Better Fill up today

[Teresa]

I actually think that is why they banned them here. Generally it is so dry in Kansas by July 4th that they were and had caused so many fires, so it was actually a fire safety reason that we can't get them here. That is why the Howard Fireworks are shot over the lake. It is a "no worry" for the fireman in the fire hazard dept.

[Teresa]

[Ole Granny]

My exact thought at the grocery store several days ago.  Where's the chicken?  Have you priced eggs?

[Diane Amberg]

Teresa, I love that cartoon!!!

[Carol]

Back in the summer of 1962 my sister and I went to visit our grandfather in North Eastern Kansas.  Since we were there over the 4th of July, grandpa decided we should go buy some fire works.  Boy were we surprised to find that they were made in Elkton Maryland, not far from where we lived back home in Pa.  What a laugh we all had!
We have a weird situation here.  Pa. can sell fire works but the residents of Pa. can not possess them or set them off.  What's the point?   Here in Delaware they can not sell them and the residents can not possess them or set them off.  We can buy them in Pa. but you have 48 hours to get out of Dodge.  Maryland can sell them but they are all safe and sane as in sparklers and fountains.  Nothing that goes bang.  The closest state to us that can sell them and you can set them off is Florida.

[Tobina+1]

Frank; in light of the recent comments you made about oil speculation, I wanted to post this e-mail that I just received today from United Airlines.

An Open letter to All Airline Customers:

Our country is facing a possible sharp economic downturn because of skyrocketing oil and fuel prices, but by pulling together, we can all do something to help now.

For airlines, ultra-expensive fuel means thousands of lost jobs and severe reductions in air service to both large and small communities. To the broader economy, oil prices mean slower activity and widespread economic pain. This pain can be alleviated, and that is why we are taking the extraordinary step of writing this joint letter to our customers. Since high oil prices are partly a response to normal market forces, the nation needs to focus on increased energy supplies and conservation. However, there is another side to this story because normal market forces are being dangerously amplified by poorly regulated market speculation.

Twenty years ago, 21 percent of oil contracts were purchased by speculators who trade oil on paper with no intention of ever taking delivery. Today, oil speculators purchase 66 percent of all oil futures contracts, and that reflects just the transactions that are known. Speculators buy up large amounts of oil and then sell it to each other again and again. A barrel of oil may trade 20-plus times before it is delivered and used; the price goes up with each trade and consumers pick up the final tab. Some market experts estimate that current prices reflect as much as $30 to $60 per barrel in unnecessary speculative costs.

Over seventy years ago, Congress established regulations to control excessive, largely unchecked market speculation and manipulation. However, over the past two decades, these regulatory limits have been weakened or removed. We believe that restoring and enforcing these limits, along with several other modest measures, will provide more disclosure, transparency and sound market oversight. Together, these reforms will help cool the over-heated oil market and permit the economy to prosper.

The nation needs to pull together to reform the oil markets and solve this growing problem.

We need your help. Get more information and contact Congress by visiting www.StopOilSpeculationNow.com.

All the Presidents/CEO's of 12 different airline companies signed it.

[sixdogsmom]

Thank you for posting this Tobina. 

[Jo McDonald]

 
This will make us all feel better!!!!

A recent study found that the average American walks about 900 miles in a year.  Another
study found Americans drink, on average, 22 gallons of alcohol a year.  That means, on
average, Americans get about 41 miles to the gallon. Kind of makes you proud to be an American.

[frawin]

Thanks Tobina, that is what I was referencing, and I feel sure a lot of that speculation/Manipulation is by some OPEC Producers and alot is by the big hedge funds that have come into play. The Saudis have had their own trading house in London for years.
Southwest Airlines is much better managed than many of the other airlines, Southwest hedged alot of their fuel and kept their costs down considerably.
Frank

[frawin]

Japan was biggest buyer of Middle East Crude in 2007, OPEC says


Dubai: Japan was the biggest buyer of Middle East crude oil last year, taking a third of Saudi Arabia's exports and two-thirds of shipments from the United Arab Emirates, OPEC said in a report.

Asia's largest economy bought 2.21 million barrels a day of Saudi crude last year, or 32 percent of the kingdom's overall exports of 6.96 million barrels a day, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries said in its Annual Statistical Bulletin. The rest of Asia took about 26 percent of Saudi crude exports, the U.S. 22 percent and Europe 12 percent.

With no domestic production of its own, Japan is vulnerable to price increases and reliant on deliveries of oil, most of which it gets from the Middle East.

Last year, Japan bought 1.58 million barrels a day from the United Arab Emirates, or 67 percent of that nation's exports; 450,000 barrels a day, or 18 percent of Iran's crude oil exports; 437,000 barrels a day, or 71 percent of Qatar's exports; and 296,000 barrels a day, or 18 percent of Kuwait's crude exports, the OPEC report said.
Japan's oil imports totaled 4 million barrels a day in 2007, down from 4.1 million barrels a day in 2006, OPEC said.

Japan accounted for 21 percent of imports of crude from all OPEC nations last year. Other Asia-Pacific region countries accounted for 24 percent, Western Europe 18 percent and the U.S. 26 percent.