Angry's Blog of Doom (or idiocy....take your pick)

[d3M0n]

If you look at it realistically though... Suppose there are roughly 50 million driving Americans. Suppose again that roughly half of the times someone fills up they go to the Exxon station. Suppose again that people fill up and average of every 3 days. This works out to roughly $12 in profit for Exxon every time someone fills up at their gas station (out of between an average of $35-50). Giving them some leeway even and saying its the upper end of the price to fill up ($50) it would work out to about 25% of everything you pay in gas goes to the PROFIT of the oil companies. I certainly don't know many companies that make a 25% profit on everything they sell...

 

AND I've been told that we're going to have another $0.50 - $1.00/gal increase in the next few days. :eek2: Looks like they want to double their profits. They need closer to $20 billion every 3 months apparently.

 

well...

 

when you hear things like "Exxon recorded 9 BILLION DOLLARS IN PROFIT IN A SINGLE QUARTER (that's 3 months time for those of you not familiar with quarters)"

 

9 billion in a single 3 month period

 

yet we are paying $3.00 for a gallon of gasoline

 

you tell me how badly my butt is bleeding from this?>

 

I'd rather be set upon in prison by a raper-gang of inmates

 

at least it would all be over at once

 

unlike the oil companies who just rape you anytime and everytime you have to put gas in your car (and gee...wasn't it the oil companies and the car companies that really made us dependent on owning our own cars and buying up all the public transportation systems so you'd forget about that and buy yourself a nice piece of american automotive steel? Check it out if you think this is a tinfoil hat theory...GM and others got in a lot of trouble over this back in the 50's or 60's)

[ReelFiles]

Wait, why are we connecting Alaska and Siberia again?

 

 

LMFAO, in my drunken rant I forgot to mention that there are vast amounts of oil reserves in Siberia, which would supply us with a lot more oil, faster and cheaper than importing it from the Arab nations. Forgive me, I drank a bottle of tequila yesterday, which was the first time I got drunk in a couple of years.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intercontinental_Peace_Bridge

 

http://dsc.discovery.com/convergence/engin...nteractive.html

[zkissane]

New refineries don't just magically appear from the ground. The Oil companies have to invest their profits into these refineries. During the 1980's and 90's, low profits cause the Oil companies to put off modernizing their refineries with new processes that are more efficient and flexible. The increase demand meant that they couldn't shut down a refinery for upgrades without causing shortages which would raise the pump price due to demand.

 

Nevermind the fact that government regulations often prohibit the construction of new refineries. Gee, government interference causing an increase in prices, who'da thunk it?

[OldGuy]

LMFAO, in my drunken rant I forgot to mention that there are vast amounts of oil reserves in Siberia, which would supply us with a lot more oil, faster and cheaper than importing it from the Arab nations. Forgive me, I drank a bottle of tequila yesterday, which was the first time I got drunk in a couple of years.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intercontinental_Peace_Bridge

 

http://dsc.discovery.com/convergence/engin...nteractive.html

 

Tequila will do that!! :eek:

 

Hey ER...how am I to blame for the rising price of gas??? I don't race my cars up and down the street going nowhere for no reason. I go to work everyday to put food on the table, clothes on my back and keep a roof over my head. I can look in the mirror all I want and all I'm gonna see is my ugly ol' face starin' back, not some profound explanation of how I am behind the knee jerk gas hikes that seem to come everytime there is a hiccup in the middle east...

[red930]

Hey ER...how am I to blame for the rising price of gas??? I don't race my cars up and down the street going nowhere for no reason. I go to work everyday to put food on the table, clothes on my back and keep a roof over my head. I can look in the mirror all I want and all I'm gonna see is my ugly ol' face starin' back, not some profound explanation of how I am behind the knee jerk gas hikes that seem to come everytime there is a hiccup in the middle east...

It's quite simple. As a user of petroleum products, not just gasoline but any petroleum based products, you're part of the problem.

