A premium on premium

San Antonio's Dill Food Market's Manager, Jim Duke, noticed "a lot of vehicles were being filled with premium and people were paying at the pump." After investigating, Duke discovered that a decimal point error was allowing customers to fuel up with premium at .38 per gallon, rather than the actual price of 3.89. The error, reported by a local radio station, went unnoticed for nearly two days.

Perhaps Exxon Mobil can spare a little of its $41 billion in profit to reimburse Duke for his pump malfunction. Hopefully he won't hold his breath. . .

Exxon John

The Democratic National Committee has unveiled another portion of its Exxon-McCain '08 ad campaign:

Word to the Muncie Star-Press - The FACTS about Mike Pence

Yesterday, I received a copy of this humorous op-ed piece, disguised as an actual news article and written by Seth Slabaugh of the Muncie Star-Press. It just begged for a factual reply. Now I know that word has been slow to get out to some of the smaller media outlets in the rural American Heartland but, change is afoot! I further realize that you may be hesitant to replace the spoon-fed news of the last several years with updated and factual information due to fear of upsetting your readership. Relax! As our populist Texan friend, Jim Hightower, has noted - "The people are revolting! And I mean that in the best possible way." We hope you will join us!

MUNCIE -- U.S. Rep. Mike Pence's Democratic challenger, Barry Welsh, is calling for a windfall profits tax on big oil companies, and the liberal political action committee MoveOn is attacking Pence's relationship to big oil with radio ads.

Welsh also opposes Pence over drilling for American oil in environmentally sensitive areas such as the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and in the Gulf of Mexico and the oceans off of the East Coast and West Coast.

Additional oil production resulting from the opening of ANWR would be only a small portion of total world oil production, and would likely be offset in part by somewhat lower production outside the United States. The opening of ANWR is projected to have its largest oil price reduction impacts as follows: a reduction in low-sulfur, light crude oil prices of $0.41 per barrel (2006 dollars) in 2026 for the low oil resource case, $0.75 per barrel in 2025 for the mean oil resource case, and $1.44 per barrel in 2027 for the high oil resource case, relative to the reference case.

"The high price of gasoline is ruining our economy and driving families that were already on the brink over the edge," Welsh told The Star Press. "One solution for immediate relief is to place a windfall profits tax on big oil executives and stop giving them taxpayer money on top of world record oil profits."

Pence couldn't be reached for comment Friday, but his chief of staff, Bill Smith, said "the last thing we need right now is more taxes," which would just drive up the cost of gas.

Welsh says the windfall profits tax revenue should be given as rebates to taxpayers.

"So what would happen is," Smith replied, "we increase the cost to the consumer to turn around and give it back to them."

The Windfall Profits Tax would not only reign in the big foreign oil companies, but also help the smaller American independents:

“The new windfall profits tax proposed is good for us independent oil operators.” This comes from a group of independent oil operators and wildcatters. Why? Obama’s new plan will basically exempt them and the burden of the revised version will fall on major oil companies and place an excise tax on foreign oil.

Well it seems they blame the multinationals (like Exxon/Mobil) for our dependency on foreign oil. “in the 1987, the multinationals and Opec got together to drive down the price of oil and force smaller independents out of business, so they could come back and raise prices once most of us were out of business. We’re glad to see they weren’t able to force “T” out.” T being a reference to to T Boone Pickens.

"When I ran last cycle, I warned of $4 to $5 a gallon gas if we didn't change, and we didn't," Welsh said. "Even if we began drilling and found oil ... it would have an impact of only a few cents, and that impact would not occur until 2018. By that time, American workers could be making the American vehicles of the future. We have to find new green solutions that include biomass fuels, wind and solar technologies ..."

Pence has said he supports not only new oil drilling but also more wind, solar and nuclear power, increased fuel efficiency for vehicles and alternative fuels.

During an interview earlier this week, Pence said he's against cutting subsidies to oil companies because those subsidies "encourage them to build more refineries, and most Americans recognize we have a severe shortage of refineries in this country."

An excerpt from today's Common Dreams issue titled "Leaked Oil Industry Memo Suggests Bid to Curb Refinery Output"debunks that idea:

Even as the Bush administration cites a lack of refineries as a cause of energy shortages, oil industry documents show that five years ago companies were looking for ways to cut refinery output to raise profits. The documents obtained by Sen.Wyden's office suggest that in the mid-1990s oil companies had no interest in building refineries because of low profit margins. In fact, companies were discussing the need to curtail refinery output in order to make more money, the documents suggest.

