Raison D'être

I was talking to another Airman about the price of oil and his final point to me was this: People need gasoline just to work, so it should be cheap. Of course, as he told me this, he was living well over 20 miles from base and driving some kind of Pontiac YankTank... Yaris, anyone?

Well, well, well...

Nobody should exist for the sake of another. That is tragic. What is criminal, though, is that people expect others to exist for their sake. This is not an attack on selflessness or charity, mind you, but states the basic premise of individual liberty. Selflessness and charity can be practiced by anyone at anytime, but it must be voluntary.

Oil companies do not exist to serve anyone but those who are the company. They have a good, they want money for it. No money, no good. How else would you have it? Oil is not refined by goodwill. It is not transported by charity. Fuel is not an entitlement.

The minute that anyone or anything (like a company) is forced to exist solely to serve another, that entity will wind down, becoming inefficient, producing poor goods, doing sloppy work... at best. And why not? Why should the slave be proud of his work? Why should he do more that the barest minimum? At worst, the entity will simply fade away, producing nothing, serving nobody.

Existance for another's sake is slavery. It destroys the spirit of a person, and it guts a company, reducing production and quality. There is also another name for this, the source of my knowlege of what could happen: Communism. Look at the Soviet Union: Companies were told what to make and prices were fixed by the government. There were constant shortages, quality was poor, and in the end, everyone came up short.

You must be true to yourself, whether you are a person or a group of people who form a corporation. You should not exist for the sake of anyone, and it must never be that anyone exists for your sake.

Profit Margins

Now, for my next little educational bit in defense of capitalism, I'll explain the concept of profit margin, how it applies to oil companies, and how it proves that oil companies are not raping the consumer.

First, the concept. This is really elementary, I know, but if you hate oil companies because of how much money they make, you need to read this.
Let's say you sell somebody a dozen eggs from organically-fed, free-range, hormone-free hens. You sell those eggs for a buck fifty. Now, how much money did you just make? You did not make $1.50. You made less than theat because you had to pay for a building to shelter the chikens at night, some hormone-free chicken food, some oyster shell calcium suplement, etc... it costs you a certain amount of money to produce those eggs. If you divide your total cost or production by the number of egg-dozens that you sell, you get your cost of operation. Any money that you get in excess of that figure is profit. Your profit divided by your cost is known as profit margin.

Consider the following: In 4th quarter '05, Exxon Mobil* posted a profit of 9,900,000,000 if i recall correctly. In that same quarter, their income, or total sales, were 100,000,000,000. So that's a profit margin of about ten percent, right?
Consider the profit margins of other American industries and companies for the duration of 2005:

Pacific Gas & Electric, 14.7%
IBM, 8.3%
Clorox, 25%
Pfizer, 15.8%
ITT Educational Svcs., 15.9

I picked some shining stars for that one, the average of all American business is, I hear, about ten percent. So what's the big deal about an oil company posting a profit of about ten percent?

Exxon Mobil is the largest corperation in the world. It is only reasonable to expect astronomical profits. In fact, the shareholders (individuals that invest in the company in return for influence and a share of the profits) would throw fits if the margin was too low. Note that most of us are shareholders, whether we know it or not: mutual funds, retirement accounts, etc... but that's off topic at this time.
The main point is this: To make money, you must spend money. To keep 9.9 billion on one quarter, Exxon Mobil had to spend one hundred billion. That ten percent profit margin has not really changed all that much, either. As oil price rises, something that IS NOT controlled by the likes of Exxon Mobil by the way, the price of all petrochemicals rises. Also, as Exxon Mobil grows, so do their profits because they are doing that much more business.

So simple. So misunderstood. For crying out loud, this is not complicated. It blows my mind that anyone expresses outrage at this.

Next time: I'll address the argument of 'but I need gasoline to go about my life, so it sould be cheaper.'
*I see Exxon Mobil taking more heat that just about any other petrocorp... so I use them as my example... Plus, Esso sponsored some scientific research of coral reefs done by my relatives way back when.

