so. i know two things. first, capitalism is a good thing. and, second, things are usually more complicated than they appear. but, on the cusp of $4 per gallon of gas…

Republicans block Democrats’ attempt to impose windfall profits tax on oil companies

oh, and:

Separately, Democrats also failed to get Republican support for a proposal to extend tax breaks for wind, solar and other alternative energy development, and for the promotion of energy efficiency and conservation. The tax breaks have either expired or are scheduled to end this year.

super.

(courtesy of the supposed red star. natch.)

It’s long overdue to have a discussion regarding this.
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Yes, I’ve been MIA on SP as of late. No good excuses, just sheer laziness and focusing my time on different things. But there’s nothing like a run through the daily news to get one back untracked… (I did that just to annoy Alex)…

But enough rankling of fellow SP-ers, what’s happenin’ out there in the news-o-sphere?
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you know, we really could use an “austin in the news” category. get on that, al. it can be a graphic of a can of spam or something.

anyway. from the 5/21/08 edition of the austin daily herald:

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Came across this interesting article in the Washington Post recently. I guess I can understand that there needs to be regulation of gas pumps so that there can be no trickeration. . . but it still seems like overkill to crack down on a mom-and-pop gas station in the middle of nowhere. It’s probably one of the few places where it isn’t just a cliche that people meet at the local gas station to chat amicably. Everywhere else the only thing the person behind the counter at the gas station wants to talk about is which pump you filled up at.

And seriously, why is it seemingly so difficult for any company to manufacture an upgrade for these pumps? Seems odd to me. I bet it’s some ridiculous complication due to the nine-tenths pricing. I’ve never really understood that, and my half-arsed internet research hasn’t turned up any kind of sensible explanation. Anyone know anything about why we’re not paying $4 per gallon, we’re really paying 3 dollars and 99.9 cents per gallon?