"If the U.S. petroleum industry doesn't reduce its refining capacity, it will never see any substantial increase in refinery margins (profits)," said an internal Chevron document in November 1995, citing views presented by participants at an American Petroleum Institute conference.

A year later, an official at Texaco, in a memo marked "highly confidential," called concerns about too much refinery capacity "the most critical factor" facing the refinery industry. Excess capacity is producing "very poor refining financial results," the memo said.

Wyden said the documents "raise significant questions about whether America's oil companies tried to pull off a financial triple play – boosting profits by reducing refinery capacity, tagging consumers with higher pump prices and then arguing for environmental rollbacks."

According to Smith, more than 70 percent of the people in Pence's congressional district believe we should increase drilling for American oil.

Polling from the GOP leaning Rasmussen Reports suggests otherwise:

A new Rasmussen Reports national survey, taken last night (Monday), finds that 45% think placing more restrictions on energy speculators is more important , while 42% take the opposite view that allowing offshore oil drilling is more important.

A major partisan divide on the issue, like the split in Congress, is evident, however. Sixty-seven percent (67%) of Republicans say lifting the ban is the highest priority, while 59% of Democrats - and 48% of unaffiliated voters -- say controlling speculators is more important. Only 29% of unaffiliateds say lift the ban first.

In the latest survey, 46% oppose the present GOP congressional strategy of blocking other energy legislation until a vote on the offshore ban is allowed, but 28% support it. Even more Republicans (44%) are against their congressional leaders’ strategy than for it (38%).

MoveOn's radio ads ask: "Why is our Rep. Mike Pence grandstanding in Congress instead of working toward real solutions to high gas prices? Maybe it's because he's taken $30,000 from the big oil companies. He's been part of a failed energy policy written by big oil. In the last eight years, we've seen oil profits soar as the price of gasoline has gone from $2 to $4 a gallon. Big oil keeps running the show, getting billions in tax breaks."

Congress has been contolled by Democrats for nearly two years, Smith noted.

And, before that, Congress was controlled by Republicans for TWELVE years and the White House for nearly EIGHT years. Any questions? Perhaps this graph can answer those:

"Overall, 70 percent of (Pence's) donations come from individuals, and only 1 percent from oil companies," Smith said. "The idea that the oil industry in any way influences his voting is ridiculous."

Bill Smith is distorting the facts, and using the Muncie Star-Press to cloak his statements in a veil of credibility. MoveOn's numbers were actually lower than the reality. From Politico:

Democrats are basically saying "follow the money" on the energy debate, pointing out that lawmakers leading the Republican theatrics include Mike Pence (R-Ind.), who received $150,000 in oil company contributions. Stats from the Center for Responsive Politics show the industry contributed 26% of its donations to Democrats and 74% to Republicans.

I'm always available to help out any of you old media types with any facts that you may have trouble finding on your own. Thank you and good night!

Latest Obama ad punches back at McCain

Nicely done. Highlights John McCain's ties to big oil and Bush and what they can expect from him in return. . .

The Pickens Plan

Is it possible for a famed and politically conservative oil prospector, one who funded the Swift Boat Veterans, to become a proponent of solar power? T. Boone Pickens, founder of BP Capital Management, launched an energy plan and social-networking campaign on Tuesday that calls for replacing Middle Eastern oil with Midwestern wind.

The so-called Pickens Plan would exploit the country's "wind corridor" from the Canadian border to West Texas to produce 20 percent of the country's electricity. Transmission lines would be built to transport the power to places in the U.S. where the demand is. The natural gas, now used to fuel power plants, would instead be used as a transportation fuel, which burns cleaner than gasoline and is domestic.

He proposed that the private sector finance the investment, which would result in a one-third reduction, equal to $230 billion, in the U.S.' yearly payments to foreign countries. Pickens has already invested heavily in wind, notably a planned 4,000-megawatt wind farm in his native Texas.

T. Boone Pickens TV Commercial


T. Boone Pickens Explains His Plan


Can this big oil shill be serious about reducing our dependence on foreign oil, or is he merely a wolf in sheep's clothing? My guess is that it's strictly business. Pickens is smart; he knows that oil is no longer the way, and. . .he's also into domestic natural gas in a big way. This can only be profitable for him and I'm fine with that - at least he's earning profits for doing the right thing this time.

