I wouldn't be surprised to see SSL throttled down to the point where transferring large files becomes painfully slow Why would the ISPs want to do that? They can plausibly claim that they have no idea what exactly is contained in those encrypted packets and thus no legal obligation to do anything. I am not sure about the precedents (IANAL) but I seem to recall that the courts have already ruled substantially in favor of the ISPs as NOT being responsible for the activities of their individual users provided that they can meet the low bar of reasonable steps such as complying with subpoenas, responding to takedown letters, basic monitoring etc. Otherwise, why would the RIAA be wasting time suing individual users with little or no money when they could go after billion dollar corporations like Verizon, AT&T, and Sprint/Nextel? Throttling or otherwise breaking (practically impossible) encyrpted traffic for the potential benefit of third party businesses probably goes beyond the call of reasonable. The ISPs have a primary fiduciary responsibility to their shareholders to earn the best return possible and spending money to placate third parties under legal threat without getting any compensation or benefit (other than perhaps relief from legal harrasment) in return probably doesn't pass muster.
Perhaps, but the EU can increase the daily fine (they have done this at least once already) or raise the stakes in other ways (i.e. an outright ban) if they feel the Microsoft is in willful and flagrant violation of the EU rulings.
and it will vanish in the puff of bad logic that brought it into existence Those corn farmers and their lobbyists are a political force to be reckoned with and they will definitely attack anyone who attempts to cut farm subsidies, reduce ethanol incentives, lower the tariff on imported cane sugar, etc. The ethanol market (for fuels not for human consumption) exists because of political realities not economic realities. That is one of the major intractable problems in the United States, we are paralyzed by special interest groups and NIMBYs.
You might find yourself on a one way flight for a permanent stay at an all expenses paid vacation resort where the staff specializes in Rubber-hose cryptanalysis
That way if you need to divulge a password, you can just give them one that allows access to a volume that doesn't have the sensitive data they are looking for.
nerd: (waving hand) These aren't the files that you are looking for...
TSA: These aren't the files we are looking for.
nerd: He can go about his business...
TSA: You can go about your business.
nerd: Move along...
TSA: Move along, move along please.
companion of nerd: I thought we'd never get past those guards!
nerd: The force can have a powerful influence upon the weak minded...
The European Commission might freeze Microsoft out of all government sales in member nations and continue to fine them daily if they chose to be stubborn on the issue. It would be far less costly for Microsoft to simply comply then to have the door slammed in certain markets because they want to make a point on OOXML. The Europeans have their number and they will force them to either dance to their tune or abandon Europe.
This is a pure public relations play and marketing bullshit move on the part of Comcast (i.e. so that they can muddy the waters and look like they are doing something in front of politicians and average citizens who don't know any better without actually changing their ways). They were caught red handed doing exactly what they said they wouldn't do and now they are trying to capitalize on the whole "bill or rights" buzz that seems to be infecting marketers these days who are trying to spin the "quality of service" parts of their businesses to the press to wiggle their way out of a tight spot without actually changing their lying and cheating ways.
which is why it doesn't really matter. The standards which can actually be implemented and have an open source reference implementation, such as the Open Document Format (ODF), will become the de-facto standards at least for archive and long term storage. Also, there will be tremendous pressure on Microsoft to at least implement ODF for their Office products and probably to make that the default save format as well. However, it would be nice if the standards could allow for optional extensions which are not required (I believe that the TIFF format for images allows this) but could be used by programs which want to add enhancements, but allow readability and editing in other programs which only meet the minimum standards. Perhaps this is already a feature or could someone with more detailed knowledge about ODF comment?
The flash point for the JP7 fuel was very high. Infact, it was so high that the fuel was actually used as a coolant in the heat exchangers to help keep the cockpit cool enough for the crew. from the wiki article
"the JP-7 jet fuel had a relatively high flash point (140 F, 60 C) to cope with the heat. In fact, the fuel was used as a coolant and hydraulic fluid in the aircraft before being burned. The fuel also contained fluorocarbons to increase its lubricity, an oxidizing agent to enable it to burn in the engines, and even a cesium compound, A-50, which disguised the exhaust's radar signature."
