Wednesday, May 31, 2006

The Enemy

After Memorial Day it is time that we remember how vicious our enemy is, and how if we fail in this war, the horrors of Iraq will come to our streets.

Warning: here is a link to the graphic photos of the cameramen who was killed this weekend in Iraq. In addition to the cameramen the soundman was also killed and the reporter was critically wounded. The link comes from the Northeast Intelligence Report.

Tuesday, May 02, 2006

Oil Facts

With the latest outrage at the ever growing gas prices many have proposed the so called “windfall-profit” tax. Now my question is who do you think will end up paying this tax you or the corporations?

It’s a rhetorical question, the answer obviously is you.

The people that cry out for this tax fail to mention the break down of oil costs, which for a $3 a gallon price goes as follows:
  • Gasoline Retailer $.01 cents per gallon
  • Oil Company $.08 cents per gallon
  • Refining $.29 cents per gallon
  • Marketing/Distribution $.32 cents per gallon
  • Taxes $.59 cents per gallon
  • Cost of crude $1.71 per gallon (delivered)

That means the corporations make 8 cents (2.5%) while the government makes 59 cents (20%). Now the oil corporations are not innocent or not responsible for growing prices, but they are not the biggest cause of this price increase.

The real solution would be to try to get the companies to cut their profits for a while and at the same time to suspend the tax on gas, but this will never happen. Just think about this statistic:

  • Over the last 20 years, gasoline per gallon has increased roughly 60%, which equals an annual average increase of only 3%, which is less than the average rate of inflation. While during the same 20 year period however, the salary of every member of Congress has increased 250% or 12.5% per year. More than four times the average rate of inflation.
So how can we expect our corporations to reduce their profit when the biggest beneficiary of high gas prices refuses to do so? For more on this read the great column by JB Williams.

Monday, May 01, 2006

Movie Impossible

Despite spending a month of filming in China and having China Film as a co-producer the PRC has decided to delay the opening of Paramount’s Mission Impossible 3 until a later date.

The delay is most likely due to a part of the film Chinese police is depicted as being incompetent. Until they can figure out a way to censure this part MI:3 will not be released.

Once again we see Chinese censorship, and even worse we see how when you partner with the PRC and give them a cut of the profits they will still screw you. When will US business learn that Red China is not a business partner but a serious adversary?