Meanwhile, Uruguay limits night sports events due to energy crisis. A drought has affected their hydroelectric dams.  

And in Nigeria, a group is protesting the incessant power outages, using the motto Let there be light.

During the protest, the groups prayed that any staff of the nation's sole energy supply outfit, PHCN, who had a hand in the unimpressive power situation in the country, should die.

Members of the protesting groups carried placards, some of which had inscriptions like, "Say No to Darkness", "Say No to Crazy Bills," "Fight the Monster: End the Darkness" "Light is Wealth", "No light: No Life" etc. Others wore uniform T-Shirts with inscriptions that read, "No Light; No Job." "The Siege is over," No light: No Nation," No Light, No Progress."

NY Times: Inflation Rising, Markets Tumble

Only a week ago, the Dow Jones industrial average was on the verge of a record high. Without much fanfare, the Dow -- the best-known indicator of the stock market's performance -- seemed about to regain all that had been lost since the spectacular 1990's boom came to an end. .... For investors, the biggest concern is that rising oil prices will feed into the cost of goods and services dependent on oil. So far, the main impact is on gasoline pump prices, which averaged $2.79 a gallon in April and $2.97 a gallon in May, according to Energy Department surveys.

An indirect effect is evident in rising air fares, in surcharges on overnight air freight, and in a few chemical products made from petroleum. But those increases are still isolated.

"Will the coming world order be the American universal empire? It must be that.... The coming world order will mark the last phase in a historical transition and cap the revolutionary epoch of this century. The mission of the American people is to bury the nation states, lead their bereaved peoples into larger unions, and overawe with its might the would-be saboteurs of the new order who have nothing to offer mankind but a putrefying ideology and brute force. It is likely that the accomplishment of this mission will exhaust the energies of America and that, then, the historical center of gravity will shift to another people. But this will matter little, for the opening of new horizons which we now faintly glimpse will usher in a new stage in human history.... For the next 50 years or so the future belongs to America. The American empire and mankind will not be opposites, but merely two names for the universal order under peace and happiness. Novus orbis terrarum."
~Strausz-Hupé, 1955 "The Balance of Tomorrow,"

==AC

The Greatest Economic Crisis in Modern History

http://tinyurl.com/emg2g

So, what we've had, is this kind of speculative system, which is integral to this operation with getting money back into these bankrupt banks, through bundling of Fannie Mae-type and Freddie Mac-type mortgages, this system was going to blow! This is a bubble, this is a classical John Law-style bubble, as John Law from the early 18th Century. You had one in England, you had one in France. South Seas Island bubble, and the Mississippi bubble. Same kind of thing. It's a ponzi scheme. It's a pyramid club scheme--same kind of thing. But a pyramid club scheme betting on a pyramid club scheme, betting on a pyramid club scheme--off into the stratosphere.

Now, the money is being printed, which is generally registered under the category M3. And notice that you can't find out what M3 is, any more. They officially decided to hide the figure! Because, if the figure were published, it would show you how much money is being printed, printing-press money by the Federal Reserve System, and being pumped into the system now, to bail out and fund these financial interests.

Anyone knows this, who knows the system: When you build up this kind of bubble, a super-John Law bubble, layer upon layer--this thing is going to pop. Then, if you're a smart banker, what're you doing? How are you going to get out of the bubble, which you are going to cause to pop? Why aren't you going to go down with the bubble? You have to find a landing place outside the system. What is that landing place? Gold, silver, iron, zinc, copper, petroleum!

These are physical assets, so-called natural materials, these are assets which will be marketable in the future. So what you do, is, you corner the market in possession of these materials. You raise the price to the sky, because you're bidding against each other to grab these materials, and trade them back and forth, day after day. It's all done by this bunch of financiers. That's where you get that curve! So, when you look at the curve of inflation, don't look at the groceries--you will get grocery inflation very rapidly; you're already getting it, as many of you know. It's going to get serious, like housing inflation has been. Hmm? But this inflation, is where the powers of the future intend to be: They will control these assets; they will control the real estate; they will control the water systems; they will control the water. They will control the food. They will own you, and decide which of you lives and which dies.

