Wednesday 24th of April 2024
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the "value" of greed .....

‘Americans paying $3 per gallon at the pump have it
relatively cheap when compared with prices globally, say oil and gas company
executives, who defend their record profits as essential to maintaining
supplies.

In
parts of Europe and elsewhere in the West, gasoline prices are more like $5 per
gallon to $7 per gallon, said the chairman of ConocoPhillips Co., James J.
Mulva. 

"This
is a global business, and it's not only that we need to add to supply, but we
need to reduce demand," Mulva said. "In the United States alone, we
have about 2 percent of world oil reserves, 5 percent of the population and yet
we use about 25 percent of the world's consumption of oil."

Mulva
and two other executives who appeared on NBC's "Meet the Press" said
they are optimistic about keeping a lid on domestic prices, unless their fears
come true about the potential for damage to U.S. energy production from the
hurricane season that began June 1.’ 

Big
Oil Executives Say Fuel Is Relatively Cheap

whilst privileged oil company executives arrogantly try
to convince us that “we’ve never had it so good”, their own obscene greed &
that of other corporate scamsters is coming under increasing scrutiny …..  

‘The Zacharias affair (named
after the former CEO of Vinci) that recently grabbed the headlines was not the
first of its kind. For a long time, bosses' remuneration has been debated in
France. In the United States, it's not the same. Capitalism's adversaries are
in a minority there, and, according to opinion studies, more than three
Americans out of four are not jealous of managers' salaries. They hope that
they or their children will one day have similar ones. Nonetheless, the
controversy has been swelling the last few months on the other side of the
Atlantic too. 

Thus, we witnessed a shareholder
revolt on May 25th at the Annual General Meeting of the distribution group,
Home Depot. The boss, Robert Nardelli, assisted by a very accommodating Board
of Directors, was paid 245 million dollars (194 millions Euros) during the last
five years. During the same period, the company's share price dipped 12% and
its principal competitor, Lowe, presented better results. The administrators
were not even present at the AGM and Mr. Nardelli, who refused to answer
questions, cut off the session after thirty minutes. 

At Exxon Mobil, the company that
realized the greatest profit in history last year (more than 36 billion dollars),
the AGM that took place May 31st in Dallas (Texas) was also an occasion for
shareholders to demonstrate their anger. The object of their ire: the salary
and pension bonus of 69.4 million dollars and 98.4 million dollars respectively
given CEO Lee Raymond on his departure. According to an analysis done for the
New York Times by expert accountant Brian Foley, Mr. Raymond will have received
more than 686 million dollars between 1993 and 2005, or $144,573 dollars per
day spent at the head of the petroleum giant.’

Bosses' Salaries Are
Controversial In The United States Too

looks another fine example of the rodent's "aspirational prosperity" ..... 

The dilemma

The dilemma for the big oil companies is not to price themselves out of their own market by inflicting too much pain on the consumers...

My primary observation for what it's worth in accuracy and elastic timeframes, tells me that there is about 10 to 20 per cent less cars during peak hour these days... Are my observations due to old age visual impairment, bad bean counting or the possibility that the price of petrol is encouraging more people to use public transport, bicycles, foot — or not be bothered to turn out at work since the day has turned into night, due to the Football World Cup...?

Imagine! As the price of petrol goes up, consumption can go down!
So the huge margins made by the companies and the obscene remuneration of directors are for a better greater cause...: Slowing global warming...!!!

And pigs do fly, of course...

crying wolf .....

The Editor,
Sydney Morning Herald.                     June
22, 2006.

Chairman of the ACCC, Graeme
Samuel, may well be right in asserting that “petrol stations are not gouging
customers” (‘No gouging at bowser’, Herald, June 22). 

If so, the obscene profits
reported by oil companies must mean that the profiteering is occurring further
along the supply chain, with retailers serving as a visible but unfortunate
scapegoat for consumer frustration. 

As always, our inept regulators
& their political masters keep themselves busy looking in the wrong place.

sceptical .... ??

The Editor,
Sydney Morning Herald.               June 23,
2006.

So, the federal government is
“sceptical” about the prospect that its latest parliamentary inquiry will find
evidence that petrol prices are rigged (‘Inquiry into price of petrol’, Herald,
June 23)? 

Well might we all be, given that
44 inquiries & investigations, conducted over a period of 23 years, have
revealed nothing.

more "aspirational prosperity" .....

‘Chief executive officers in the
United States earned 262 times the pay of an average worker in 2005, the
second-highest level in the 40 years for which there is data, a nonprofit
think-tank said on Wednesday. 