Crazyman Explains Oil Price Speculation

Author T.E.Scott, aka Crazyman, explains why oil prices are where they are today and who's REALLY to blame. This is a subject that I've been harping on myself as of late. I had the opportunity to meet Mr.Scott at the Democratic State Convention last weekend and obtain a copy of his book, "Crazyman's Economics".

Send Congress an S.O.S.

Click graphic below to go there

Speculators and investment banks can game the energy trading markets, using loopholes in commodities law to drive up the cost of energy and reap record profits… at the expense of American families and small businesses!

One of the biggest factors in high oil prices, according to many experts, is that investors, such as hedge funds and investment bankers, can use loopholes in commodities law to manipulate the market and drive crude oil, heating oil, gasoline and diesel fuel prices to new heights.

Congress is aware of the problem and lawmakers recently passed legislation to address the “Enron Loophole,” one of the major loopholes that opens the door to abusive trading practices, but the law didn’t go far enough.

Unfortunately, other loopholes exist that allow energy trading on completely “dark” exchanges. For example, the “Foreign Markets Loophole” allows American energy commodities to be traded overseas – exempt from U.S. oversight.

These so-called “Dark Markets” – commodities markets that are not policed by U.S. authorities provide for an open the door to manipulation, even outright control of the markets.

For example, speculative investors can buy and sell millions of barrels of U.S. destined oil and other energy products every day in the United Kingdom and even in Dubai… but are not made subject to the transparency and accountability laws that govern exchanges here in the United States!

Additionally, through the so-called “swaps loophole,” financial investors can “game the markets” for pure profit by buying up positions in the energy markets, without any limitation on the size of the positions they can take. One recent estimate suggested that they now control one third of the commodities markets, or $150 billion - a 1,000% increase in less than five years!

Some experts believe that as much as 60 percent of the cost of a gallon of gasoline or heating oil can be attributed to pure speculation and abusive –even manipulative – trading practices, yet most trading is “dark” and federal authorities can neither fully police or see the data in the majority of the trading markets.

The energy trading markets were originally set up to provide energy producers and distributors with an environment to manage risk and produce the best possible price for their customers. But they are clearly no longer the driving force in the market. Profiteering speculators and investment banks care little about establishing a price for energy based on supply and demand fundamentals – they care about turning a PROFIT.

LS9 Inc. working on "renewable petroleum"

Greg Pal, a former software executive, is a senior director of LS9, one of several companies in the Silicon Valley area that have spurned traditional high-tech activities such as software and networking and embarked instead on an extraordinary race to make $140-a-barrel oil from foreign nations obsolete. While Bushies and other conservatives push for environmentally destructive domestic drilling, and many others work to re-engineer the problem via conversion to hydrogen and other fuel sources, Pal and his peers are working on a product that is fully interchangeable with oil, yet is renewable and even carbon negative.

“Ten years ago I could never have imagined I’d be doing this,” says Pal, as he squints into the late afternoon Californian sun. “I mean, this is essentially agriculture, right? But the people I talk to – especially the ones coming out of business school – this is the one hot area everyone wants to get into.”

The man is talking about bugs. More precisely, the genetic alteration of bugs – microscopic ones – so that when they feed on agricultural waste such as woodchips or wheat straw, they do something extraordinary. They excrete crude oil. Perhaps someone somewhere, commenting on the dwindling amount of natural crude oil, was told "What would you like me to do, shit you some"? Probably not, but somehow, more likely through some serious scientific research and experimentation, that exact scenario has come to pass.

In an interview earlier this month, Pal held up a small beaker of bug excretion that could, theoretically, be poured into the tank of your car right now. Not that Mr Pal is willing to risk it just yet. He gives it a month before the first vehicle is filled up on what he calls “renewable petroleum”. "After that", he grinned, “it’s a brave new world”.

Even the oil industry has taken notice. LS9's president, Bob Walsh, left a 26-year career at Shell to head the company's operations. If an old-time oil man like Walsh drops out of the game to work in a glorified cubicle in a San Francisco industrial park for a company that describes itself as being “pre-revenue”, there must be something to this whole thing. In another sign of the seriousness of this venture, a portion of the $20 million of start-up capital from investors includes Vinod Khosla, the Indian-American entrepreneur who co-founded Sun Micro-systems.

Mr Pal explains the process:

"LS9’s bugs are single-cell organisms, each a fraction of a billionth the size of an ant. They start out as industrial yeast or nonpathogenic strains of E. coli, but LS9 modifies them by custom-de-signing their DNA. Five to seven years ago, that process would have taken months and cost hundreds of thousands of dollars,” he says. “Now it can take weeks and cost maybe $20,000.”