 

As a country, we consume more than we produce. This means we depend upon others to make up the difference.

 

Because of this we are not in control and at the mercy of OPEC and every little or big upset in the world. It's not just the Middle East you have to worry about. Venezuela is controlled by the Chinese, Cuba is negotiating with the Chinese for offshore oil production.

 

Taiwan, North Korea, Indonesia and Somalia are all potential flash-points that can affect world markets for oil.

[OldGuy]

It's quite simple. As a user of petroleum products, not just gasoline but any petroleum based products, you're part of the problem.

 

As a country, we consume more than we produce. This means we depend upon others to make up the difference.

 

Because of this we are not in control and at the mercy of OPEC and every little or big upset in the world. It's not just the Middle East you have to worry about. Venezuela is controlled by the Chinese, Cuba is negotiating with the Chinese for offshore oil production.

 

Taiwan, North Korea, Indonesia and Somalia are all potential flash-points that can affect world markets for oil.

 

So what would you suggest that I or any other American do? Stop buying anything made from petroleum? Ride a bicycle to work? You can't just point at the American general public and say that we are to blame. We elect politicians who promise one thing and deliver another. The american public is kept in a state of perpetual head spin from all the BS that we are fed. One side will make an argument for something that sounds oh so peachy then the other side has an equally effective counter that also has merit and makes sense. Then we are supposed to make an "informed" decision as to what is best for the country and all the while both sides have their own agenda which more or less only benefits some special interest group and not the country as a whole...

 

Don't blame me for not being able to make sense of what we are fed because that is just the way the people in power want it be...everbody confused and ignorant so they can live the good life and retire fat and happy. There are very few politicians that you could lable as "public servants"...We, the public, are the servants...

[Angry_Games]

Nevermind the fact that government regulations often prohibit the construction of new refineries. Gee, government interference causing an increase in prices, who'da thunk it?

omg don't tell ExRoadie this

 

he thinks it is perfectly acceptable to get us addicted to oil by offering no real alternatives then jack the prices up to where oil companies are making record profits

 

 

the one thing that ExRoadie always avoids in his little posts is how it is acceptable that oil companies are making record PROFITS, not sales, not anything normal, but record PROFITS while the price of gas for us is skyrocketing.

 

See, he won't ever tackle this issue, because it goes against his beliefs that capitalism is great and cannot be evil in any circumstance...but he doesn't really believe this, but he's like most of our government who cannot stop eating, sleeping, and breathing the party line (whatever party they belong to).

 

 

Until someone tells me why it is perfectly acceptable that we can be addicted to a substance that is now necessary for everyday living, and being offered no alternative, and then being gouged on the prices, I refuse to believe anything that ExRoadie or any other person says on this subject.

 

What if we found out that electricity was going to now cost us $2.00 a kw hour? Haha, ya, you'd all be up in arms over it, but what if the electricity companies were losing money? Or only making a 1% or *gasp* even 10% profit margin (which they would hopefully be investing in new tech to make electricty not so expensive!)??

 

You'd all riot and start killing people.

 

You know, I'd be much more sympathetic to ExRoadie and his big oil buddies if they were barely pulling even, or making a modest profit off us (because I DO believe in capitalism and profit, I just don't believe in obscenity and obnoxiousness).

 

But since they are not any of those things, they are making RECORD PROFITS EVERY QUARTER IN OBSCENE AMOUNTS while we are paying through the butt for it at the pumps, and we are NOT being offered any real alternatives.

 

If Hydrogen cars, or E85 cars, or any other kind of transportation/fuel was being offered as an alternative, then I would laugh at all of you and call you morons for still using gas and crying like babies about the price.

 

But see, I'm in the same boat.

 

No alternative fuel sources right now that are realistic.

 

Smug oil company executives crying like little girls about how tough the industry is, while making 9 BILLION DOLLARS IN PROFIT IN A SINGLE QUARTER

 

Oh boo effing hoo you poor little oil industry executives. Boo hoo double.

