I recently wrote en article entitled, Have you noticed... This particular article focused on the recent downturn in gas and oil prices. My opinion on that downturn is that it was directly tied to the upcoming mid-term elections. Well, today on the news, I was greeted with what I would call a pretty big support of that theory.
Whereas a few weeks ago, gas prices were the number three concern among voters, this week, it's not in the top five. Gee, that's pretty amazing. It's almost like it was planned that way. Hmmm...
Then came the "reasons" why gas and oil prices are supposedly dropping so quickly. The first reason given was just too weak for words. Frankly, I am surprised they trotted that one out. Gas prices always come down as we head towards winter because winter gasoline blends are supposedly cheaper to produce. Well, that's somewhat true. In the days before DUBYA stole the White House, it wasn't that uncommon to see prices for gas fall slightly after Labor Day. However, as I stated in the original article, the prices stared falling a few weeks before Labor Day, just about the time we started hearing about polls showing the Republicans sucking hind tit coming into the mid-terms. Curious, isn't it? It's even more curious, because prices shot up sharply around Labor Day last year, but I'll get to that one soon.
Then there was the second reason. The market is no longer consumed by fears that Iran will use its oil as a weapon in our ongoing spat with them over Uranium enrichment. I admit that I don't really know a lot about futures markets, and what sends them into spasm. However, this "reason" seems to be just about as weak as the prices falling after Labor Day thing. The situation in Iran hasn't cooled much. Israel calls them the handmaidens of Hebollah. They are still enriching Uranium, and the rest of the world still has its panties in a bunch because of the enrichment.
Reason number three: the pipeline "failure" in Prudhoe Bay isn't as "bad" as originally thought. I might buy that one except that a few weeks ago when it was discovered, the prophets of oil doom were saying this one could pump prices up to over four buck a gallon for gas. I have to think that one has all the smells of a ruse. The Oil Pigs were getting hungry for even more profit, and they figured that would be a good cover story to jack up gas prices some more. While it might seem more plausible than the other reasons so far, I still think it's a ruse.
Reason number four: no hurricanes have hit Gulf Coast refineries. As I said above, last year, prices went up after Labor Day, not down. In what I can see as the only reason that makes sense out of the list, I will grant the Oil Pigs the fact that the weather has been good to the refineries this year. Since those refineries turn out lots of gasoline, it does make sense that if they go off line, supply will drop, and cost will rise. I'll buy that one, guardedly anyway.
Reason number five: The drilling into the new oil reserves deep underneath the Gulf of Mexico. We are back to the "I don't buy it" list now. From what I heard, they aren't going to be getting anything out of those deep wells for years to come. While it could be understood that the mere presence of these wells, and the promise of the oil they contain might set us up for more plentiful oil in the future, I fail to see how that can so drastically effect oil prices here and now. Once again, it smells like a ruse to me.
It pays to pay attention to everything you are hearing when you are listening to the news. The biggest gems, and truest words always seem to come after the whitewash (or is it hogwash) has been applied. At the end of this story, it was said that even with the reasons given, gas prices are falling faster now than at any other time in history.
To me, that's the telling tale. That simple statement tells me that all the reasons given before, and everything else about the report was pure grade bullshit. Those words let me know that my original hypothesis on the situation is correct. Gas prices aren't falling because of any of the reasons that were trotted out on that particular report. They are falling so that gas prices aren't an issue in the upcoming mid-term elections. Since it's obvious from the report of concerns by voters that gas prices aren't in the top five any longer, this ruse by the Oil Pigs and the politicians who are in cahoots with them is having its desired effect.
It's not going to work on me, and I hope it doesn't work on anyone else with a brain. This is a clear example of nothing less than price manipulation, and political manipulation by the Republicans and the Oil Pigs. The Oil Pigs wanted lots of money, so they jacked up gas prices to criminal levels, and the Republicans looked the other way. Now that the Republicans are shaking in their crude oil covered boots, they are telling the Oil Pigs to ease up on their criminal profits.
Until I saw that report tonight, there was a shadow of doubt that maybe I was being paranoid. Perhaps I was analyzing the situation too much, or seeing ghosts where none existed. Now I know better. It's not paranoia if it's true. As far as I can see, this one little news report removed that shadow of doubt. You watch, either way the mid-term elections go, you can bet that oil and gas prices will find a way to start rising some time after November. The hope is, if the Democrats do take over the Senate, this time around, there will be a real investigation of the shenanigans pulled by the Oil Pigs.
Blessed be! Pappy
http://www.bear-upstairs-studio.com
Harpist, unemployed blue collar worker, and Bush basher living deep in the heart of Texas.