The Pitfall of Windfall

So you want a winfall tax? You want some magic number, a profit figure at which a huge tax kicks in? Really? If you do, you are probably one of the folks that didn't make it to class the day that the teacher was lecturing on economics. I say this because it's almost axiomatic that anytime a corperation is taxed, the tax is simply included in the price of whatever goods or services that the corperation sells. So, let's say that windfall tax gets slapped on Exxon Mobil. It now costs them more to do business. How will they compensate? By charging more for their products. Duh.

Go ahead and ask for that windfall tax. You're the one that's going to pay it... oh, well, you and everyone else including me.

I think that the whole concept of windfall taxation comes from the Marxist idea of class warfare. Those who propose it do not seek to better anyone's life, but to pit 'average' citizens against another group of citizens that happen to sell petrochemicals. To what end, I can only speculate, but it would be a natural extension to assume that eventually, these people (tax proposers) will use such means as a way to centralize industry. Those who support the tax are not guilty of such sinister intention, but are badly misguided in their thought and have fallen victim to the us-versus-them mentality. They can't see past big numbers and their own pettiness, most most disturbingly, as evident by their behavior, believe that they are entitled to things by virtue of existance.
If there is a third group that supports this idea, they are awfuly quiet. I can only see the pre-Marxists and the foolish with extended hands.

What really bugs me is how many Republicans seem to be leaning toward the Marxist end of this whole oil thing. I'm not a Republican so much, but I vote for them because they are, or at least were, that much farther away from Communism and Socialism than the Democrats.

Obscene Profits

Per unit (can't recall if it's dollars or gallons, but it's irrelevant) of unleaded, oil companies get about seven cents profit. $0.07...
Per unit of unleaded, the various U.S. Governments get about sixty nine cents. $0.69...
These figures shamelessly ripped off from Glenn Beck...

.69 is about ten times .07...

Oh, but there is more!

Oil companies pay taxes...
Oil executives pay taxes as well, and in the case of a certain recently retired CEO, taxes will likely be in the 50% range... HALF!
You'll note that their product is heavily taxed as well...

Taxes are not levied by oil companies, are they?
I got your obscene profits right here! Why is anyone upset at oil companies?
I have a far better target for investigation on 'obscene profits': it's housed in a huge, marble, building in Washington, D.C. It has a dome. It's on one end of the mall, NOT the side.

It is Washington that has kept new refineries from being built.
It is Washington that has prevented drilling in ANWR.
It is Washington that has created the fuel shortages on the east coats by not letting the remaining MTBE treated fuel be sold.
It is Washington that has not cut taxes on fuel.
It is Washington that has not allowed the expansion of offshore drilling.

I want to scream endless explanations and exhortations until I stop hearing loud voices that either don't understand a simple situation or that wish to exploit that mass missunderstanding for political gain... but what good would it do? I'm hopelessly outgunned.

Next up: How a windfall tax would be paid by US.

Perspective on Fuel Prices

Time for a rant. Oh yes, I love a good rant. They are so relieveing... detoxifying... even cathartic... Since you get to read my rants and not my elations, I must seem like a pretty dark and stern person. Oh, well, so be it. Here I go!

I've about had it with all the whining, moaning, and even instistance on probes into the oil companies. I do not like paying three bucks for a gallon (of fuel and corn-derived ethanol in my case), but I roll with the punches, suck it up, and thank God that I bought a Ranger with a 3 liter engine instead of an F150 with a five liter chipmunk cage.

Here is my earth-shaking perspective:

Many are upset at the 400,000,000 (I like to write out the zeros for perspective) retirement package that Exxon-Mobil CEO Lee Raymond just got. Oh by the way, it's closer to 398,000,000 dollars, but if you think that's a small difference, ask yourself what you could do with 2,000,000 dollars.
To continue, people I've spoken to are even angrier at Exxon-Mobil's recent profits. For my example, I'll choose the net profit from the third quarter of last year, since that was the the quarter that started most of the whinefest: 8,300,000,000 dollars. That comes out to $1.58 per share. It's also worth noting that 23,000,000,000 dollars were paid to shareholders in one form or another for all of 2005... anyway...

