I read today on the CNN and Fox News web sites that Exxon/Mobil has posted the highest quarterly profit in US corporate history:



10 Billion dollars. TEN BILLION IN ONE QUARTER!! People are freaking out about heating and other fuel costs, and those assholes made 50% of their record profits from last year in one quarter. I don't care what anyone tells me, this is not right. They are laughing at us right now, sitting in their corner offices and putting their middle fingers up, shouting "Fuck you jerks, we can do this and you're so addicted to oil you can't do a goddamn thing about it!"

There comes a time when a company should give back to the country that allows it to earn big profits - like for example during national emergencies. Is 5 Billion in profit not enough? Is 1 Billion not enough? People's heating costs are expected to rise by 90 percent this winter and Exxon would rather see their pockets getting fatter instead of their customers having heated homes and lower gas prices during a time of national emergency. FUCK YOU EXXON!!

Jason

Here is an article from National Review about IPTV:



I like the idea of being able to tailor-make your tv environment. I don't watch most of what's on tv. If I could have sports, educational programming, history channel, discovery, sci fi - I would probably have everything I want. I wonder how this will play out in the future, given that companies eschew technology advances when it won't make them money.

I don't like the fact that we don't have choices when it comes to certain things - like electricity and cable tv. It's true, Adelphia owns Buffalo. You can't get away from their advertising (I noticed that the big screen on Chippewa (e:Paul) posted about recently pimped Adelphia). Cable TV and other business sectors own monopolies all over the USA. In general I like my Adelphia internet - it is much much better than DSL and costs the same. I also like my digital cable. I've discovered lots of programming that I never knew existed. One thing I know for sure is that if other cable providers were allowed to compete with Adelphia in the Buffalo market we all would get better service and better prices. Will that ever happen? HA! No way - like the article says local governments are complicit in this kind of travesty.

When are utilities or cable providers ever subject to competition, like every other kind of business? I'm beginning to move toward the left when it comes to regulating certain industries - it is obvious we are being taken for a ride when it comes to energy. I remember back in Jamestown - the city of Jamestown has its own electricity company, under the authority of the city government. Service is great and prices are cheap. Oil companies are making record profits. Energy companies make backroom deals with politicians to screw us over.

I'm beginning to think that certain industries are too important to leave to our capitalist structure - energy being the most important. We also will be slow to receive technological advances in this industry because of profit concerns. There are so many political decisions made in the interest of keeping our energy needs intact. I can't wait for the day when we can tell the middle east FUCK OFF, KEEP YOUR DIRTY OIL. I am not naive enough to think this can happen overnight, but we should be making a serious push to a near-future of energy independence. Well, at least as long as it isn't in our own back yard!

Jason