A charge of Triethylborane (the main SR-71 identifies it incorrectly as "tetraethylborane") was used to generate the necessary temperatures to ignite the engines on takeoff or restart them in the air in the event of a flameout:
"JP-7 is very slippery and extremely difficult to light in any conventional way. The slipperiness was a disadvantage on the ground, since the aircraft leaked fuel when not flying, but at least JP-7 was not a fire hazard. When the engines of the aircraft were started, puffs of tetraethylborane (TEB), which ignites on contact with air, were injected into the engines to produce temperatures high enough to initially ignite the JP-7. The TEB produced a characteristic puff of greenish flame that could often be seen as the engines were ignited.[20] TEB was also used to ignite the afterburners. The aircraft had only 20 fluid ounce (600 ml) of TEB on board for each engine, enough for at least 16 injections (a counter advised the pilot of the number of TEB injections remaining), but this was more than enough for the requirements of any missions it was likely to carry out."
I think that you misunderstand the point of the parent. The laptop might have many options at the time of purchase but not everyone can fully anticipate all of their eventual needs and even if they can those needs might change. You might respond, "Well, then buy a new laptop when your needs change.", but laptops are fairly expensive (at least the decent ones are) for most people and besides why should I have to junk a perfectly good laptop just because I want to upgrade the graphics chip? The desktop offers even more options at the time of purchase AND the owner retains the option to upgrade components for many years after the original purchase (my home desktop is now six (6) years old and selected components, the graphics card especially, have been upgraded several times). Laptops are for people with more limited needs who absolutely require portability above all, even at the expense of power, expandability, and (usually) price.
Note: I actually do have one (1) laptop (a Toshiba u205 series), but I use it mostly for when I am out of the house or office and almost never for serious work (i.e. just email, web, and some occasional on the road hacking sessions).
I would surmise that the number is quite low, at least for primary or regular development platform. There are no doubt some who prefer the laptop and there is always the developer abroad scenario where circumstances force the issue, but I have yet to meet a developer who does not prefer more and larger screens at their workstation and this is not generally available on the laptop unless the developer is at their desk anyway (which sort of defeats the purpose of laptop) or the laptop is made so cumbersome as to be basically a desktop with a handle. If you are doing a lot of your programming in coffee shops and at conferences then you are constantly being distracted by the crowds or the barista anyway which is not a conducive to good code, or at least IMHO it isn't, so why chose a laptop for the programming alcove/cave when a quad core desktop with 2-4 30" wide screen displays await along with a comfortable chair, few distractions, and endless caffeine within easy reach?
The last time the FBI tried to build a large piece of custom software, a case-file management system, they ended up spending 170 MILLION dollars over 3+ years for software which basically did nothing useful (a complete failure). The only way that this will work is if the FBI contracts someone else to build it for them and even then the chances of failure are high unless they are willing to deal with criminals (i.e. Russian hackers who write the software for worms and spammers) to get it done which will happen about the same time that hell freezes over. The one good thing about governments when it comes to controlling the populace is that they are inefficient. If the government spent our tax money efficiently and effectively on surveillence and authoritarian enforcement actions then we would already be living in 1984.
There is an interesting article, written by a Canadian, in which he discusses the manual descent training that he received as part of cosmonaut training. Apparently, one of the back up computer systems is your brain itself (i.e. full manual control or renentry with analog controls and instruments). Queue the Soviet Russia jokes now...In Soviet Russia the re-entry computer is YOU!
From TA: "Under nominal end-of-mission situations, an automatic re-entry system will return the Soyuz vehicle and crew from space safely back to the ground. However, the crew must be familiar with the several backup modes that exist in instances when the automatic system fails. One of the backup re-entry modes is the crew themselves! For certain hardware and software malfunctions, the crew will be required to manually fly the Soyuz back to Earth through the atmosphere."
actually making those offensive practices illegal and, punishable by long term imprisonment.
Be careful what you wish for. There are far too many ill conceived laws on our books already and they do plenty more harm than good. There is no inherent right not to be offended. If we start passing laws against practices which some people find offensive then it will be the first step towards the end of freedom. This is what separates us in the civilized Western world from those in the east who live under religious law defining what is and is not offensive both in practice and speech with punishments such as cutting off hands and death. I don't know about you, but that is not how I want to live.
Always remember that the law is the application of violence or threat of violence and should be reserved for those cases where it is necessary to prevent and deter violence to others. The over application of the law, forcing people to live a certain way or not say certain things or the like, is a far greater evil than anything currently done by the corporations which you so detest.