 

 

 

 

 

This is price fixing at it's worst.

 

 

It IS the government's responsibility to do something about it. If I am the government (and be thankful I am not! lol) and I hear my Honda Accord is gonna cost $40 to fill all the way up (if not more than that), and then some jerk from Exxon tells his shareholders that they've made NINE BILLION DOLLARS IN PROFIT IN A SINGLE QUARTER, and will probably make about 25 to 30 BILLION DOLLARS IN PROFIT IN A YEAR, then I am going to put the gas cap back on after filling up, pay my 'rape fee', and then go drive straight to mr oil executive's house and stomp a mudhole in his butt, then turn around and convince congress that it is OBSCENE AND OBNOXIOUS that they are making this kind of profit and not offering us any alternatives, and keeping us addicted.

 

I wouldn't mind if they made a billion dollars profit in a quarter...which shareholders would be unhappy about splitting up a billion dollars?

 

None, so don't even say there would be.

 

A billion in profit in a single quarter? I could live with that since my gas would be back to about $1.75 or so per gallon.

 

I could handle if they were making even up to FIVE billion...IF, IF that money was going into infrastructure and alternative fuel sources and public transportation systems

 

but

 

it isn't

 

and it never will

 

I don't think any industries are inherently evil, but oil companies are extremely close.

 

When you grow up around big money and the snobbery that goes with it, you tend to teach your offspring those same values, and oil is a family business, and all of these oil boys, they wouldn't know 'reality' if it ran them down in a Panzer tank.

 

None of these jerks have to pay for a single gallon of gas to drive their $200,000 Hummer that gets 1 mile to the gallon. None of these jerks have to pay a dime for their private jet fuelings etc....since they import and refine and distribute the gas themselves.

 

They don't have a clue what real life for real Americans is all about.

 

Neither does ExRoadie sometimes, especially when he lives in fantasy land about how great capitalism is and should never be regulated. But ExRoadie is my buddy and I don't hate him or nothing, I just think the weed he is smoking sometimes has been getting a little moldy (and generally when he complains about something to me, I like to turn the tables on him and give him his own attitude right back and it drives him crazy but he still doesn't break which is why I like him so much because at least he's consistent in his fantasy world that he builds around himself and doesn't change sides just because one loser who runs the forum he likes gives him hell hahaha)

 

anyway

 

 

oil companies are obscene and obnoxious

 

so is the government for not doing anything about it

 

and most especially is President Puzzlehead, our Monkey In Chief who is a big oil man himself, and would never even dream of *gasp* doing much of anything to any business, let alone the oil business. I mean, all that oil and gas is important to fight our worldwide "war on terror" right? You can't run an Abrams tank on water, and you can't decimate villages with depleted uranium ammunition from Blackhawk/Cobra helicopters that run on dreams or nuclear energy...can ya?

 

War is big business, and the government is the largest single consumer of oil/petroleum in the USA (except most of it is isn't in the USA, it's in some foreign desert at the moment).

 

 

Here's my suggestion:

 

don't drive your car

 

get everyone at your job to call into work 'sick' once or twice per week, but don't say you are sick, say you simply cannot afford to fill your car up with gas anymore from driving to work 5 days a week. Your bills are already eating up a chunk of your pay, and now gasoline for your car is eating up more than you are making.

 

Ride a bike, or just don't go to work. Civil disobedience can have a huge impact.

 

We've seen stupid emails floating around saying "January 19th is dont-buy-gas-day!" but no one pays attention

 

 

but across the country lately we've seen attention being given to huge groups of immigrants who aren't happy with the proposed immigration laws congress is fooling with (by the way, they voted to make a 375 mile fence 2 months ago, then voted the other day to NOT FUND IT AT ALL....so goes congress!).

 

They brought a lot of the biggest cities to a standstill with their walk-outs and protests.

 

 

Well, if no one shows up to work but two or three times a week because they can't afford the gasoline to drive there, and there are no real alternatives, then someone will take notice?