If Lee Raymond was to give away his entire retirement package to the American people, each person would get about 1.33 dollars, leaving himself 1.33 dollars to retire on after a long career as the head of one of the most successful global corperations. One and a third dollars... how would you spend it? Might I remind you that this leaves him with one and a third dollars as a retirement package? If you can't figure out why he has $1.33 still, you should never comment on anything to do with money ever again.

Let's zoom out a step now and look at the world. Exxon Mobil is a global company. They opereate in nearly 200 nations according to their website. The U.S. recognizes 192 nations worldwide, so I think it's safe to assume that Exxon Mobil pretty much does business everywhere in some form. Why is this important? Because it means that we Americans are not feeding all of that 8,300,00,000 dollar profit. The world is, but some of the world less than others. So, for that sake of argument, say that half the people in world buy from Exxon Mobil... shoot, say that one third are buyers.
If Exxon Mobil operated at no profit at all, 2,000,000,000 people would become four bucks richer every quarter at current profit levels. This leaves nothing for expansion beyond what is already happeneing and more importantly, nothig for the shareholders to whom the company is accountable.

Get the picture now?

Do not be upset that this company is successful. That's just petty jealousy and I dearly hope that we all got over that sometime in kindergarten or grade school. Because somebody has does not mean that he or she stole from somebody else. Get that straight!
I think that if I can be at peace with oil profits driving what I drive (Late 90s Ford Ranger if you care to look up fuel economy) and making what I make (Examine the Airman pay grades for the first few years of service and you'll have a clue), you can too. I'm not rich and I've had to change many of my habits to accomodate fuel costs, so I know of what I write.
It's not convenient to have fuel prices high when so many of us have lived for so long with cheap fuel, but our ancestors have ridden out times like these. We can too. Last, shut up about that $5.33 that you don't have if you are one of the ones moaning about 'obscene profits'.

Wow, rants feel good. That one had its caustic moments... and at the risk of seeming like I too well enjoy seeing myself in digital print, I'm off to smell the roses... or whatever is blooming at the moment!

Earth Day

It's Earth Day... not as exciting for me as Arbor Day, which today happens to be in this state.
I have not a thing for it, though... too bad really, this state needs many more trees as far as I am concerned. Granted, I'd plant trees in the ocean if I could... okay maybe not, but a few Perelandra-esque floating tree island would be neat.

Alas, I have no land on which to plant, though I suppose that trying to make forest invade arrid grassland is not the most ecologically sound idea. I think I'll just hold out for the day that I can move to someplace with many trees, and trees that are not carnivorous like the ones out here tend to be.

I had no point with this, I just thought I'd point out how much I like trees, and it was Arbor day so it will less like the ramblings of an Airman who sees far too little daylight.

Gratuitous Green Link.

Also, if you are into trees, look up cathaya some time. That's my most recently learned-of tree and it's an interesting story.

Support the... Michelle Malkin?

...Way cooler than I.

She has my back, I have hers so far as I can. I've long agreed with her and think that she provides a positive contribution to the internet's content.

I know it's all window dressing for the most part, but I have aswered this call. I guess it's like those little 'Support the Troops' signs on cars: not really meaningful in the grand scheme of things, but why not?

Michelle Malkin rules!

I love the Air Force

I'm bad, haven't posted, all that... It's spring and that means that I sometimes go out and do stuff to try and grasp at that mythical thing that some people have refered to as 'life'. That, and the Air Force has been keeping me on my toes a bit more than usual. That's okay, I love the Air Force... a lot... I mean that I like it so much that I end some weekends wanting to go back to the ops area early, and not just the crappy weekends, either.

Let's see, what's been going on?

