Naughty Oil Companies

For some reason, the prime time broadcast of PBS's NOW on oil company profiteering and Abu Ghraib was pre-empted by a stupid useless talking head show. You can catch it online here:

http://www.pbs.org/now/

Highlights from NOW's report:
- Oil companies are actively taking steps to increase prices.
- Retail gas stations get $0.06 of every $2.50 per gallon.
- Prices rose *before* hurricane damages.
- The price of gasoline rose 300% versus the price of crude oil before the hurricanes.
- Profits: Shell $21B, BP $15B, CP $10B, Chevron $10B, XOM $25B
- Refineries operated at excess capacity in the 90s and internal memos show that they planned to shut half of them down to boost profits.
- Shell took steps to shut down their most profitable refinery and lied about their reasons for shutting it down and lied to Congress about the refinery's profits.
- Pat Robertson tried to reopen an oil refinery in CA, but "a multibillion dollar oil company" pressured his bank with the withdrawl of their business if they brokered the deal.
- Oil companies are exporting and selling excess gasoline at the same time they are reporting shortages... to the tune of 2 billion gallons.

Death of a genius

Peter Drucker dead at 95. Truly a giant, an inspiration, and a great thinker.