 

 

 

Ah, but that's MY fantasy...because you stupid fat lazy greedy americans are not ever going to give up your precious cars and SUV's. No, I have a better chance of ending up the Mayor of Philadelphia than I do of any of you giving up your precious driving in your precious gas hog vehicles.

 

And yes I am a fat stupid lazy greedy american too...except I don't drive my car every place I have to go, and I don't go anywhere in it unless I need to. Absolutely need to. I changed all my light bulbs to flourescents to save energy. I run evergy saving modes on all of our appliances. I don't water the lawn but once every two weeks so I don't have to mow it but once a month or two. I do everything I can within reason to reduce my dependence on things I don't agree wholeheartedly with (and keep in mind here in Idaho we don't have a single coal-fired power plant, we get all of our electricity from Hydroelectric power, but we still have to put gasoline in our cars).

 

 

I'm hoping we can all grow up one day.

 

The one thing I DO agree with ExRoadie about is what I just said...we cry about our dependence on oil and how expensive it is and how obscene the profits those chuckleheads are making, but who is buying it?

 

We are.

 

If we want to stop the obscenity, then we have to do exactly as I just said, and stop using so much of it. Stop being dependent on it. It is OUR own fault we are in this situation. It is NOT the government's fault we got this far, and it is not the oil companies' fault that we got this far. It is OUR fault.

 

We are to blame.

[zkissane]

People ARE giving up their gas guzzling SUVs. Why is Detroit in such dire straits right now? Because they went all-in with SUVs and pickup trucks 15 years ago (again, because of government interference, but that's another story) and basically abandoned the smaller car market to Honda and Toyota. Now, with gas surging past $3/gallon, sales of new SUVs, Detroit's cash cow for 15 years, are slumping really badly. Hybrids, on the other hand, are surging. For a while, 6 month old-ish used Toyota Priuses were more expensive than new ones. Also, ethanol based fuels are gaining momentum. Not that I agree with this legislation either, but Missouri just passed a law that would require all fueling stations in the state to use a minimum of 10% ethanol in their gasolines. That sort of legislation would never have passed back in 1999 when I bought gas for my car at $.80/gallon.

 

Windfall profit taxes and price caps and criminal charges of price fixing destroy incentives, which is about the deadliest poison pill you can feed to a capitalistic environment. Incentives fuel competition, and competition is what makes the capitalistic world go round.

 

Electricity isn't a good comparison, because in most markets electricity providers are government sanctioned monopolies.

 

As for your alternatives, people are doing it. 2 of my coworkers (they're married) live about 30 miles from our office. Last year, when gas prices hit $3/gallon, they started working from home one day a week. Now, they've finished their basement office and work from home full time. My best friend drives 150 miles a day round trip to commute to law school, but he says that if gas prices stay at above $3/gallon he'd seriously consider getting an apartment in Topeka, even though he and his wife own a house here in Kansas City. My sister rarely makes the 40 mile drive from her college town back home here in KC when gas gets as expensive as it's getting.

 

High prices suck for consumers, you'll get no argument from me there. But higher prices spur both competition from the inside, as more suppliers try to cash in on them, and from the outside through innovations in substitute goods. And those are good for consumers.

[OldGuy]

High prices suck for consumers, you'll get no argument from me there. But higher prices spur both competition from the inside, as more suppliers try to cash in on them, and from the outside through innovations in substitute goods. And those are good for consumers.

 

But in the mean time while we the people adjust and try to make ends meet, our fine government officials carry on, business as usual, no suffering on their end...It's a great big game of monopoly for them...woops, fugged up again...lets just start a new game.

 

My truck will run on ethanol but wouldn't ya know, there's not one damned gas station that I know of around here that carries the stuff. Not to mention it costs the same (if I'm not mistaken) and gets worse mileage...so my mielage goes down and I spend even more per week to get back and forth to work. Where is the incentive in this scenario?

