You argue that high oil prices are not good for the oil companies. How then to explain the record profits made when prices were at their highest in history?

The rapid and significant increase in the world price for crude oil which followed Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in the summer of 1990, coupled with the massive increase in profits reported by the major integrated oil companies for the fourth quarter of 1990, in the words of Value Line, "aroused journalistic (and consumer) concern about excess profits."1 The oil companies and their apologists, both within and external to the industry, of course, were quick to deny any connection with higher prices and higher profits. The oil company managements apparently think that the general public is so simple minded that it will accept the proposition that oil companies pass on to the consumer only the actual amount of cost increases to them for crude oil, and that they, of course, pass on to the consumer all reductions in the price of crude oil. Over the longterm, price change in crude oil are eventually reflected in consumer prices. It is widely suspected, however, that oil companies typically anticipate crude oil price increases, and often factor such anticipated increases into consumer prices before the price of crude oil is actually increased. By contrast, however, oil companies are also widely suspected to be typically lethargic in passing along crude oil price decreases to consumers; preferring in this latter instance to wait until the cheaper crude oil is

1Value Line Investment Service, "Petroleum (Integrated)," Value Line Investment Survey, 5 April 1991, 401.

http://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1683842.html

So do you think bad writing on the internet is contributing the complaints from many college professors that students, even AP students entering college cannot write? My husband has often mentioned the terrible writing skills of younger attorneys. I just edited my daughter's PDF promotional file, which was riddled with grammatical errors. When she was in high school in the 80s I complained to her English teacher that her grammar and pucntutation was never corrected, so I corrected it. The teacher was annoyed because, they just wanted their creative expression.

Blogs are different, but will writing these blogs contribute to bad writing skills for those who have not already learned proper grammar.

-- bernbart

[Read bernbart's other letters]

Permalink Saturday, September 19, 2009 10:04 AM PDT

The oilmen may not have been for the war, but they surely benefited. Remember EXXON's record record profits?

I think the desire to get the oil is not just some profit drive exercise. George F. Keenan famously said that the US has 6% of the world's population, yet uses 50% of its resources, and that in the future, America would need to stop cloaking its actions and engage in pure power politics. His ideas are still operative and have been for decades, and they of course supersede party affiliations, assuming of course that there really are "two parties".

Who is the biggest threat to America? Not Osama, that's a joke. Not Russia, not for a while anyway. No, it's China. The only way, indeed, the best way, to control China, is to control the oil. It's important to note that there is no military option for China or Russia, America achieved its long sought nuclear primacy over both of them a long ago. America now has a credible first strike capability, and that, changes everything.

Thanks for that table, I only had bits and pieces of the larger picture. Seeing all those numbers in context, and in one place was massively informative.

You got that right. No deconstruction needed. There are other motives of course, but nothing compares to the need to control global energy supplies. Control the Middle East and you control the world.

My mistake, I thought you were talking about Iran.

Instead of making everyone pay for the war; insert a checkbox on the tax return that says, "Check this box to contribute 5% of your income to whatever war we are fighting at the moment". And further, legislate that the war budget must come from those funds and no other.

Surely 5% is small price to pay for bringing freedom and democracy to Balochistan.

Of course this could never happen.

The collective decision by the Sicarii rebels at Masada to commit suicide (actually assisted suicide) cannot be fairly compared to a modern nation like Iran. They had little choice anyway, if captured they no doubt would have been crucified or enslaved. Theirs was a rational choice in that context.

A better comparison would be Iran's decision to end the war with Iraq when it became apparent to them that to continue would result in national suicide, or at least the deaths of the Ayatollahs...

Are their some in Iran who would commit national suicide in order to (mistranslated) "wipe Israel from the map". Yes, of course. But as Sean said, one crazy Christian Zionist, even a President could not start a war without the help of a lot of power structures, this is true of Ajad and his lot as well.

It's the same in Iran. Despite all the propaganda, Muslims are not in love with death, they do not crave paradise, anymore than true Christian believers are anxious to fly up to Jesus. Do you know any Muslims? Do you know any Iranians?

I do. They are people just like you an I.

Besides, Iran does not have any nuclear weapons. If they do, and they used them, they know they will turned into radioactive smoke and lifted into the stratosphere, they would be glassed. I would even support that a good object lesson. I think however, that that is exceedingly unlikely that it will come to that.

You do know that Ajad is not the Iranian CIC right? That would be Khameni, who has said that nuclear weapons are haram. And that was a fatwa!

Sorry, I forgot to include some "proof" that Owen is (primarily) a Welsh name.

http://www.helium.com/knowledge/122737-behind-the-name-owen

Jeez, I even know what cwm and crwth are!