I hope your anger and that of many other Texans translates into voting for Kinky Friedman for governor. If he wins it will send a shock wave throughout the two-party duopoly establishment. We dissenters need to have true outsiders win some elections. The upside of a Kinky win far outweighs any downside you can imagine.
by
Joel S. Hirschhorn (118 articles, 22 quicklinks, 54 diaries, 472 comments)
on Friday, September 15, 2006 at 9:29:56 AM
I'd like to begin by saying I have been planning on voting for Kinky since I heard his name. How can a guy whose name implies sexual deviance be bad?
Seriously, my roommate turned me on to Kinky early on. I love Kinky's ideas, and his shoot straight from the hip style. He obviously has a lot of guts and integrity as well. I am sure as hell not going to vote for Rick (get them fags out of Texas) Perry, Granny Fanny Nestlerod, or Mr. Who-the-hell-is-he Democratic candidate. So even though the polls show him as number three, and the fact that the local ABC affiliate is trying to paint him as a loose cannon, or a bumpy shit-kicker, he's the man for me. After all, he's wants to legalize (or at least decriminalize) marijuana, and he's all for gay marriage as well.
Now with all that said, I don't see how any governor of any state in the Union is going to effect gas prices to any degree. Yes, we have a lot of oil here in Texas, but oil prices and their regulation is a federal thing, not a state's rights issue.
The issue of this article and its predicessor is whether or not oil prices, or more specifically gasoline prices, were being artificially manipulated for the good of the Republicans and our Chimp in Chief. It is my assertion that the swift rise and present swift drop in the prices of both oil and gasoline are the result of political and economic manipulation at the hands of the Grand Oil Party and the Oil Pigs. It is also my assertion that the present drop in oil and gasoline prices are to stop energy prices from being an issue in the upcoming mid-term elections. I think the fact that energy prices are no longer in the top five issues on the minds of voters means that this clear case of price manipulation has had its desired effect.
I think it might be good to try to keep to that issue in any comments made about this article. My purpose in writing both articles was to keep that point in the minds of those who are going to be heading to the polls come November. Whom I plan on voting for as governor of the state of Texas is nowhere near as important in direct relation to the issue of gasoline prices as whom I am going to vote for for Senator. Kay, my dear, now you will see that I meant what I said when I signed all those petitions from MoveOn.org and Democrats.com. I am NOT going to vote to put your sorry ass back into an office you clearly aren't qualified to hold. It's Barbara Ann for me!
Bah, bah, bah, bah, Barbara Ann! Put that in your pipe and smoke it, Kay Bailey "you can't write an email directly to me" Hutchinson! Charade you are!
Blessed be!
Pappy
by
Pappy (61 articles, 0 quicklinks, 11 diaries, 863 comments)
on Saturday, September 16, 2006 at 2:20:16 AM
How heartily I agree. There is nothing that goes on nowadays that isn't caused by someone pulling strings. I have no doubt whatsoever that come November 8, gas prices will once again begin to crawl up...and you can be sure there will be lots of "reasons" (excuses) trotted out in the "liberal" media as to why gas is going up again.
The sad thing is apart from the people who come here to read and get the information that exists between the lines (err, I mean LIES), most Americans will just put their thumbs back into their mouths and take on the sheered sheep look that seems to be in fashion.
What ever happened to free thought? Oh yeah, that's right, they work that out of you in the nation's schools. It serves the interests of the one percent in this country to have a nation of drooling, mindless, unquestioning drones. It saddens me to think that my generation may well be the last of the free thinkers for some time to come. But when Generation X is happier to play minldess video games, text message on cell phones, and slide through life on a diet of pure grade bullshit fed by corporate criminals, it means free thought is destined to go the way of the Edsel, 16mm film, and vinyl LP's.
I used to write this stuff in a blog I have on live journal. The best I could hope for would be someone telling me it was stupid to expect a response because, "everyone hates Bush." My standard response there is silence.
Why? Because I have the audacity to think for myself. I don't buy the pre-packaged drivel that's spoon fed to me by way of corporate media conglomerates. I ask questions. I run everything I see and hear through BS detectors. If it comes up with that bovine excrement smell, I tend to think it's bullshit.
I really can't wait to hear the next round of garbage set to come after mid-terms as to why fuel prices are rocketing skyward again. I just can't wait to see what new wrinkle they come up with to explain the rise. I'll not buy any of it, naturally. However, it's sometimes fascinating to see just what level of garbage the spin alchemists will attempt to transform into gold.
It would be nice if more people than just those who come to this site would take off their blinders long enough to realize they are being played as suckers. Even as much of a realist as I am, I have to admit I keep holding onto the hope that something is eventually going to make even the most mezmerised uber-consumers wake up and smell the meadow muffins. I know it's an exercise in futility to keep that hope, but I can't help myself.
That's part of the reason I write about these things. Maybe somewhere down the road, something I have written will pull the wool from the eyes of someone who truly needs to see the light.
Of course, if that doesn't happen, I can at least be assured that I made the effort, and tried to show someone that there is a man behind the curtain, and to pay no attention to him can be hazardous to your health.
