Baby, you can't drive my car.

I was gong to write about my sojurn in Palm Springs, but that will have to wait for another day. Because, today, within the span of 5 minutes I received 3 e-mails with the same subject line. ”Your help. Can it impact prices. . . . ”
An e-mail about how lil’ ole you can help control the high price of gas, simply by boycotting Exxon and Mobile and forwarding the e-mail to 30 people exhorting them to do the same. “Buyers control the marketplace!” “Join the resistance.”
It encourages you to forward the e-mail to 30 people. “Do the math. We can reach 30 million people.”

Where do these things start? And why do people forward them. They don't even have the courtesy to delete the forwarded trails so you have to scroll through several thousand lines to find out what the inane message it. The e-mail claims to have started with Paul Kingsley RCDD. (should I know who he is?) The e-mail mentions a “retired coca Cola executive with an "engineer buddy who worked at Halliburton.”

OK. Think about the above for just a second. Halliburton is in cahoots with GW and has made millions off of government contracts to provide “services” to the U.S. in Iran. Let’s just call it war profiteering and leave it at that. So, now they’re the experts behind this pseudo 60s movement to bring down gas prices. Really people. Think. Think before you forward an e-mail and clog up my in box.

I also love the left wing language of this particular junk e-mail: “Join the resistance.” Makes me remember my faux-protestor days at the U of M and the Students for a Democratic Society. Yes, now protesting is sanctioned by Halliburton and Coca Cola. Two big American Capitalistic Pig Corporations -- Up against the wall Muthaf***er, but stay refreshed ‘cause Coke is it.

I usually just hit the delete button, but today, I got cranky and responded with something that went like this:

Gas prices will continue to rise no matter what.
If you haven’t noticed, China is poised to become the largest consumer of oil on the planet. China is becoming a major market for everything – computers, software, and yes, cars.
There are over 1 billion people in China.
There are only 298 million people in the US.

Most Chinese people don’t have cars.
Many Chinese people WANT a car. There are likely several hundred million who will have one. Real soon.
Cars use gas.
The US consumes 20.03 million barrels of oil per day.
China consumes 6.391 million barrels of oil per day.
Do the math. Real math. Not play-junk-e-mail-math.
As the Chinese start driving cars and consuming oil, they will far outstrip the US consumption of oil.

So, the best solution is to STOP silly boycotts that will not affect gas prices in the short or long term and START developing alternate types of fuel and conserving energy. Real soon.

What about saving gas by carpooling, or using rapid transit (i.e. the bus or Light Rail if you live close enough),
or driving less – consolidate your “errand” trips, or ride your bicycle and get your fat ass some exercise (that would help reduce obesity, too. So, score on two major issues facing our nation today.).
Or move closer to your place of employment.


Americans have been spoiled by low gas prices for too long. What goes up, unfortunately isn’t gonna come down. Get used to it people. Baby, you can drive my car. But it's going to cost you.

Listening to: Highway 61 revisited, Bob Dylan.
Eating: Drive-thru food.