 

I could care less what powers my car as long as it gets me from point A to point B but don't offer me an alternative that costs more and tell me I'm a good american for suffering through it so the idiots in Washington can go on about their business...which today seems to have nothing to do with what is right and just for our own country.

[Angry_Games]

Electricity isn't a good comparison, because in most markets electricity providers are government sanctioned monopolies.

 

um...no, they are private energy companies now thanks to deregulation (at least west of the Mississippi they are)

 

As for your alternatives, people are doing it. 2 of my coworkers (they're married) live about 30 miles from our office. Last year, when gas prices hit $3/gallon, they started working from home one day a week. Now, they've finished their basement office and work from home full time. My best friend drives 150 miles a day round trip to commute to law school, but he says that if gas prices stay at above $3/gallon he'd seriously consider getting an apartment in Topeka, even though he and his wife own a house here in Kansas City. My sister rarely makes the 40 mile drive from her college town back home here in KC when gas gets as expensive as it's getting.

 

hate to burst your bubble, and make you think I'm bashing you, but 2 co-workers isn't going to do much at all

 

200,000 co-workers would be a start that would get attention

 

we've got 200,000,000 vehicles in the USA, and probably nearly as many drivers...2 co-workers plus you and me isn't making any kind of statement.

 

Like I said, not trying to bash you, but this is the same answer I always hear "well me and a buddy are not doing it anymore so it must be helping!"

 

the real answer is...a few of us are good, sure, but until a very loud voice is heard (somewhere over the 250,000 mark maybe? who knows), a few here and a few there won't do any good at all...it will only serve to show big business that we don't mind taking it in the arse because only a few of us will buck the system and revolt.

 

 

High prices suck for consumers, you'll get no argument from me there. But higher prices spur both competition from the inside, as more suppliers try to cash in on them, and from the outside through innovations in substitute goods. And those are good for consumers.

 

that is why it is called "Price Fixing"

 

because in this age of competition, ANY and ALL of the oil companies could easily drop their prices to $2.00/gal and make a hefty profit...especially since they'd be $1.00/gal under the competition...people would line up for ******* miles to fill up (I would!) their tank at that price.

 

but you notice that no oil company is doing this...

 

why?

 

because they know we will pay whatever price they state since they are all agreeing to charge outrageous prices.

 

 

And before ExRoadie comes back and tells everyone how very expensive it is to import and refine oil etc...keep reminding him that we are paying $3.00 a gallon and the oil companies are making RECORD PROFITS. RECORD PROFITS.

 

RECORD PROFITS.

 

I don't think it is any more expensive to refine and such than it was 20 years ago...I simply feel that big oil has finally gotten a government in power that won't throw a fit and put a stop to their price fixing/gouging.

 

I love capitalism, but there comes a point where capitalism goes a little too far, and we need a bit of socialism or communism or *gasp* even fascism to balance things.

 

 

It would be different if we had alternatives...when Intel's cpu prices got too high, we went to AMD. When Nvidia prices got too high, we moved to ATI. When Bell South got too expensive as my phone provider in Orlando, I moved to Sprint. When Sprint got too expensive as my internet provider, I moved to Time Warner cable.

 

See the correlation???

 

Competition...competition is NOT an entire industry setting a price and not allowing consumers to make a choice. Exxon's gas is the same as Shell's gas, which is the same as BP's gas etc...they are ALL the same price. Not a single one of them is offering us a deal. They are saying "we know you need it, and we know you have to buy it from one of us, so we are all going to put out the same price and you will buy it".

 

 

 

As for Detroit...GM is a stupid company anyway making dumb cars that no one wants. I don't think it is so much about gasoline as it is about what consumers want. Toyota and Honda and other Japanese automakers have always catered to what the consumer wants, while the big 3 in Detroit have always catered to what THEY want us to drive.

 

Dodge is bucking the system quite a bit, which is a good sign, and Ford is starting to get wise, but GM is still pretty moronic. They will fight the good fight until the end and still lose, which is a sign of an old dinosaur that can't cope with the new climate changes.

