mind, especially student commuters.According to mississippigasprices.com, the cost of gas per gallon has risen to $2.73, compared to $2.49 in August and $1.81 at the same time last year.

The gas prices have risen almost a dollar in a year's time? Is it just me or is that a gigantic increase for a basic necessity?

Here's a quote from an official with Pine Belt Oil from the local paper:

"Some have changed on us three times a day," Ellzey said. "It's just a very unique time. The fellow that founded this company in 1967 said never in the history of the gas business has he seen anything like this."

Ellzey had no idea when gas prices might subside or if they would keep going higher.

"Who knows?" Ellzey said. "If I knew what gas was going to do tomorrow, I'd be doing something else. No one knows. It's just until they see where the supply-and-demand line crosses."

A Perfect Circle Of Bullshitting And Greed

Well, I know what gas prices are going to do--keep going up. Know what's not going up? My income. Know what's going up besides gas prices? Everything. Know why everybody says prices are going up? Because of high gas prices. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!! Doesn't that circle of bullshit just make you giggle your ass off?

So of course gas prices will just steadily climb upward and never downward--why would a seller lower the price of something everyone needs when they know people will pay it without rioting, like students did in Indonesia? To wit:

Some of the protesters burned tires and threw rocks at riot police who responded
by firing tear gas and warning shots into the air. More rallies were expected,
and the government deployed thousands of soldiers and police at major
intersections, the presidential palace and other strategic locations.

They did this because gas prices are going to be raised by 87%. The price increase described by the college paper I mentioned is just over 50%. Got that? We're paying over 50% more for gas this year than we were last year!

Not quite (but almost) as dramatic as 87%, so maybe we aren't quite yet inspired to throw rocks at police and burn tires, but maybe we could, I don't know...impeach Saudi handholding George W. Bush and turn out the corrupt, profiteering Republican majority in 2006? And then if it goes up any more, maybe we should gather some rocks and tires and matches...

One More Thing

And here's an interesting and heartening group of comments on an earlier story from our local paper here regarding a White House directive to get power back to a nearby pipeline before worrying about getting power back to area hospitals...