Because crude oil is only a few molecular stages removed from the fatty acids normally excreted by yeast or E. coli during fermentation, it doesn't take much fiddling to get the desired result.All that's required for fermentation to take place is raw material, or feedstock, as it is known in the bio-fuels industry. Anything will do as long as it can be broken down into sugars, with the byproduct ideally burnt to produce electricity to run the plant.

LS9 is avoiding using corn as feedstock, given the much-publicised problems created by using food crops for fuel. Instead, the company will use different types of agricultural waste based upon whatever makes sense for the local climate and economy: wheat straw in California, for example, or wood chips in the South. Using the genetically modified bugs for fermentation is essentially the same as using natural bacteria to produce ethanol, although the energy-intensive final process of distillation is virtually eliminated because the bugs excrete a substance that is almost pump-ready.

The problem at this juncture remains as one of volume - thus far LS9 has only produced quantities vie a 1,000-litre fermenting machine, which produces the equivalent of one barrel a week and takes up 40 square feet of floor space.To meet America's weekly oil consumption of 143 million barrels, a facility covering 205 square miles, an area roughly the size of Chicago, would be required. Pal plans to have a demonstration-scale plant operational by 2010 and a commercial-scale facility by the following year. He notes that if LS9 used Brazilian sugar cane as its feedstock, its fuel would probably cost about $50 a barrel. I can live with that. How 'bout you?

Big Oil fuels the Straight Talk Express

The latest video from Robert Greenwald's Brave New Films lobs a key inquiry at John McCain, "Why won't McCain require oil companies to pursue alternate energy?" The answer, of course, is that his campaign is full up with funders, minders, and cronies who have carried water for oil companies:

The latest victims of big oil

General Motors, struggling in a market where rising oil prices have clobbered retail sales of pickups and SUV's, announced today that they will close four plants:

The automaker said it would idle pickup and SUV factories in Janesville, Wis.; Oshawa, Ontario; Moraine, Ohio; and Toluca, Mexico, as it tries to deal with a shift to smaller vehicles brought on by $4 per gallon gasoline. GM also took aim at the Hummer, one off the largest vehicles on U.S. highways, saying it would either be sold or get a remake.

The move cuts about 2,900 jobs in Oshawa, about 2,800 in Janesville, about 2,400 in Moraine and about 250 in Toluca, said GM spokesman Tom Wilkinson.

The Janesville plant is near and dear to me. My wife's family moved here when she was a teenager due to the threat of that plant being closed. Her Dad accepted a transfer to our new GM facility here in Roanoke. Several family members still work at the Janesville location. The vehicle I drove when we first dated, a 1988 Cavalier Z-24, was made at that plant.


Ironically enough, GM had switched many plants over to production of trucks and SUV's as foreign competitors took over the smaller vehicle market. The more expensive vehicles had a larger profit margin than the entry-level vehicles, and kept the automaker afloat for a long time. One needs only to look around over the last several years to see how many of these trucks were being sold in the United States. However, the explosion in gas prices has finally caused Americans to take a second look at what they're driving:

GM's moves, which come after a series of restructuring measures since 2005, are the result of a huge shift in U.S. consumer preferences for small cars and crossovers during the past two months.

"We at GM don't think this is a spike or temporary shift," Chief Executive Rick Wagoner said. "We believe that it is, by and large, permanent."

The automaker now will have to parlay its strong overseas sales and the lower North American costs into a profit by selling cars in the $15,000 to $20,000 range, half the price of its high-profit SUVs and pickup trucks.

The impact of these closings will be devastating in the communities which have long been tied to them:

The Oshawa truck plant, which builds the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickups, likely will be shuttered next year. The Moraine plant near Dayton will stop making Chevy TrailBlazer and other midsize SUVs in 2010 "or sooner if demand dictates," Wagoner said.

In Janesville, the plant that builds medium-duty trucks and big SUVs like the Chevrolet Tahoe, will cease production starting at the end of 2009, finishing in 2010 or sooner if demand stays weak. In Toluca, production of medium-duty trucks will end by the end of 2008, Wagoner said.

The announcement was an economic blow to Janesville, which has long been entwined with auto making.

"There were some tears and a lot of people were kind of ticked off, but it's part of the business," said Scott Lambert, 39, who has worked at the plant for 13 years.

