Blowin' Gas

AAA: Average price of gas in Washington $4.35
By The Associated Press
The AAA auto club says the average price of gallon of gas for drivers filling up for the Fourth of July in Washington is $4.35 That's up 20 cents...

The AAA auto club says the average price of gallon of gas for drivers filling up for the Fourth of July in Washington is $4.35.
That's up 20 cents in the past month and $1.27 in the past year. It's also 25 cents higher than the national average. (we have a very high gas tax in our state, because we don't pay much on our car tabs and still must pay for social programs)

The AAA survey also found the average price of a gallon of diesel is $4.87. That's down four cents in the past month but $1.86 higher than a year ago.

The survey for today found the highest gasoline prices in Bellingham at $4.46 and lowest in Spokane at $4.11.

Gas prices in some other cities, according to the AAA: Seattle $4.38, Tacoma $4.35, Olympia $4.38, Vancouver $4.33, Yakima $4.29, Tri-Cities $4.25.


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I've Got Gas

Interesting....
Look at how gas prices dropped around election time in 2004.
Then skyrocketed, DOUBLED, within 6 months after the 2nd W-Bush presidency began.

Then trailed off again in November as it came time to elect local officials... then went UP again...

Now, the trend may show "hey, that's the Memorial Day to Labor Day span! They ALWAYS jack the price up!" The greatest spike is right at the end of that span. And right about the time most major cities start forcing ethanol into the gas to cut emissions.

Not so in 2007. Maybe we "found" some more oil to refine?

Whatever the reasons, we're still paying less than Canada, and perhaps less than we will, eventually.

Exxon's profits last year hit $39,500,000,000.
That is 39.5 BILLION. Profit. Could they live if that was cut in half?

In November 2000, a barrel of crude was $28. Now, gas is over $120 a barrel. We are driving cars that are more fuel efficient. All other driver behavior is probably the same, except for the text-messaging friends from behind the wheel.
"OMG TRAF SUX. SUM GUY FLP'D ME BRD."

So what changed?
Our political leadership, from the Presidency down through a staunchly anti-progressive Congress.
Our relations with the oil-producing nations of the Middle East. They got lucky staying in those boundaries and finding oil, it's not like they are mixing their own recipe in the trunk of their gold Benz'os.

So hey, a lot plays into how and when gas prices go up. They've gone up over $.10 in the past 8 days.

My paranoid conspiratorial side says "The Bush oil cronies are only on-line for a few more months and will gouge until November, then they'll bottom the prices as far as they can around election time." Just sayin'. Hmm...

PERHAPS... It's an experiment to see how much we'll pay for gasoline. What's your price?

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Another Way To Create Hatred

The U.S. Travel Safety Administration, which has on a number of occasions allowed me to get harassed and annoyed by any number of people who don't understand that flying is a PRIVILEGE and not a REASON TO NOT SHOWER AND GET DRUNK IN A TANK TOP FOR 5 HOURS WHILE THEIR KIDS FIGHT...

Recently stopped a 7 year-old boy 3 Times because he shared his name with a Pakistani man who was on the "watch" list. Full Article is all up on THIS LINK.

Mind you, I'm all for keeping kids off of planes, but the problem runs much deeper here. Like Rosie O'Donnell back-fat deep.
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EXCERPT!

For seven-year-old Javaid Iqbal, the holiday to Florida was a dream trip to reward him for doing well at school.

But he was left in tears after he was stopped repeatedly at airports on suspicion of being a terrorist.

The security alerts were triggered because Javaid shares his name with a Pakistani man deported from the US, prompting staff at three airports to question his family about his identity.

The family even missed their flight home from the U.S. after officials cancelled their tickets in the confusion. And Javaid's passport now contains a sticker saying he has undergone highlevel security checks.

(the boy's mother) Dr Nadeem said: "The system should cross reference the name, then a date of birth or some other information."

The name Javaid Iqbal was blocked and flagged up as a security alert on each airport's computer system set up by Homeland Security, a US organisation.

A 39-year-old Pakistani man of that name was arrested in New York two months after the terror attack on the World Trade Centre in 2001.

He was never charged with any terrorism offences, although he was convicted of fraud for having false papers and deported.

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To think that I am being soft on terror or softer on children, BITE YOUR TONGUE. I dislike them equally. But eventually there must be a scaling back of the situations so as not to burn images like this into the minds of children from nations filled with people looking for reasons to hate America, Americans, and E! Television.

Javaid Iqbal is 7 years old. I somehow doubt he was leaving New York a few weeks after 9/11/01 with a passport unless, you know, he was freakishly overdeveloped for a one year-old. That would be highly suspicious, and I'd probably Shiite myself.

As somebody who is stopped at Airport Security every single time I go through, (Thank You Nic Frisk and your wayward Harley Sportster, pre-9/11!!!), I can tell you it sucks. And it sucks so much that I plan to make sure that I will always arrive at the airport with enough time to get through security, and have a drink before getting to my gate.

Because when I get to security and they ask me "Would you like a private room?" My answer will always be "Yes." And I will take as much time as is needed to make sure that I am not getting on a plane with any dignity or way to defend myself against a 7 year old.

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