The moment Lou reports that the RIAA is doing something evil, Lou and his producer immediately get fired for casting the company in a bad light and Lou gets blacklisted. In fact something like this has already occurred. In the documentary film The Corporation there was a segment about the suppression of an investigative news story about Bovine Growth Hormone on a Fox News Channel affiliate television station. The program was called "The Investigators" and it was supposed to be a hard-hitting expose type news magazine program. The only problem was that their first target, Monsanto, happened to be a major advertiser on Fox News and other media properties owned by Rupert Murdoch and they pressured the network into squashing the report AND eventually firing the investigative reporters who where involved in its preparation. The real investigative reporting is done less by the major networks and more by private organizations and individuals who disseminate their findings via their organizations, blogs, and sites like wikileaks.
how is a nation without A-bombs going to defend itself against, say, America? There are other ways to survive in the international game without wielding the biggest stick on the block. For example, a wise but smaller nation would be friendly with the United States and get the Americans to foot the bill for their defense (the Japanese, for example, have been very successful at this over the years). It might mean some policy changes here and there to please your patron (i.e. the United States) but just about every decision in the real world involves trade-offs and as you have said, the other route is both expensive and dangerous.
If you get certain copies of the original manga that's published in the USA the orgies have all been removed (as well as some drug references). The drug references were removed because of the ongoing "War on Drugs" (has anyone else noticed that whenever we have a war on anything it is a colossal failure?) and the continued and active efforts of vested interests within the United States government (mainly interested in preserving their jobs, but at least some of them are true believers who believe their own propoganda) to tar and feather anyone who wants to have an honest debate on drug policy or presents any view other than "zero tolerance" as a "drug legalizer" who wants to sell hard drugs to children. The Constitution goes into the trash bin whenever drugs, children, or terrorists are involved as far as these uncompromising fools are concerned. They are willfully giving up freedoms which generations of people shed blood to obtain for the mere pretense of a false sense of security. It is enough to make one despair for the future of what has been called the "American Experiment" in rational self-governance.
but why do i have a feeling that Hollywood will water-down, bastardize and destroy everything that makes the original great? Because that is exactly what they will do. There are certain elements of the GitS anime treatments and especially the mangas that are just not socially acceptable to most Americans. I am with you on this one in that I would prefer that the series be transmitted intact and unaltered to audiences which are probably not familiar with animes or the mangas, but Dreamworks is a business after all and rather than provoke the religious right with scenes of nudity and orgies (in the manga and in some of the GitSAC 2nd GiG episodes) that appeal to the tastes of the target audience in Japan they will almost certainly censor certain scenes and concepts entirely or alter the dialog in others. They will also dumb down the plots because, lets be honest, the depth and complexity of the interwoven agendas in GitS would be lost on most American audiences (i.e. less talk and more action please). A faithful rendition would be nice, but it is, IMHO, too much to hope for out of Dreamworks.
If you are indeed an investor in oil, as you claim I have 100 shares of Exxon Mobil (XOM) which I bought at around ~$41 per share back in 2004. I am not an expert in the oil business, but rather a small investor who was looking for some growth and a modest dividend for my Roth IRA.
price is determined by what the seller believes a buyer is willing pay for a product and nothing more
Which is not actually determined until someone settles and the futures contract is bought or sold. I grant you that speculators rarely take actual delivery, but prices are determined when money changes hands. There probably are some investors who think that the price is being driven too high by pure speculation and simply aren't buying because they don't like the perceived amount of risk with such speculative markets. As for the weakening dollar, adjust for inflation so that you can compare real price levels at different times.
If you think that prices are being driven by speculators and not supply and demand then why not see if anyone will take a long term put option (i.e. write your own) on a futures contract at the artificially high prices? Of course, you might have to cover a few margin calls before you the position pays off, but if you are right then you will make a killing when the price comes back down. The game, as you put it cannot go on forever and somebody will be left without a chair when the music stops so why not take out a bet against that someone who wants to call?
Except that supply and demand have been nearly disconnected from oil prices for a long time.