ANWR - The Facts

I continue to hear George Bush and big oil tout opening the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge as the answer to high oil prices. I've even heard this talking point from friends who should know better. But I understand how nearly impossible it is to know better when you're only presented with one side of the story. So I shall attempt to present the missing parts that may have been purposely kept from you.

First, some facts about common misconceptions regarding the outrageous price of oil that we are all enduring right now:

1. There ares no oil shortages causing the recent spikes in price. Repeat - there are no oil shortages. Yes, we are drawing close to the tipping point, but we're not quite to that point just yet.
2. American demand for oil is not driving the price upwards. Nor will conservation efforts by us have any real impact on prices. Demand from other nations, particularly in east Asia, has dramatically increased over the last 20-30 years. So, unless you can get China to kick it's newfound thirst for fossil fuels, our hands are tied.
3. Any way that the data is analyzed, experts agree that oil should be selling for around $65 per barrel right now. What has driven the price to it's record highs is futures trading. Oil has become the new "dot com" for speculators, and it's paying them off handsomely.

How much oil is there in ANWR and how long would it take to access it?

Actually, not that much. What would we gain by allowing heavy industry into the refuge? Very little. Oil from the refuge would hardly make a dent in our dependence on foreign imports, leaving our economy and way of life just as exposed to wild swings in worldwide oil prices and supply as it is today. The truth is, we simply can't drill our way to energy independence.

Although drilling proponents often say there are 16 billion barrels of oil under the refuge's coastal plain, the U.S. Geological Service's estimate of the amount that could be recovered economically, that is, the amount likely to be profitably extracted and sold, represents less than one year's U.S. supply.

It would take 10 years for any Arctic Refuge oil to reach the market, and even when production peaks the refuge would produce a paltry 1 or 2 percent of America's daily consumption which is roughly 20 millions barrels per day!. Whatever oil the refuge might produce is simply irrelevant to the larger issue of meeting America's future energy needs.

What impact would drilling in ANWR have on the environment?

Oil produced from the Arctic Refuge would come at enormous, and irreversible, cost. The refuge is among the world's last true wildernesses, and it is one of the largest sanctuaries for Arctic animals. Traversed by a dozen rivers and framed by jagged peaks, this spectacular wilderness is a vital birthing ground for polar bears, grizzlies, Arctic wolves, caribou and the endangered shaggy musk ox, a mammoth-like survivor of the last Ice Age.

Prudhoe Bay


For a sense of what big oil's heavy machinery would do to the refuge, just look 60 miles west to Prudhoe Bay, a gargantuan oil complex that has turned 1,000 square miles of fragile tundra into a sprawling industrial zone containing 1,500 miles of roads and pipelines, 1,400 producing wells and three jetports. The result is a landscape defaced by mountains of sewage sludge, scrap metal, garbage and more than 60 contaminated waste sites that contain, and often leak, acids, lead, pesticides, solvents and diesel fuel.

ANWR (Just 100 miles east of Prudhoe Bay)


While proponents of drilling insist the Arctic Refuge could be developed by disturbing as little as 2,000 acres within the 1.5-million-acre coastal plain, a recent analysis by NRDC reveals this to be pure myth. Why? Because U.S. Geological Survey studies have found that oil in the refuge isn't concentrated in a single, large reservoir. Rather, it's spread across the coastal plain in more than 30 small deposits, which would require vast networks of roads and pipelines that would fragment the habitat, disturbing and displacing wildlife.

Green Day and the NRDC


The drive to drill the Arctic Refuge is about oil company profits and lifting barriers to future exploration in protected lands, pure and simple. It has nothing to do with energy independence. Opening the Arctic Refuge to energy development is about transferring our public estate into corporate hands, so it can be liquidated for a quick buck. We simply cannot let that happen.

Barack Obama on Gas Prices, in Indianapolis

House votes to repeal "big oil" tax breaks

Enough is enough!

After the U.S. House of Representatives voted yesterday to repeal $18 billion in tax breaks for big oil companies to help pay for developing renewable energy sources, Bush threatened to veto the bill, saying that it "unfairly targets the oil industry". Read that last line again, and recall that Exxon Mobil, by itself, recorded record profits of $40.6 BILLION last year. These bastards have gotten fat (particularly the fat bastard pictured) off us, reaping windfall profits while George Bush hands them back billions of our tax money!

