Occupy the GAS PUMPS

[NYC_SKP]

16. Here's a shortened URL and a snippet:

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2012/02/21/v-print/139521/once-again-speculators-behind.html

same link as: http://bit.ly/zN6W7D

Excerpt:

(as a preface, demand is down and the US is actually a net exporter-- so why are prices rising?)

... The ostensible reason for the climb of crude prices on the New York Mercantile Exchange, where contracts for future delivery of oil are traded, is growing fear of a military confrontation with Iran in the Persian Gulf's Strait of Hormuz, through which 20 percent of the world's oil passes.

Other factors driving up prices include last month's bankruptcy of Petroplus, a big European refiner, and a recent BP refinery fire in Washington state that's temporarily crimped gasoline supply along the West Coast; gas now costs an average of $4.04 a gallon in California.

While tension over Iran has ratcheted up over the last few months, the price of oil and gasoline has leaped far beyond conventional supply and demand variables. Financial speculators are piling into the market, torquing the Iranian fear factor into ever-higher prices.

"Speculation is now part of the DNA of oil prices. You cannot separate the two anymore. There is no demarcation," said Fadel Gheit, a 30-year veteran of energy markets and an analyst at Oppenheimer & Co. "I still remain convinced oil prices are inflated."

I think the idea of a protest is only as good as the degree to which we can enlighten/educate the people who see us.

With that in mind, I fully support getting out there.