That is a bunch of hogwash and even the article that you link to doesn't say that. Some speculators lost their shirts as they unwound their positions...big deal, it happens every day. Whether the oil is bought by the refiner to make gasoline for your automobile or the speculator hold for later resale is irrelevant to the issue of supply and demand. People buy and sell goods and services for any number of reasons, including speculation on future prices, but that does not change the fact that the ONLY way to determine price is supply and demand. Furthermore, there is no free lunch. That price will be paid somehow whether it is in cash or longer lines at the pump or shortages and black market dealing, there is now way around that.
Do you honestly believe that China has cranked up its demand that much in a year?
I did not claim to account for all price increases with a single factor. There are many people constantly buying and selling in the oil market and the all of them collectively affect the price. Speculation may yield short term spikes (and drops), but if speculators are not going to use the oil themselves then they have to sell it at some point in order to get cash for profits or to fund alternative investments. When the price gets high enough then the speculators will begin selling their supplies and the price will crash back down towards the equilibrium determined by those who actually use the oil as a factor of production in the manufacture of other goods and services. There are always localized fluctuations in a commodities markets but ask yourself what are the long term trends and who is REALLY driving demand and I think that you will see that the developing world is a substantial long term factor for sustained and increased oil prices.
Instead, prices are controlled by futures traders.
Who are acting on behalf of their clients who wish to lock in prices for future delivery of oil as a necessary input for manufacturing or speculators who are hoping (a fools hope in my opinion) to sell to those manufacturers or refiners at a later date for more than they paid today for the contract. Traders are buyers and sellers in the marketplace and there is nothing at all illegitimate about that.
That it is a silly suggestion. They provide extraction knowledge and field management expertise because that's all the governments allow them to do.
There is nothing silly about it. The governments realize that they don't have the expertise needed to maximize the output of their oilfields and the American companies would like to earn something because, after all, some profit is better than no profit. Both sides have entered into a mutually acceptable arrangement (whether they did it grudgingly or not is irrelevant).
The rulers of these nations believe that the natural resources belong to the people, not a multinational corporation.
You act is if I am supporting the corporate form of management over nationalization in other countries. I really don't care what they do, it is their country so let the citizens of that country run their oil extraction how they wish. Now, if I was a citizen of an oil exporting country then I probably would favor corporate management of the oil fields or at least corporate assistance because, lets be honest here, governments are bunglers who could screw up a cup of instant coffee never mind a more complex operation like oil field management and extraction.
Unfortunately, they often interpret people to mean themselves, but it still is a different concept than the corporate-owned US.
Its their country and their government let them fix it if they want to, but why must you always begrudge corporations their property? How would you feel if I told you that you were overpaid or that you really don't deserve your BMW or suppose that you and your frien
It has helped somewhat indirectly by increasing the value of other oil reserves around the world due to the "uncertainty premium" that surrounds war. However, most of the price increases can be more credibly associated with lots of new demand in China and India and not a whole bunch more new oil discoveries in recent decades, even apart from the Iraq War (although the war certainly did not help matters for the consumers). Also remember that the amount of oil reserves controlled directly by the majors has been in decline for some time now. The majority of the world's oil is now under the control of nationalized companies (i.e. governments) and the American and European oil companies earn more from their extraction knowledge and field management expertise as partners with these nationalized firms then they do from controlling the actual reserves directly.
As for the profits, so what? Should I not expect some profit if I invest my savings? I don't know about you, but I would like to retire someday instead of working myself to death and if I don't have savings and invest that savings then how am I supposed to do that? Social Security and the entitlements are bankrupt or will be long before I am eligible to collect and so I make no apologies for investing in oil stocks and vice related business (see above). With any luck, more young people will take up smoking and drinking and further reduce the pressure on Social Security as they select themselves out of the system before collecting any benefits due to their unhealthy lifestyles.
The problem with the automobile x prize is that it still might yield a car which, although it wins the competition, is unsuitable for the every day driving needs of most Americans. The rules of the prize make no mention of minimum safety features or the ability to meet government crash test standards. If automobiles were made out of carbon fiber or even welded aluminum tube frames with lightweight plastic shells and minimal interior equipment then gas mileage would be substantially improved AND they would probably meet the cargo space and passenger carrying capacity. However, the resulting vehicle would be a deathtrap if it was driven on most American highways. For example, driving such a car on the busy freeways of Southern California, especially during rush hours, would be extremely dangerous and too risky for most people to even seriously consider. There are reasons why many people chose the American land battleship aka the Suburban, Excursion, or Hummer for their daily LA driving needs and it has little if anything to do with fuel economy.