This is not oil companies trying to "gouge the public"--oh, they do that all the time! But, this is nothing new; that part's nothing new. What they're doing that's new, is, they plan to sink the whole world economy, into a breakdown crisis, from which they will emerge, where governments are bankrupt and powerless, and they will emerge as the owners of everything in sight. And their banking systems will come--not the government!--but they will come, and foreclose on you. And there'll be nothing to protect you. That's the game.

http://news.ft.com/cms/s/8d68b2c0-e5a2-11da-b309-0000779e2340.html

[CSR's] financial report shows sugar trading revenue rose more than 42 per cent because of good sugar prices and growing conditions.

The company lists the commissioning of a renewable energy plant at the Pioneer Mill in the Burdekin and an expansion of the Sarina ethanol distillery as its major projects for the period.

Australia is the world's 4th largest sugar producer and my understanding is the industry is not subsidised in Australia:

Around 80% of Australia sugar production is exported, nearly all of it at the world price. The industry domestic (ex-mill) price is fixed at export parity in the main producing State (Queensland) and imports of sugar can enter Australia duty free. The Australian sugar industry is probably more exposed than any other sugar exporter to world price movements.

With 80% of Australian sugar for export thats a lot of potential domestic bioethanol production. What is people's take on the economics of sugar for ethanol, and can anyone direct me to some links?

The afternoon radio show will be on alternative energy and a local business person who has been in the business for well over a decade will by my guest. I will also be beating up on PG&E for its latest action on solar credits in California, among other items.

It is the best time slot on this local AM station.

The station is supposed to start streaming this week so it may be available to the TOD.  For a laugh, go to:

http://www.920kvec.com/main.html

Aramco, the state oil firm of the world's top exporter, has 260 billion barrels of proven oil reserves and a sustainable production capacity of 10.8 million barrels per day (bpd), said Mohammed al-Qahtani, manager, production and facility development department. "The 260 billion barrels represents 36 percent of discovered oil resources, this is the so called oil initially in place. We have 716 billion barrels of discovered resources. We produced 106 billion barrels so far, that is 15 percent, and 36 percent is our proven reserves," he told an Arab energy conference.

What???  716 Billion barrels of discovered resources... is that total oil/gas/other?  You say just above 260 billion barrels of discovered oil resources... What is the 456 Billion other?

Oh yes and...

"We are estimating that by 2025 we will increase total discovered resources up to more than 900 billion barrels," he told the conference in Jordan.

WTF?  Seriously...

http://www.satyamag.com/may06/weissman.html

He's a story from MSN and I can't verify their numbers with any other publication so I'll take these.

Bankruptcies are on the rise after the new law has taken affect.  As those ARM's become pricier I think this gets worse and as gas gets more expensive it only compounds the problem.  Too many people have homes that shouldn't and now they will be giving them back.

http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/Banking/bankruptcyguide/P143823.asp

I can handle/learn all the technical stuff you can throw at me, as I have a small background in engineering, comp sci and astronomy.

What I guess I am asking for is a primer on the economy of oil.  How do spot prices get set?  Why are there more barrels represented in futures than actually exist?  Where do I find month by month historical data on prices?

It would also be great if someone could steer me in the direction of more knowledge on the business of gasoline, refining, etc.  

I can follow most of the action on the site but I am relegated to a wait-and-see role without being brought up to speed.  The FAQs on the site, and on the web, really don't give enough info.  Any help would be appreciated.

Used hybrid and compact cars are selling for insane prices, due to the high cost of gasoline.

In an atmosphere of high fuel prices, the market for used cars with high fuel mileage has gotten red hot.

