Friday, April 28, 2006
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Summertime, Summertime, Sum, Some Summertime...
Yeah, summer starts rolling around and this one appears no different from the rest. Except this time I have a really easy job that is more lucrative than your average summer employment. All I have to do is steer 5,400 pounds of aluminum, highly-flammable fuel, and people through all manner of weather at 200 miles-per-hour and set them safely back upon the earth. If that wasn't easy enough, then I have to teach other people how to do it with the same charisma that I do... I have to brag for a little here... I "work" on average of three days a week. (and for some insane reason I want to go to law school?!?!) Well, got to run... Magnum P.I. is on.
No step for a stepper.
I also get treated to some of the most spectacular sunsets, courtesy of the Big Guy. All this, and I get paid too!
Its almost that time of year again. The college kids will be coming home. Graduation is right around the corner, and I have a ton of guys looking for summer jobs. AS usual, I have 4 or 5 smart, intelligent guys looking for a summer gig, and unfortunately only a few spots to fill. Ahhh...it won't be a problem. Yeah Right! Anywho, this summer will probably roll out like the rest. It would be fun to put the old band back together and play the Watermelon festival, but everyone is too famous or busy to jump onboard. Heck, even I can't seem to make the Thursday afternoon rehearsals now... CaraP is a superstar, Tim G. is on such a higher musical plain that we can't actually see his human form, and the rest of the group is too busy with Irish history in relation to the potato from the 1850-1919 (Sorry Seashell, it was funny to me...probably nobody else) and Best Buy or Office Depot or the electronics counter at Sears...I can never remember. Maybe we should do a musical...yeah...big grand musical! In fact, we could do a stage performance of the music of KISS. Its an idea anyway...
OK, so I posted. I'm not sure why...probably just to take up room on the page. If you get bored, come by and see Matthew and I, we are ALWAYS here!
Friday, April 21, 2006
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Now we're talkin'
Hope has always amazed me at the great creativity of our local entrepreneurs. Over the years eRIc and I have marveled at how we in Hope have been graced by shops and services that are so vital to carefree living. Lest you are not aware, our town has no lack for the following services: " An ample number of auto parts shops ( enough per capita to support Chicago, Dallas and New York City combined ) " An adequate number of smoke and tobacco shops ( quite the coolest places for our impressionable teens ) " Check-cashing shops ( necessary for those living from paycheck to paycheck…Heck, who needs banks, anyway ? ) " Grocery stores ( even if a couple of them have a total of 17 customers per week ) " Florist shops ( in case you need to personally supply all the flowers for the next couple of Rose Bowl parades )
But now Hope has left the hum-drum, boring, 'norm' and has a one-of-a-kind service that's bound to be overrun with business in it's opening few days. What, you ask ? Well, don't you ever get out?
It's the new Miss Hope Spiritual Reader and Advisor located where the old Black Sheep Ink Tattoo parlor was ( may it rest in peace ). All I can say is that you should plan on a visit soon. There's no telling what may be in your near future. Not to mention that soon, as the rest of the town's forward-thinking businessmen realize what a gold mine this will be, other shops like this are bound to begin to spring up everywhere. Here are few of what's sure to come: " Hempstead Rent-A-Gypsy " Fortunes-R-US " Cherrys 2 ( A little place for Tarot card readings to go ) " The Tea Leaf Bistro " Hope Ouija Board Repair " Bewitched Beauty ( the salon for the discriminating sophisticate ) Remember….I told you so !!
Wednesday, April 19, 2006
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Why are gas prices high?
I decided to look around and compile some stuff that I found on the internet concerning gas prices and profit margins of the oil companies.
Here is what I found (I provide all links at the end of the Blog):
What goes into a gallon of gas:
A 42 gallon barrel of gas will make approx. 19.5 gallons of gas if it is used solely for gas, but a barrel of crude oil will be used for alot of other by-products, as well. On the average, 9 gallons of fuel oil, 4 gallons of jet fuel, and 11 gallons of other products, including lubricants, kerosene, asphalt, and petrochemical feedstocks to make plastics are produced from one barrel of crude oil. Most of America's energy comes from petroleum at about 42% with coal being next at 24%. America imports, based on an average in 2001. Today's gas was about $2.72 a gallon. So how much does everyone make and how much does it cost to bring it to the pump? I am going to focus on two dates in the past.