Slashdot Mirror
Perhaps, but the EU can increase the daily fine (they have done this at least once already) or raise the stakes in other ways (i.e. an outright ban) if they feel the Microsoft is in willful and flagrant violation of the EU rulings.
You might find yourself on a one way flight for a permanent stay at an all expenses paid vacation resort where the staff specializes in Rubber-hose cryptanalysis
nerd: (waving hand) These aren't the files that you are looking for...
TSA: These aren't the files we are looking for.
nerd: He can go about his business...
TSA: You can go about your business.
nerd: Move along...
TSA: Move along, move along please.
companion of nerd: I thought we'd never get past those guards!
nerd: The force can have a powerful influence upon the weak minded...
The European Commission might freeze Microsoft out of all government sales in member nations and continue to fine them daily if they chose to be stubborn on the issue. It would be far less costly for Microsoft to simply comply then to have the door slammed in certain markets because they want to make a point on OOXML. The Europeans have their number and they will force them to either dance to their tune or abandon Europe.
Mod the parent up please.
This is a pure public relations play and marketing bullshit move on the part of Comcast (i.e. so that they can muddy the waters and look like they are doing something in front of politicians and average citizens who don't know any better without actually changing their ways). They were caught red handed doing exactly what they said they wouldn't do and now they are trying to capitalize on the whole "bill or rights" buzz that seems to be infecting marketers these days who are trying to spin the "quality of service" parts of their businesses to the press to wiggle their way out of a tight spot without actually changing their lying and cheating ways.which is why it doesn't really matter. The standards which can actually be implemented and have an open source reference implementation, such as the Open Document Format (ODF), will become the de-facto standards at least for archive and long term storage. Also, there will be tremendous pressure on Microsoft to at least implement ODF for their Office products and probably to make that the default save format as well. However, it would be nice if the standards could allow for optional extensions which are not required (I believe that the TIFF format for images allows this) but could be used by programs which want to add enhancements, but allow readability and editing in other programs which only meet the minimum standards. Perhaps this is already a feature or could someone with more detailed knowledge about ODF comment?
The flash point for the JP7 fuel was very high. Infact, it was so high that the fuel was actually used as a coolant in the heat exchangers to help keep the cockpit cool enough for the crew. from the wiki article
"the JP-7 jet fuel had a relatively high flash point (140 F, 60 C) to cope with the heat. In fact, the fuel was used as a coolant and hydraulic fluid in the aircraft before being burned. The fuel also contained fluorocarbons to increase its lubricity, an oxidizing agent to enable it to burn in the engines, and even a cesium compound, A-50, which disguised the exhaust's radar signature."
A charge of Triethylborane (the main SR-71 identifies it incorrectly as "tetraethylborane") was used to generate the necessary temperatures to ignite the engines on takeoff or restart them in the air in the event of a flameout:
"JP-7 is very slippery and extremely difficult to light in any conventional way. The slipperiness was a disadvantage on the ground, since the aircraft leaked fuel when not flying, but at least JP-7 was not a fire hazard. When the engines of the aircraft were started, puffs of tetraethylborane (TEB), which ignites on contact with air, were injected into the engines to produce temperatures high enough to initially ignite the JP-7. The TEB produced a characteristic puff of greenish flame that could often be seen as the engines were ignited.[20] TEB was also used to ignite the afterburners. The aircraft had only 20 fluid ounce (600 ml) of TEB on board for each engine, enough for at least 16 injections (a counter advised the pilot of the number of TEB injections remaining), but this was more than enough for the requirements of any missions it was likely to carry out."
Yes, you are right. I should have referred to the great grandparent.
I think that you misunderstand the point of the parent. The laptop might have many options at the time of purchase but not everyone can fully anticipate all of their eventual needs and even if they can those needs might change. You might respond, "Well, then buy a new laptop when your needs change.", but laptops are fairly expensive (at least the decent ones are) for most people and besides why should I have to junk a perfectly good laptop just because I want to upgrade the graphics chip? The desktop offers even more options at the time of purchase AND the owner retains the option to upgrade components for many years after the original purchase (my home desktop is now six (6) years old and selected components, the graphics card especially, have been upgraded several times). Laptops are for people with more limited needs who absolutely require portability above all, even at the expense of power, expandability, and (usually) price.