Gas prices can cause greater fluctuations in used-car prices than in new cars for two reasons: used-car prices are more flexible than new-car prices and used-car shoppers generally have lower incomes than new-car shoppers.

In one extreme example, used Toyota Priuses are in such demand that they lose almost no value in the first year or two of ownership even after being driven tens of thousands miles.

For example, a 2005 Toyota Prius that when new had a sticker price of $21,515 could now sell for $25,970, even with 20,000 miles on the odometer, according to data from Kelley Blue Book. Since Toyota dealers usually charge a few thousand dollars over sticker for new Priuses, the buyer in this example probably wouldn't have made a profit, but nearly so.

Honda Civic Hybrids are also sporting near-immovable resale values.

BERLIN (Reuters) - A German woman left her friend as a deposit at a gas station because she did not have enough cash to pay for her petrol, police said Wednesday.

"She didn't have enough money to pay the bill, so her friend stayed behind as a human deposit while she went to withdraw cash," said a spokesman for police in the southern town of Muenchberg. "Unfortunately, the woman did not return."

A new twist on the old pump and run.  Ingenious, those Germans.  ;-)

The average retail price of gasoline in the United States is currently about $2.95.

Over the last two and a half months, we have seen gasoline demand exactly flat versus the same period last year. While given weeks and months often show flat or even negative demand growth, flat demand over a 10 week period is rare. Is this real demand destruction? Is the high price of energy finally cutting into Americans' discretionary spending?

Just this week we saw the release of inflation numbers which had quite a significant effect on the stock market. Monday morning all the talk was of Dow 13,000 on CNBC. By Wednesday evening the majority voted for "beginning of the end" in a poll conducted by Larry Kudlow.

Rising energy costs, mainly oil and gasoline, are blamed for both inflation and sagging consumer confidence. But will the effect last? What happens if gasoline stays around $3 a gallon? Will Americans drive any less? I doubt it. They will probably get used to the price and continue to drive more, expanding gasoline usage by 1 or 2% per year.

A year ago, I was of the opinion that we would not change our behavior until gasoline reached $3.50. I still think that is largely true. However, what if it takes another year or two to get to $3.50? Will we be so acclimated to the price by then, that it will take $5 gasoline to make an impression. I think it is all about the timeframe - how fast the price rises, more than the price itself.

For gasoline to be $3.50,  oil needs to be about $110.  $5 requires at least $160 oil. We still have a long way to go. The fact is that if we start in 1996, gasoline has only increased, in inflation adjusted terms, by 7% per year. The huge run-up since early 2004 masks a relatively low, stable price for all of the previous two decades.

As far as inflation goes, if a 50% increase in the price of gasoline in the last two years has contributed a few percentage points to an overall rise in the cost of living, then for it to continue to have that effect, gasoline has to continue to rise at the rate of a dollar per year. I don't think that will happen. No dollar rise, no inflation.

I remain unconvinced by anecdotal horror stories of gasoline use aired with increasing frequency everyday by the mainstream press.  The EIA releases its weekly gasoline demand numbers every Wednesday at 1pm.  I will continue to pay attention to these figures.

Support a robust gas tax now!
Oil CEO

The EPA is offering a research grant opportunity that I believe is a perfect fit for this idea.  I have sent an e-mail to a hand picked list of university professors who have experience with government research projects.  I'm looking to form a research team to apply for the EPA grant, conduct a social-economic experiment and surveys to determine to what extent the American public will support it, project the economic potential of WPH, and identify logistical, social and political obstacles as well as opportunities.

All government grants are awarded based on merit of the proposed research.  I believe WPH has merit but your help is needed to verify it. You can help by posting your feedback.  Let the professors and the EPA know what you think about WPH.  Do you think this idea is worth pursuing? We need to know if Americans will support a plan like this.

Do you have any ideas to improve the plan?

Share any and all of your thoughts.

Tell your friends and family about this Blog post and ask them to post their thoughts on WPH

http://wepayhalf.org

Thank you

Craig