April 3rd, 2006
Total
% of Total
Retail price
2.74
100%
Distribution Costs, Marketing Costs and Profits
.05
2%
Crude Oil Cost
1.54
56%
Refinery Cost and Profits
.59
22%
State and Local Sales Tax
.20
7%
State Excise Tax
.18
6.5%
Federal Excise Tax
.18
6.5%
March 6, 2006
Total
% of Total
Retail price
2.74
100%
Distribution Costs, Marketing Costs and Profits
-.03
1%
Crude Oil Cost
1.43
58%
Refinery Cost and Profits
.54
21.5%
State and Local Sales Tax
.18
6.5%
State Excise Tax
.18
6.5%
Federal Excise Tax
.18
6.5%
Look at the April 6th date and add together the Distribution cost/profits and the Refinery/cost. It comes out to be $.64 which is 24% of the cost of a gallon of gas. If one completely eliminates that entire cost/profit from the total cost it leaves a gallon of gas at $2.10. And if one takes the the taxes out of the equations, then it is just 1.54 which is the cost of a barrel of crude oil. so in reality, if my car could actaully burn pure crude oil and there were no taxes, gas would still be costing me $1.54 a gallon. Let me start over and be realistic. Look at the April 6th date again and add together the Distribution cost/profits and the Refinery/cost and pretend that it is all pure profit (basically in this scenario it costs Exxon nothing to get it to the pump at your local gas station). If Exxon was making $.64 on every gallon of gas, this would still only be a 24% profit margin. While this number is good most companies strive for a much higher profit margin.
Here is a list of some companies and their profit margin.
Earnings, Revenues, Profits (Billions) for selected companies, recent quarter, 2005 Source: Bloomberg News, reported in AAPG Explorer Dec. 2005
Company
Net Profit
Revenue
Profit Margin
Citigroup (banking)
$7.1
$21.5
33%
Microsoft
$3.1
$9.7
32%
Coca-Cola
$1.3
$6.0
21%
Proctor and Gamble
$2.0
$14.8
14%
General Electric
$4.7
$41.6
11%
ExxonMobil
$9.9
$92.6
11%
ConocoPhillips
$3.8
$48.7
8%
IBM
$1.5
$21.5
7%
Chevron
$3.6
$51.1
7%
WalMart
$2.8
$76.8
4%
I think that this graph really shows what is going on. Exxon, Chevron, and ConocoPhillips are/were not gouging us in 2005. If they were not gouging us then they are either lying about their profits or they didn't gouge enough to really change their profits. I don't begrudge any of these companies for making a 7% to 11% profit margin. I believe that the reason that these companies are doing so well is because no one is slowing down when it comes to purchasing gas. Exxon is making huge profits because people are buying the gas. The economy is good, so everyone is living their lives despite what the prices are. I guess I get a little ticked when the media and the "everyman" thinks that the entire reason that gas is so high is because of money grubbing companies. While this may be true to an extant, I am pretty sure that the price of crude oil is the most determining factor in the price of gas. OPEC is made up of 10 countries, all of which does not include USA, Australia, or Russia (large oil exporters amd producers of oil). These are the people who truly determine the price of gas. When the price of a gallon of gas is 56% dependent (in this chart, in this state, and on this average price for one day out of many days, but look at the links after this rant and you will see a very noticeable trend in prices, profits, and costs) on the price of crude oil, I believe it is obvious to see which part of the pie is the most influential.
Wednesday, April 12, 2006
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SUPERSTAR(s)
So I always knew that CaraP would be famous. Really, I knew it. We (the gang) always felt that her talent was super awesome. Who knew that she would shoot out of that starting gate called Hope and take the lead with such gusto? That would be anyone that ever met her and had the luck to play music with her! It's not a suprise that Lorien is nailing it to the wall, they have Cara!! Rock on Lorien and CaraP... the convoginators are super proud!
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
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I am not a racist and neither is Val
Listen to the exchange between Rush and Janet (A hispanic that thinks Rush is a racist), and then listen to the exchange between Val and Rush. This is classic. It is quite long, but very "compelling."
Tuesday, April 04, 2006
------------------------------------------------------------------------- This ain't funny !!