Blessed be!
Pappy
by
Pappy (61 articles, 0 quicklinks, 11 diaries, 863 comments)
on Sunday, September 17, 2006 at 2:30:34 AM
Count me in as another Texan for Kinky and Barbara Ann. I've got a stack of letters from KBH 2 inches thick and chock full of BS. It's time to throw out ALL the incumbents and start over.
I too believe the price of gas is being manipulated, as is the price of gold and the stock market. Just wait and see what happens to all three after Nov. 7th!
by
Catlover (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 81 comments)
on Saturday, September 16, 2006 at 12:36:22 PM
When it rains, it pours. There was another cover story in Yahoo News today attempting to explain the recent drop in oil and gasoline prices. Hopefully, there are still people who are monitoring this article and its associated comments. If so, get a load of this.
The URL for this latest round of excuse-itis is:
click here
In case the URL goes away, allow me to distill what new round of reasons are given for the continuing drop in oil prices.
Supposedly oil prices are falling because supply threats are easing and, "signs of economic weakness in the U.S. signaled a potential cooling of energy demand."
The article goes on to say, "Traders remained cautious about the West's diplomacy with Iran over its nuclear program, though they are increasingly less fearful that Iran will pull oil off the market."
And this comes just after DUBYA rattled his saber in the direction of Iran. According to a related article (URL http://news.yahoo.com/fc/us/bush_administration ), "On the sidelines, Bush pressed Iran to return at once to international talks on its nuclear program and threatened consequences if they do not."
To me, this sounds an aweful lot like the same kind of garbage our Idiot in Chief spewed right before the "shock and awe" attacks on Iraq.
So, on one hand, the market is supposedly not so worried about supply issues or Iran pulling it's oil from the market, and on the other, DUBYA is more or less gearing up to blast the crap out of Iran.
Oh, please! How stupid do the powers that be think we are? DUBYA is in the middle of posturing against Iran because of their nuclear (NEW-CLEE-ER) program, and this isn't worrying the oil markets. No, no, no! If there ever existed a huge load of hogwash, this is it!
How can the oil markets that just a few months ago appeared to recoil in fear at the last round of saber rattling over Iran suddenly get to a point of, "What, me worry?" Either they are sure that DUBYA is just blowing smoke up their collective asses, or this latest cover story is just that, a story made to cover up the truth. We all know the government is big on cover-ups anyway.
I so don't but the story! No, it's just another batch of bullshit engineered to pull the wool over the eyes of the American Public.
While I freely admit I don't know all that much about the way that futures markets operate, I can't for the life of me fathom that a market that was so nervous over events in the Middle East has suddenly taken a huge dose of Valium and is suddenly not so worried. I smell a rat, or maybe it would be more precise to say I smell a load of elephant shit!
The Republicans want to win the mid-term elections, and they will stop at nothing to do just that. They think that by putting these cover stories in the news, that Americans are going to be stupid enough to buy their cock and bull stories.
Well, here is one American who doesn't buy any of it. The simple truth is the Republicans are in cahoots with the Oil Pigs, and they both know the best way for them to maintain their stranglehold on power in DC is to remove oil and gas prices from the top five list of voter worries. Since that has happened, they think they are in the clear, and we Americans will elect their money grubbers back into the offices they hold.
If you have ever seen the movie Contact starring Jodie Foster, you have heard of the principle of Achem's Razor. For those of you who haven't seen the movie, Achem's Razor is the principle that given two explanations for the same event, the simplest explanation is always the right one.
Here we have two explanations for the recent incredible drop in oil prices. The first explanation is that markets that were incredibly volatile only a few months ago becaused of the political upheaval in the Middle East have suddenly and without logical reason lost that volatility. Further, they have lost volatility when the situation in the Middle East hasn't really changed to any significant degree. The second explanation is that oil prices were artificially inflated, and now, for political reasons, the prices are being artificially deflated.
Which explanation do you believe? There's no mystery which one I believe. Oil prices were inflated for the profiteers in the oil industry, and now they are being deflated so the Republicans can lose one Albatross around their collective necks.
It's no skin off the nose of the Oil Pigs if they don't reap their criminal profits this quarter. Once their Republican cohorts win the mid-term elections, the Oil Pigs know they can jack the prices up again with impunity. You can be sure that when prices rise again, and believe me they will, there will be another round of bullshit cover stories given to the press to explain why it's happening.
Don't let the Republicans off the hook on this one. Don't buy the bullshit! Make everyone of those money grubbers pay at the polls this November. Perhaps then, the truth will really come out, and the Oil Pigs will finally have to face the music for their theft by deception.
Blessed be!
Pappy
by
Pappy (61 articles, 0 quicklinks, 11 diaries, 863 comments)
on Tuesday, September 19, 2006 at 1:44:17 PM
