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    Gas Prices And Oil Prices: Bad, Ugly, And The Good…

    February 20, 2012 at 3:18 am Comments off

    Morning Ladies and Gents,

    Okay folks, no reason to hide.  It is not like we could anyway.  If you have to go to work, or just get around, high gas prices looks like they are here to stay for the foreseeable future.

    The Bad:

    Gas prices for Americans; well they suck.  Keep in mind that this data is old, as there had not been an update over the last week.  From Reuters dated Feb. 12, 2012.

    The average price for a gallon of gasoline in the United States rose nearly 12 cents in the past three weeks to about $3.51, due in part to higher prices for North Sea crude oil, according to the nationwide Lundberg Survey.

    Ouch.  The full article is here.  Hold your hats cause it gets better, errrr worse.

    The Ugly:

    A war with Iran seems to be getting more likely everyday.  If that happens exchange your hats for helmets.  In the meantime Iran just sent a big F-You to Europe.  Per Reuters again.

    “Exporting crude to British and French companies has been stopped … we will sell our oil to new customers,” spokesman Alireza Nikzad was quoted as saying by the Ministry of Petroleum website.

    According to the article the EU has already started to cut back consumption from Iranian imports in anticipation of future sanctions against Iran.  The sanctions are aimed at persuading Iran to quit their nuclear power program.  The rest of the article can be found here.

    I don’t know what is going to happen between all the parties involved here.  Looks like a lot of posturing for the time being and hopefully it stays that way, as a war would be bad.  Unfortunately, the markets are not taking kindly to this news.  WTI(West Texas intermediate) prices are now at $105 a barrel and Brent prices are at $119.  Here is a link, go check it out.

    The Good:

    by Scott Meltzer

    Think of all the exercise that is waiting for us.  Hello smaller waist line.

    Cheers,

    Lat

    Sources:

    Photo by Scott Meltzer, curtsey of Public Domain Pictures.

    Economy , , , , ,

    Hitler Dissolves Parliament Two Days After Becoming Chancellor of Germany.

    February 2, 2012 at 11:54 am 1 comment

    “All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent.”
    Thomas Jefferson

    Hello Folks,

    I am writing about the lunatic Hitler today because we should not forget the mistakes of the past.  The Germany people gave up their freedom and allowed one man to take control of their country.  Why did the Germany people willingly accept a mad man and his jack booted thugs to gain control?  Because they were desperate and to quote my history teacher from high school, “Desperate people do desperate things.”

    The German people had been suffering for a long time.  They saw the flower of their youth destroyed during World War I.  After the first great war terrible reparations were placed on the German people by Britain and France.  The German people labored under this burden for many years.  During the intervening time a new government and German constitution was formed and the German people were able to experience democracy.

    Unfortunately, the financial burden placed on the German people only worsened as the world sunk into the Great Depression in 1929.  This led to massive unemployment throughout most of the developed world.  The economy of pre-fascist Germany was a nightmare.  The Weimar government became desperate and artificially inflated the German currency in an attempt to pay the WWI reparations.  This led to hyperinflation and the German economy was decimated.  Hitler would gain power a few years latter.

    I am concerned.  As a student of history I am seeing some parallels of yesteryears to what is transpiring today in Europe.  Spain has depression level unemployment at around 22 percent.  Spain is just one of many countries in Europe that is teetering on the verge of collapse.  Currently, the combined economies of the entire euro zone has the largest GDP in the world.  A minor drop in euro zone GDP could cause other economies of the world to suffer as well.  The United States economy would suffer as the EU is one of our largest trading partners.

    The world already has several dictators in place.  Now the stage seems to be set for tyranny to spread.  However, the question is where will the next tyrant gain control?  I certainly hope it is not in Europe as there seems to be a huge potential for war if the EU economies continue to falter.

    Lat

    Sources:

    Thomas Jefferson. BrainyQuote.com, Xplore Inc, 2012. http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/t/thomasjeff136431.html, accessed February 2, 2012.

    History, Lat's Corner , , ,
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