 

Toyota and Honda and other good automakers will continue to pour money into alternate fuel cars because they know that at some point, the switch is coming, and they want to be the leaders and top sellers and established in the industry in these markets when the push finally does come to shove.

[red930]

All those years of low gas prices and low profits were OK! Everyone took advantage of the situation. That's why people could afford to drive big honkin' SUVs that get 10 miles per gallon.

 

So if you feel like you're taking an butt POUNDING now, maybe you should have stocked up on vaseline with the money you saved while prices were low all those years.

 

I go to all the trouble to outline exactly what happens when the price of crude oil goes up and no one pays attention. I show you that Oil Companies are still making the exact same profit per gallon of gas they sell and no one pays attention. I show you that we are paying the exact price per gallon that we should be paying when prices are adjusted for inflation compared to the 1950's and no one cares.

 

Once more with feeling!

 

The increase in profits is due to the crude oil prices and has nothing to do with the price of gas at the pump.

 

Big freakin' deal if Exxon makes 9 Billion dollars in profit in the first quarter of the year. They're in business to make a profit.

 

Every single Oil Company that owns significant reserves made huge profits. It wasn't just Exxon. It wasn't just American Oil Companies. Every Oil Company in the world is showing huge profits because the price of crude oil is at historic levels.

 

Now here's a point that everyone seems to be missing even in my very detailed and quite eloquent posts...

 

Gas prices aren't any higher than they should be when adjusted for inflation and increase taxes. This fact is true and verifiable as I've shown in previous posts.

 

Now things have come full circle and we're paying what we should be for gas and the Oil Companies are still making their 8 cents per gallon profit.

[wevsspot]

ExRoadie,

 

At what point does any company have a social responsibility to understand the impacts of their policies and profits on the general public?

 

I had an old boss who used to tell me that the company wasn't in the business to provide jobs but to turn a profit for the owner or shareholders. While that might always be the bottom line, there's a point where ethics ought to come into play - and in my opinion that applies to everything.

 

In my opinion the United States is fixing to endure a major catastrophe. The simple fact is Joe Six Pack isn't used to paying $3.00 a dollar for gas. But now, since he/she has to that means there are other things they aren't buying. Since a huge portion of the US economy is driven by small business and consumer spending, the cost of a gallon of gas affects every single thing we do, buy and spend every single day.

 

The cost of gas affects the rail industry, the automotive industry, the airline industry, the agriculture industry, the trucking industry - in fact try and name one industry that the price of fuel doesn't impact.

 

So here is my global conspiracy. As prices continue to rise, more people do one stop shopping. Where do they one stop shop? Hundreds of thousands one stop shop at Wal-Mart. Where do the majority of goods at your local Wal-Mart store come from. Easy answer. Offshore. Because the Chinese, Taiwanese, Indonesians, Mexicans, Indians etc. can make it cheaper in their countries. So as consumers we're forced to buy the cheapest common denominator that gets the job done. Even if we're only saving a nickel. Meanwhile, American bricks and mortar companies fold by the dozens everyday. Someday the US will be on the brink of domination by another country simply because we didn't maintain a healthy bricks and mortar industry capable of supplying even the basic needs of defending our country, regardless of the price of a gallon of fuel. Even Hitler understood the value of the oil fields, and in fact didn't even concede that defeat was possible until he lost control of them.

 

And every consumer of goods that reads this post, keep in mind. It's not only our government policies or the profits of oil companies that have put us in this position. It's our very selves. If you continue to patronize and choose products from companies that are interested in putting money in a select few pockets (i.e. shareholders, owners, the already filthy rich) then we'll all get exactly what we deserve. Because in order to do this those companies will source products offshore and just sell them by their American brand names. But unfortunately, the impact of our decisions now will be more keenly felt by our children, grandchildren, great grandchilden (well you get the picture).

 

God help us all.