Even you conservative, pro-business, common market folks must find fault with subsidizing an industry that requires no help in the first place! "Nothing wrong with making a profit" is the talking point that I keep hearing from these people. I agree, to a point. But I take exception at obscene profits that are made merely to make obscene profits - big oil has had no unexpected increased expenses, no shock waves. They are directly fucking the American people, while their enabling lackey in the White House not only protects them, but hands them more of our money via tax breaks.

In 2007, the price for a barrel of oil jumped from $50 to $100. I don't recall hearing that the supply fell by 50%, nor did I receive any information regarding a huge increase in expenses for the oil companies. What I HAVE heard is that big oil was given billions to offset THEIR usual and customary expenses, while those of us in the transportation industry not only got screwed at the pump, but received no in-kind government assistance to help us like the oil companies got. My annual fuel costs have increased from $3.5k in 2001 to $10.5k last year - where's MY big tax break? Somewhere on Exxon Mobil's tax return, apparently. . .

The Haliburton Presidency

Just in from the DCCC - Be sure to watch the video:


Dear John,

Been to the gas station lately? Gas prices have more than doubled since George Bush took office -- it's an outrage.

Thanks to the Republican road blocks in Congress, gas prices continued to skyrocket just in time for the holiday travel rush -- ensuring that millions of dollars flowed into the pockets of their Big Oil friends and out of the pockets of America's hardworking families.

Remember the Bush Administration's secret meetings with their Big Oil friends to develop our nation's energy policy? We need to make sure the Halliburton presidency is in the past -- but with more than 60 Democrats sitting in seats that Bush carried in 2004, this November, Republicans will try to turn back the clock.

But, we aren't going to let them. With less than a year out, help us send a message to the Republican road blocks in Congress and in the White House that you won't stand for their $50 or more for a tank of gas. We want to raise $120,000 by November 30th to target the DOZEN worst Republican offenders and keep our campaign to strengthen our Majority moving forward.

Send Obstructionist Republicans a Message: Contribute today and be sure to add an extra $3.07 for the current average gallon of gas.

Since January, Democrats have been fighting to undo the 12-year era of Republicans who let Big Oil to write America's energy laws.

This year, Speaker Pelosi and House Democrats have led the fight by passing bills to end tax breaks for Big Oil, outlaw price-gouging at the pump, and stop foreign oil cartels from dictating how much Americans pay to fuel our cars and heat our homes. But with House Republicans continuing to block this progress on behalf of their Big Oil friends, we need your help to hold them accountable today.

Contribute today to ensure we never turn back the clock and that we keep America moving forward. Be sure to add an extra $3.07 for the current average gallon of gas.

There are only 3 days left before November 30th and we need to raise $120,000 for our campaign to succeed.

Together we can ensure that House Republicans who help Big Oil at the expense of America's middle class families pay an even higher price at the polls next year than we paid at the pump last week.

Sincerely,

Brian Wolff
Executive Director

Iraqis protest attempted PSA rape & pillage maneuver

Back in May, I wrote about Dick Cheney's attempts to force the Iraqi government into Profit Sharing Agreements. This "deal" would effectively rape the nation of it's primary resource, while diverting nearly all of the profits to the foreign oil companies that would run the show.

About 300 oil industry workers gathered in Iraq’s main oil port of Basra on Monday to protest this draft law that they agreed "would allow foreigners to pillage the country’s wealth.”

To compensate for the military and political failure of the US administration in Iraq, this administration is trying to control the country’s wealth,” said the organizers, adding that "if this is endorsed by the parliament it would abolish sovereignty and hand over the wealth of this generation and the generations to come as a gift to the occupier”!

The protesters, employees of the Oil Pipelines Company, wore black surgical masks over their faces and carried banners and black coffins with the word “freedom” written on the sides. The clause in the draft hydrocarbon law allowing for production-sharing agreements with foreign oil companies is rightly seen by many Iraqis see as a throwback to the earlier era of Iraq colonial exploitation.

“This law, in fact destroys the achievements of the Iraqi masses and especially the Law number 80 of 1961 ( part of a bundle of socialist reforms issued by then-Prime Minister Abdul Karim Qassim, which sharply limited foreign involvement in the oil sector) and the nationalization of 1973,” said organizers.

The Bush administration and it's big oil allies, who sought to ram the draft hydrocarbon law through a government they helped set up and assumed that they controlled, can only be surprised by the awareness of the Iraqi people. As Shakes used to say "Don't fuck with me, boys - this aint my first time at the rodeo". The Iraqi people are used to having conquerors on their backs, and equally experienced in throwing them. . .