Note: I actually do have one (1) laptop (a Toshiba u205 series), but I use it mostly for when I am out of the house or office and almost never for serious work (i.e. just email, web, and some occasional on the road hacking sessions).
I would surmise that the number is quite low, at least for primary or regular development platform. There are no doubt some who prefer the laptop and there is always the developer abroad scenario where circumstances force the issue, but I have yet to meet a developer who does not prefer more and larger screens at their workstation and this is not generally available on the laptop unless the developer is at their desk anyway (which sort of defeats the purpose of laptop) or the laptop is made so cumbersome as to be basically a desktop with a handle. If you are doing a lot of your programming in coffee shops and at conferences then you are constantly being distracted by the crowds or the barista anyway which is not a conducive to good code, or at least IMHO it isn't, so why chose a laptop for the programming alcove/cave when a quad core desktop with 2-4 30" wide screen displays await along with a comfortable chair, few distractions, and endless caffeine within easy reach?
The last time the FBI tried to build a large piece of custom software, a case-file management system, they ended up spending 170 MILLION dollars over 3+ years for software which basically did nothing useful (a complete failure). The only way that this will work is if the FBI contracts someone else to build it for them and even then the chances of failure are high unless they are willing to deal with criminals (i.e. Russian hackers who write the software for worms and spammers) to get it done which will happen about the same time that hell freezes over. The one good thing about governments when it comes to controlling the populace is that they are inefficient. If the government spent our tax money efficiently and effectively on surveillence and authoritarian enforcement actions then we would already be living in 1984.
There is an interesting article, written by a Canadian, in which he discusses the manual descent training that he received as part of cosmonaut training. Apparently, one of the back up computer systems is your brain itself (i.e. full manual control or renentry with analog controls and instruments). Queue the Soviet Russia jokes now...In Soviet Russia the re-entry computer is YOU!
From TA: "Under nominal end-of-mission situations, an automatic re-entry system will return the Soyuz vehicle and crew from space safely back to the ground. However, the crew must be familiar with the several backup modes that exist in instances when the automatic system fails. One of the backup re-entry modes is the crew themselves! For certain hardware and software malfunctions, the crew will be required to manually fly the Soyuz back to Earth through the atmosphere."
We have at least one card carrying programmer congressman right now, Bill Foster, representing the 14th district of Illinois.
Be careful what you wish for. There are far too many ill conceived laws on our books already and they do plenty more harm than good. There is no inherent right not to be offended. If we start passing laws against practices which some people find offensive then it will be the first step towards the end of freedom. This is what separates us in the civilized Western world from those in the east who live under religious law defining what is and is not offensive both in practice and speech with punishments such as cutting off hands and death. I don't know about you, but that is not how I want to live.
Always remember that the law is the application of violence or threat of violence and should be reserved for those cases where it is necessary to prevent and deter violence to others. The over application of the law, forcing people to live a certain way or not say certain things or the like, is a far greater evil than anything currently done by the corporations which you so detest.
Which is not actually determined until someone settles and the futures contract is bought or sold. I grant you that speculators rarely take actual delivery, but prices are determined when money changes hands. There probably are some investors who think that the price is being driven too high by pure speculation and simply aren't buying because they don't like the perceived amount of risk with such speculative markets. As for the weakening dollar, adjust for inflation so that you can compare real price levels at different times.
If you think that prices are being driven by speculators and not supply and demand then why not see if anyone will take a long term put option (i.e. write your own) on a futures contract at the artificially high prices? Of course, you might have to cover a few margin calls before you the position pays off, but if you are right then you will make a killing when the price comes back down. The game, as you put it cannot go on forever and somebody will be left without a chair when the music stops so why not take out a bet against that someone who wants to call?
Except that supply and demand have been nearly disconnected from oil prices for a long time.
That is a bunch of hogwash and even the article that you link to doesn't say that. Some speculators lost their shirts as they unwound their positions...big deal, it happens every day. Whether the oil is bought by the refiner to make gasoline for your automobile or the speculator hold for later resale is irrelevant to the issue of supply and demand. People buy and sell goods and services for any number of reasons, including speculation on future prices, but that does not change the fact that the ONLY way to determine price is supply and demand. Furthermore, there is no free lunch. That price will be paid somehow whether it is in cash or longer lines at the pump or shortages and black market dealing, there is now way around that.
