The above screencap comes from an AP.org article at Biz.Yahoo.com (find it here: http://biz.yahoo.com/…rices.html ). The article reports some interestingly conflicting news. Mainly it says that oil prices have broken $100 a barrel despite falling demand. This kind of journalism cracks me up. According to a Bloomberg article I found (here: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news ) the *US* demand for oil has dropped a whopping (not) 1.8 percent--this is US demand only, however. So, it's odd for the AP article to point out that oil prices are rising "despite" falling demand.

The fact of the matter is that there is a finite amount of oil on this planet and since more and more people are born every day it only makes sense that, unless major cultural changes are made, demand for oil will go up and up and up, planet-wide, while supply goes down and down.

OK, so a 1.8 percent of people who were using oil in the US aren't using it now (which makes no sense in itself), big deal--what about the millions of new people using oil today in China? What about people in other developing nations that are inching their way toward 1st World status?

Of course, the main news here is that the crack-cocaine of American life just got even more expensive. This means that it'll get more expensive to:

1) fill up your tank
2) heat your home
3) cook
4) buy anything with plastic or petroleum products in it

Yep, things like computers, DVDs, make-up, and just about anything else you use has oil in it. So, as oil prices rise, eventually, that rise in price will trickle down to each of us.

Too bad we can't, oh, I don't know--find some *other* way to power our cars, heat our homes or make plastic!

Of course, we have (even vegetable-based plastic exists: http://www.sony.net/…04/01.html ), but no one wants to talk about those things.