We Been Gas-Gouged!!!!!

Friday was a jolt to the old eyes as gas prices jumped dramatically around here. Thursday, gas in Fox Lake, Illinois, was anywhere from $2.93 to $3. Friday morning, on my way to meet Kip for breakfast in Grayslake, it had jumped to $3.10.

Round Lake Beach ranged from $3.05 to $3.25!!!! Yesterday, in McHenry, it ranged from $3.15 to $3.20!!!!

I saw that gas had crossed the mythical $100 a barrel mark on Thursday, so it definitely did not take long to show up on our gas pumps.

My own belief is that it should not be more than $2 a gallon. There are too many people, from Big Oil to the traders that are too interested in making an ill-got profit no matter who they have to hurt in order to do so. They are hurting the regular folks of America.

Not only has this greed caused us to pay more at the pump, but, a trip to the local grocery store gets more frightening every time. Food prices are soaring.

Richard Arens Is Not a Nice Man!!!

Yesterday, I saw on Yahoo News that they had traced the $100 a barrel mark to a lone oil trader out for fame as the Man Who Broke the $100 a Barrel Mark. He made the purchase that broke the record when he offered $100,000 for 1000 barrels.

Richard Arens is a one-man oil brokerage firm. For his great accomplishment, he ended up taking a loss of $600, chump change for such a lofty accomplishment. For his great accomplishment, we all ended up paying an extra 10-20 cents. It cost me an extra $1.50 for Arens' great accomplishment. Multiply that $1.50 by perhaps ten million people who got gas Friday (and it was probably a lot more) and you have $10,500,000 that Mr. Arens took out of our pockets. Thanks a lot Mr. Arens.

One can only hope that he had to fill up Friday so perhaps he could have experienced the fruits of his great accomplishment. Remember, Ralphie's father on "A Christmas Story" won a major award. Perhaps, we can come up with a major award for Mr. Arens' major accomplishment.

May the fleas of a thousand camels... --RoadDog

On $100 a Barrel Oil-- RoadDog's News and Observation

The Nov. 21st Chicago Tribune had an article about the impending $100-a-barrel oil. It says that investors at the New York Mercantile Exchange are fearful because of the declining value of the dollar, refinery problems, and the Federal Reserve might cut interest rates. Because of this, oil-bidding is just going up.

Crude oil for January delivery climbed to $99.29 a barrel on Tuesday, the day before.

Hey, guys, let's get it over with and hit your milestone today. Get it out of your system. Then rejoin the real world and let the prices come down. This is nothing short of ridiculous. Prices do NOT have to be this high.

Folks here in the US are being hurt badly by this whenever they go to the gas pump or buy groceries. Plus, we have the winter heating season facing us. We need a break.

Haven't you fellas made enough money on this grave situation? Exactly how MUCH do you NEED?

Certainly, you speculators at the NYME, have done enough damage to your fellow Americans and I'm not even going to talk about the aid you're giving our enemies as they rake in these oil profits.

In school, if a child can't play with others in the sandbox, we take them out of that sandbox. Perhaps it would be in everyone's best interest to close the oil futures part of the Mercantile Exchange for awhile until sanity returns.

Paying $3.07 here in Fox Lake, Illinois, now. Last year, I was paying $2.20!!! This is not your much ballyhooed "Summer Driving Season" excuse. It's almost WINTER, for crying out loud.

Come On, Give Us a Break!! --RoadDog