Do you honestly believe that China has cranked up its demand that much in a year?
I did not claim to account for all price increases with a single factor. There are many people constantly buying and selling in the oil market and the all of them collectively affect the price. Speculation may yield short term spikes (and drops), but if speculators are not going to use the oil themselves then they have to sell it at some point in order to get cash for profits or to fund alternative investments. When the price gets high enough then the speculators will begin selling their supplies and the price will crash back down towards the equilibrium determined by those who actually use the oil as a factor of production in the manufacture of other goods and services. There are always localized fluctuations in a commodities markets but ask yourself what are the long term trends and who is REALLY driving demand and I think that you will see that the developing world is a substantial long term factor for sustained and increased oil prices.
Instead, prices are controlled by futures traders.
Who are acting on behalf of their clients who wish to lock in prices for future delivery of oil as a necessary input for manufacturing or speculators who are hoping (a fools hope in my opinion) to sell to those manufacturers or refiners at a later date for more than they paid today for the contract. Traders are buyers and sellers in the marketplace and there is nothing at all illegitimate about that.
That it is a silly suggestion. They provide extraction knowledge and field management expertise because that's all the governments allow them to do.
There is nothing silly about it. The governments realize that they don't have the expertise needed to maximize the output of their oilfields and the American companies would like to earn something because, after all, some profit is better than no profit. Both sides have entered into a mutually acceptable arrangement (whether they did it grudgingly or not is irrelevant).
The rulers of these nations believe that the natural resources belong to the people, not a multinational corporation.
You act is if I am supporting the corporate form of management over nationalization in other countries. I really don't care what they do, it is their country so let the citizens of that country run their oil extraction how they wish. Now, if I was a citizen of an oil exporting country then I probably would favor corporate management of the oil fields or at least corporate assistance because, lets be honest here, governments are bunglers who could screw up a cup of instant coffee never mind a more complex operation like oil field management and extraction.
Unfortunately, they often interpret people to mean themselves, but it still is a different concept than the corporate-owned US.
Its their country and their government let them fix it if they want to, but why must you always begrudge corporations their property? How would you feel if I told you that you were overpaid or that you really don't deserve your BMW or suppose that you and your frien
It has helped somewhat indirectly by increasing the value of other oil reserves around the world due to the "uncertainty premium" that surrounds war. However, most of the price increases can be more credibly associated with lots of new demand in China and India and not a whole bunch more new oil discoveries in recent decades, even apart from the Iraq War (although the war certainly did not help matters for the consumers). Also remember that the amount of oil reserves controlled directly by the majors has been in decline for some time now. The majority of the world's oil is now under the control of nationalized companies (i.e. governments) and the American and European oil companies earn more from their extraction knowledge and field management expertise as partners with these nationalized firms then they do from controlling the actual reserves directly.
As for the profits, so what? Should I not expect some profit if I invest my savings? I don't know about you, but I would like to retire someday instead of working myself to death and if I don't have savings and invest that savings then how am I supposed to do that? Social Security and the entitlements are bankrupt or will be long before I am eligible to collect and so I make no apologies for investing in oil stocks and vice related business (see above). With any luck, more young people will take up smoking and drinking and further reduce the pressure on Social Security as they select themselves out of the system before collecting any benefits due to their unhealthy lifestyles.
The problem with the automobile x prize is that it still might yield a car which, although it wins the competition, is unsuitable for the every day driving needs of most Americans. The rules of the prize make no mention of minimum safety features or the ability to meet government crash test standards. If automobiles were made out of carbon fiber or even welded aluminum tube frames with lightweight plastic shells and minimal interior equipment then gas mileage would be substantially improved AND they would probably meet the cargo space and passenger carrying capacity. However, the resulting vehicle would be a deathtrap if it was driven on most American highways. For example, driving such a car on the busy freeways of Southern California, especially during rush hours, would be extremely dangerous and too risky for most people to even seriously consider. There are reasons why many people chose the American land battleship aka the Suburban, Excursion, or Hummer for their daily LA driving needs and it has little if anything to do with fuel economy.