Catching Up

it's been a very long short week

so anyway, despite having Monday off, the past week was the longest short week in captivity. Brutal, it was. A friend was made redundant by the Stoopid Business™, and odds are tremendous that another friend (and fellow blogger) will experience the stainless steel hook of unemployment on Monday. The beatings will continue until morale improves.

We're all busy people here, so let's get right to it. McQ of Q and O fame put up an outstanding post entitled "Obama, Big Oil and Fun with Charts". This is must read material. I've been meaning to blog about this ever since I read it on Wednesday. The third chart down the page made my heart swell with pride: all these other industries actually making money, but us in the Stoopid Business™ ( that would be "Motor Vehicles and Parts") are just giving it away, hand over fist.

McQ introduces us to one Jason Grumet, a "key advisor" to Senator Obama on energy and environmental issues:

Grumet, head of the Washington-based Bipartisan Policy Center in addition to advising the Obama campaign, said the oil industry had "concentrated incredible market power in a small number of companies" in a way that caused alarm.

"Senator Obama has a deep concern that the consolidation of the industry — these national mergers, you know, that were allowed under both Clinton and Bush administrations — are a cause for some concern," he said.

He said an Obama administration would examine "whether these mergers and consolidations have decreased competition in a way, concentrated market power in a way, that is undermining to consumers."

Grumet declined to identify specific companies and would not comment on whether Obama would seek to break up dominant players. Leading U.S. oil firms include ExxonMobil Corp., Chevron Corp., and ConocoPhillips.

You don't even have to do the math, people. Just go look at the charts and graphs. It's all there in black and white (and even colors!). You people have all sorts of problems with paying $3.25 for a gallon of gas, $0.25 of which is "big oil" profits; but have no problem paying roughly $10.00 for a gallon of Busch beer that carries $2.15 worth of profit for "big beer".

OK, so maybe you do have to do some math, but it's worth it.

This material will be covered on your Final Exam. thatisall