Today is the Twentieth Straight Day of Record High Gas Prices.

[Stinky The Clown]

No one seems pissed off about this.

No one wants a certain pair of oilmen-turned-politician's heads on pikes.

No one is talking of protest.

No horns honking.

No gas lines (indicating a shortage).

The whole country is just bending over and filling up.

Does ANYbody give a fuck?

Anybody?

Beuhler? Beuhler?

[RaVeN_MeaD]

1. protest

let me know when

[livetohike]

2. Welcome to DU!

:hi:

[Not Me]

3. I was listening to Thom Hartmann last night on XM

He had a guest on (I think this was a repeat show) who was saying the cause of the high prices is directly related to oil hedge funds and we need to outlaw them. And if that doesn't get the oil companies' attention, we need to have the Justice department break up the oil companies like back in 1911.

There is no shortage, it is not (yet) due to China/India.

[benny594]

4. all that needs to be done-then prices would go lower

[nichomachus]

5. Protest where -- how?

Seriously. How would that protest work? Most small towns don't have a downtown any more. You'd have to go to the mall. That's the new "downtown," but that's private property.

To protest in DC requires massive organization -- giving them time to neutralize it as they did with the anti-war protests. Besides, people would have to use gas to get there.

Protesting at the gas station doesn't work. They're not owned by real people any more -- just corporations -- and the people who work there are $6-an-hour wage slaves who have no control over anything.

[The_Casual_Observer]

6. It'll be like the housing bubble, nobody knows nothing until the damage is done &

all the money that's on the table has been pocketed.

[kestrel91316]

7. Stinky, everything is just FINE. Our gas went down 2 cents today.

[housewolf]

8. 20th Day? Hmmmm.... seems more like the 5th year....

Did you see C-Span's Washington Journal this morning?

Michael Greenberger, Trading Commission, Fmr. Dir. Commodities Futures

He had quite a bit to say about the record oil prices and the role of energy speculators on today's prices. He said that in Dec, 2000 Phil Graham (sp?) wangled through some legislation allowing Futures speculators to invest in basically unregulated markets - he called them "dark markets". Also called the "Enron Loop", it's the same legislation that allowed the Enron traders to do what they did outside of any regulation. According to him, this unregulated speculation is what's really causing the skyrocketing oil prices. He claims that after the fall of Enron, the Enron traders who knew their way around the "dark markets" were the most popular kids on the block and they they are involved in this speculative futures trading.

He's testifying to Congress about this next week. Here's a link to Washington Journal where there is a link and you can watch online.
http://c-span.org/Series/Washington-Journal.aspx

It was an eye-opener. Check it out if you can.

[Stinky The Clown]

10. Yup, the ENRON Loophole brought to you by Phil and Wendy Gramm

Wendy (Mrs. Phil - or is Phil Mr. Wendy?) is your typical Republican Woman. Think Lynn Cheney, but not as nice. Think superlawyer/lobbyist/unprincipled thief. She hot dogged that whole piece of legislative filth through. Phil was just the enabler.

[Beausoleil]

16. Believe she was on Enron's BoD at the time, too.

Or at least immediately before or after.

"Professor" of Economics, Phil should have known better but obviously, being a Republican, went the more lucrative route.

[madinmaryland]

9. What, whom, and where do we protest???

I can't afford to drive to whereever Exxon/Mobil's headquarters is. Why protest the gas station owners, as they are making even less per gallon than they have in the past.

The only real protest is to reduce the amount you use.

:shrug:

[Tesha]

11. TV still on? Beer still cold? Fuck it then! Americans won't connect the dolts. (NT)

[madinmaryland]

18. That reminds me, I gotta stop and pick up some beer tonight.

:hi:

[Robbien]

12. Europe is holding massive protests on gas prices

Lorry driver protest brings London to a halt
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2036835/Lorry-driver-protest-brings-London-to-a-halt.html

Truckers converged on Gordon Brown in fuel protest
http://www.yourcanterbury.co.uk/kent-news/Truckers-converged-on-Gordon-Brown-in-fuel-protest-newsinkent13240.aspx
(Ha, in this story the truckers drove up to Number 10 Downing and handed Brown their protest)

Sarkozy calls for tax cut as fuel protests spread in Europe
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5h3Hp9DWMFiX2BOzCbWFKVg9b6T9w

More shipping fleets join EU port blockades
http://ukpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5hw4sEMnMEW9-_bUsXANBR6NMjfQA

Wider European Fishing Strike Looms As Spain Joins France
http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7011071186

Road haulers in Bulgaria continue with the protests because of the high fuel prices
http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?id=h1890


When our truckers protested and sat parked on the roads, it didn't even make the news. Even the time workers shut down the ports for an entire day not a peep was heard from tv talking heads.

Protesting in the US is a losing sum game.

[Stinky The Clown]

13. "..... not a peep was heard from tv talking heads" Oh no. Instead, we get **this**

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x3346683

[gatorboy]

14. People actually are driving less.

11 billion fewer miles, actually. But what good has it done? Fry? Fry?

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

15. Being a petroleum futures speculator should become something so odious

to the general public that they can't get a table at a restaurant, they are subject to personal insults wherever they go, and they are treated like someone just a cut above a rapist or other hardened criminal. Until we make it illegal to engage in this type of activity, the people should point speculators out with their finger wherever they go as one of the lowest forms of human life. And I'm not defending those who waste gas by driving giant SUVs to and from the suburbs for miles and miles every day, with only one person in the car. They also should be subject to our ire in their daily lives and should be pointed out as part of the problem. In fact, we're all part of the problem, but the speculators deserve to be discriminated against in a special way, as they're trying to make a quick buck even though they clearly know it strangles civilized society and affects so many working people who are just barely able to hang on.

[Stinky The Clown]

19. Who are they?

How do we find out their names? What companies do they work for? In what cities are they concentrated?

[guitar man]

17. I did all I could today

I live 100 miles form work, so I leave home Monday morning and return Friday evening. During the week, I stay in a small travel trailer I keep close to my job.

I didn't even think about the rain this morning when I rolled out my motorcycle, went to the station and bought two gallons of gas and slogged through the first 25 miles or so until I ran into the clear. The wind at 70mph does a great job of drying you out.

I'm going to ride my bike at 50+ mpg every chance I have. If I don't have to carry more than I can get on the bike, I'm riding. :hi: