According to the NY Times on 4/21/08, "Oil jumped to a record on Monday...gasoline prices rose above $3.50 a gallon for the first time across the nation...(up) 22 percent in the last year...some analysts expect prices close to $4 a gallon this summer."
Diesel was $2.93 a gallon at this time last year. Today it reached $4.20.
Get this...recently I heard some big wig news analyst declare that $3.50 was some kind of psychological threshold. I immediately thought, who says and what are the criteria? Where do you suppose they plucked that number from? And even if $3.50 is some magic threshold, so what? What difference will it make? It is not as if we have a lot of options. Oh yeah, I almost forgot about all of the public transportation easily accessible to most of us in the US. It will be a cinch to change our driving habits by switching over to the bus or train.
And how does OPEC feel about the skyrocketing price of oil? According to the Times article, OPEC is perfectly happy just the way things are. I don't assume Bush and his buddies are complaining much either, although the Times doesn't report on their reaction. I did however hear that the GOP is happily taking political advantage of the high gas prices. They are rolling out a campaign blaming Pelosi for the higher gas prices and pointing out the price at the pump is higher today than when Pelosi became speaker. As if it is her fault! Think it sounds crazy? Look who we're dealing with. The low of the low can go even lower! The scary part is knowing there are many voters out there who buy into that kind of bullshit. Cheers! Meg
1 comment:
Meg I love that you have decided a bit of swearing and sarcasm are ok for this site. It makes me feel better.
And I need that, because I'm so frustrated on this issue.
I'm actually American, but I've lived in Taipei for many years. Taiwan just completed a high speed rail that races you like a bullet from one side of the island to another in 45 minutes. In car it takes you 8 hours.
A mass rapid transit station is opening within 2 minutes walk of my apartment. I can get to any place in the city in minutes.
Busses can take you along any country road you could think of.
On top of all that, Taiwan has had Nationalized Health Care for years and it works great! People with difficult to treat conditions from around Asia routinely come to Taiwan for the expert doctors.
And is Taiwan some oppressive government dominated economy? Hell no? Its famous for its vibrant capitalism. Its a business hub for Asia. I teach in an International School here, and many of my students are the kids of famous CEOs of companies from around the world who are doing good business here.
How about taxes, I must be paying half my salary to the goverment right? Actually I pay 0% taxes because teachers don't pay taxes. I'm not sure what the average is, but most of my friends don't pay more than 10%.
America has so many hangups with progress, and the rest of the developed world is passing us by because of it. Very frustrating.
By the way this is Ryan from TrulySkewed
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