Those of us that have gone to Sunday School and maybe church for a spell may remember the story of Jesus and the woman at the well. Seems Jesus asked this woman (who happened to be a Samaritan) for a drink. This really floored her since Jews (which Jesus was ) and Samaritans ( which she was ) really hated each other. In fact she said so ( John 4:9). Later she said something so profound concerning this illegal immigration thing that I needed to set right down and share it with you. You see after Jesus kind of let on as to who He really was she asked him "Are you greater than our father, Jacob….?" I know you're saying "so what" but here's the big deal. This Jacob just happens to be the very father of the Jewish nation Israel (Gen 32:24-27)!! So then if that's the case, then why would Samaritans hate Jews if they originally were Jews? Hey, I'm glad you asked. Seems that many years before she and Jesus showed up at that well Samaria was a 100% Jewish nation until a really bullish Assyrian king was going to make a decree ( in the name of tolerance and openness to all ) to bring in all kinds of other nationality folk into the region ( II Kings 17:24-29)…." He placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel ( the Jews ): and they possessed the land. And so it was at the beginning of their dwelling there, that they did not reverence the Lord …" So then slowly but surely over time the Jews took on these folks bad habits, their gods, superstitions, and ideals. So now, back at the well, Jesus is talking with a distant ancestor from this deal and she doesn't even resemble her roots not to mention that she even hates her ancestors. So you see if we don't learn anything from history, this nation will be ….. history. People of AMERICA - wake up and retake our land from those who are stealing it out from under our tax-paying noses before it will be too late.
Monday, April 03, 2006
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Excuses, Excuses...
Cynthia McKinney kills me... She has blamed everyone and everything except her own arrogance and stupidity for this fiasco in D.C. She actually wants the entire D.C. police to know every Rep. and Senator's face on sight. I wonder if she would do well on that test? She has been a congresswoman since the Clinton years... I'm sure she can handle the 500+ names and faces. You have to wonder. Why now? Why this? This is the old "watch that left hand..." and smack with the right. The liberals will do whatever it takes to get votes. I wish our elected officials would just follow the rules. Sorry, I wish certain elected officials would follow the rules.
Maybe Bill Cosby has it right. He lambasted the people of New Orleans for their murdering, pandering and overall hedonistic lifestyles. Tonight on O'Reilly I watched a lady make excuses for African-Americans, not New Orlean's residents and attack Bill Cosby for telling it like it is. It's funny, when someone makes it in this country, say hosting a talk show or playing a sport, then they are hailed as amazing. Their ability to overcome the obstacles of the government automatically makes them a "leader". As soon as you point out the failure of the village though it becomes the governments fault...well, you know what that means.
We are now on a downward spiral. Be prepared for the racial tension to grow. First the immigration problem and now Congresswoman McKinney and her determination to make her problem racial. The democrats know that getting both the African-American and Hispanic communities blaming the Bush government for their problems means many, many votes. It's funny how easily the people will build golden calves, but you better believe they will ask forgiveness in the long run...and blame it all on everything but themselves.
So in an effort to be 'fair' to all, tomorrow an unidentified black . colored . negro. african-american woman is allowed to go through security at the White House without question. Later the amount of C4 she carrys in kills 50 people. Now I wonder who the liberals will blame then? When will this stupidity ever stop !
Can you believe the piece of trash Time magazine. "Who Gets to be an American?" Well, thats an easy answer you #(*$&* idiots! That would be those people that follow THE RULES! They also get to be LEGAL citizens of the United States of America! Not those that are illegal, non-tax paying crooks! So the liberals are SO intelligent?!? By the looks of Time magazine, that is highly questionable. In conclusion, please wake up now! Do you not see what is going on? A silent invasion? I believe so...
Saturday, April 01, 2006
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They have us by the preverbial Tacos...
Hey look, they now say that they ARE our economy. Oh please, won't you teach us stupid Americans a lesson? Take your Mexican flags, your Loco 13 street gang, your unwillingness to speak english and go back to Mexico. I'm sure within no time our economy will crumble. We will have so many legal Americans working and PAYING TAXES that there is no way we will survive. Heck, I bet the unemployment rate will be less than .5%, what with all the jobs opening up. Gosh, the flood of jobs for legal Americans will surely overwhelm us all. I'm not sure that we can handle not picking up the bill for the health care, housing, food and free education that we give you illegal, selfish, non-appreciative MEXICANS. Take your Mexican flags and go home...please...show us how we are wrong! It's a chance that I am willing to take! Oh, and just in case Vincente Fox reads this blog (yeah right) if your country is so great, then keep your people from breaking U.S. laws to get into the U.S.
Hmmm...this is the UNITED STATES of AMERICA...not Mexico...and by the way, thats an ugly flag!
*there he goes again...being racist...now he is targeting Mexicans. NO, I am targeting illegal immigrants who are BREAKING THE LAW! Get out of OUR country or become a citizen...BY FOLLOWING THE RULES!