In fact, a CEO earned more in one
workday than an average worker earned in 52 weeks, said the Economic Policy
Institute in Washington, D.C.

The typical worker's compensation
averaged just under $42,000 for the year, while the average CEO brought home
almost $11 million, EPI said. 

In recent years, compensation has
been a hot issue with shareholders who have been bombarded with news stories
about chief executives who are given multimillion dollar bonus and pay packages
even if shares have declined. 

For example, the chief executives
of 11 of the largest companies were awarded a total of $865 million in pay in
the last two years, even as they presided over a total loss of $640 billion in
shareholder value, a recent study from governance firm the Corporate Library,
found.’ 

CEOs Earn 262 Times Pay Of
Average Worker

Flying kites

When the going gets tough, the fruitbats are let out for a day. From Bishop lobbies for flag desecration penalties: 

... "People are amazed actually that there is no protection for our national symbol, so we see strange fictions being resorted to," she said. ...

Wonderful, soul-stirring stuff from the Belfry. Yes, BB, we watch 'West Wing', too. And, by Jingo, we'll be out on July 4th, praising bombs bursting, too. "Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution." Yes, yes! The nation needs purification from its sins. Strange fictions, indeed.

No matter, disbelief is suspended after Hollow US defense for an empty threat:

... And the command and control system necessary to link everything together was cited in a recent report by the Pentagon's Inspector General's Office as having such poor network security that it very well could be hacked. That report proved so embarrassing that the Pentagon subsequently removed it from the inspector general's website.  ...

And from North Korea means business over missiles:

 ... Analysts have no doubt of North Korea's prowess in developing missiles far more sophisticated than Taepodong 2, the missile that North Korea is ready to fire on a test run, in view of the North's focus on missile engineering and production in recent years. If the North postpones firing Taepodong 2 in deference to international pressure, they warn, research and development will remain a priority for a regime that earns about $1.5 billion a year from the export of missile components and technology. ...

From Stealth fighter project 'flawed':

... Dr Nelson agreed that the transfer of information from the US to the project partners, such as details of the plane's stealth technology, was a significant issue and he vowed to walk away from the project unless guarantees were given.

"I will be meeting with US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld next week and this issue will be discussed," he said. ...

I suggest Dr Nelson takes a helmet (extra large) for head protection during his talks with Rummy, and a little flag to flutter.

All mod-cons at Kalaru, John? This will be reported to Bronny!

wishful thinking .....

Top executives at oil giant Shell
have begun a 50 city tour across the US this summer in the hope of persuading
angry consumers that Big Oil is not ripping them off.

gas regulators

From the New York Times

BP Named in Inquiry on Pricing

By JAD MOUAWAD
Published: June 29, 2006
Federal regulators charged yesterday that BP manipulated the price of propane two years ago by cornering the market through its dominant position, pushing up heating costs for millions of households at the peak of winter demand.

another squeaky wheel .....

Time Magazine asks: “Is BP really
that Green?”

The question has come into stark
relief following a series of environmental
and safety lapses - &, as of this week, federal charges of price-fixing
- which have muddied up the company's carefully cultivated image.

a fox with feathers .....

‘Even for an administration dedicated to putting industry lobbyists in charge of the very agencies they have devoted their careers to undermining (coal and oil lobbyist J. Stephen Griles as Deputy Secretary of the Interior is one of dozens of examples), President Bush has recently outdone himself. He has named Lee Raymond, the retired chief of ExxonMobil, to head a key study to help America chart a cleaner course for our energy needs. Raymond currently chairs the National Petroleum Council (NPC), one of the most powerful lobbies in Washington.

Environmentalists are outraged about the appointment of Lee Raymond. During his long tenure at ExxonMobil, the company spent $19 million on front groups designed to discredit the science on global warming. It also resisted funding clean energy alternatives and lobbied aggressively to drill in the Arctic Refuge.

ExxonMobil is considered a rogue company even among its peers. It vocally opposes U.S. energy independence and presses for deeper reliance on oil producing nations such as Saudi Arabia, where the company has sunk heavy investments. Critics argue that Mr. Raymond's legacy is to deny that oil dependence is a problem.

ExxonMobil is the only major oil giant calling renewable energy an "uneconomical" investment. Known for abruptly shutting off the microphone at shareholder's meetings when opposition is voiced, Mr. Raymond has the reputation of an impatient, authoritarian leader who shows no qualms about publicly belittling those who disagree with him.’

Bush Names Exxon Chief To Chart America's Energy Future