• Iran sucks. Israel a threat? Projection, anyone?
• Michelle Malkin rules. I support her fully in the face of recent unpleasantness.
• CENTCOM rules. They opened an all-girls school in Afghanistan to help spin up girls that were left behind by the last system.
• Rep. McKinney sucks. Still. I hate people who do things to cops becaue, well, I love cops.
• Immigration protestors suck. As comedian Carlos Mencia says, 'if you want to be treated like an American, don't wave a Mexican flag'... or something to that effect.
• Anti-Oil whiners suck. Where were you when so much of the oil industry went under? And where have you been every time taxes have gone up? Quit whining and suck it up like the rest of us that actually understand economics. Profits = good.
• Bush is riding the fence between sucking and ruling. He needs to be a lot more decisive, imho. At least He's defending himself... mostly... does he know that this an an election year? Time to stand up straight. His enemies will never be appeased, but his friends can easily be alienated.
• Israel rules. Still standing tall and up for what's good through another savage round of attacks from the 'peace-loving' Hamas.
• Hamas sucks. They get elected to power and, well, nothing changes. They will never be happy until every last Jew is dead. "This ain't negotiations! These guys are playin' for keeps!"
• China sucks. Still pounding her people into the ground. I hope that this wrong can be righted soon.
• Duke LaCrosse team... rules? Am I the only one that smells a rat in the DA's office? This situation reeks of something along the lines of the DA not liking the team/coach/school for reasons purely personal.
• Tornados suck. No explanation required.
• Polls suck. What people think is not news. What people do is.
  
• NBC sucks. Trying to paint NASCAR fans as bigots to make a story where there is none is just dirty.
• Fox sucks. They took Firefly off the air! (old news, but I still hate them for it.)

• Air Force rules. No explantion required.

And now, your moment of zen:


Wow. Profound.

Mile 100

The Ironman is over. It was fun while it lasted, but it's nice to have weekends free of the effort of scheduling a five mile run around snowboarding or other all day activities... of course, I ought to find more to do around here because all this driving is using way too much fuel.

Way to Go...

Some people just can't leave well enough alone, for example, the person who wrote this piece that has been dubiously passed off as news.
Nice downspin on an up event. Success is bad, mmmkay? That's what I got out of it, at any rate.

Google goes Extraterrestrial

Check it out! Start scoping out your space ranches now!

Mile 85

I saw my first rainbow of the year, a full triple, as I ran.
I'm so ready to end this, but I feel so much stronger than I did eighteen days ago. This Ironman, as we call it, is a great way to dust of a body that's stagnated over the winter.
I still can't get over my new shoes.

Distance: About five miles.
Time: About 40 minutes.
Playlist: Linkin Park
Feeling: Fine.

Mile 75

Some kind of flying insect is infesting my track, taking the form of thick swarms that leave one covered in little bugs when run through... they don't seem to bite, at least.

Distance: somewhere under five miles.
Time: something under 40 minutes.
Playlist: Mortal (stuff from all the albums except Wake and NuEnJin)
Feeling: like I'm ready to not run five miles a day.

Some are shot...

When law enforcement says stop, YOU STOP. I think that certain people, who shall remain nameless, ought to be aware that LE is there for our protection, and in places like Federal buildings, they are on one the frontlines against terrorism among other things. Now, in a House of Representatives office building, I expect tight security. I expect anyone not bearing the correct ID to be detained until their identity is verified. Appearences be damned, I would never want anyone admitted on their face alone.
Now, some places I know of, you'd be shot for failing to stop at the order of on site security. Shoot, they'll put you on the concrete at gunpoint if they see you hanging around the same spot for five minutes. God help you if you try and get past them. Some people should feel lucky that the House offices are not one of those places and further, should appologize if they tried to waltz in without ID and then hit a cop who was simply doing what he was orderd to in order to keep, say, the repsentative from Georgia, safe.
When LE says, stop, STOP. Don't be that guy who doesn't.

Mile 55

Boba milk tea is a great pre-run breakfast. How Californian of me, I know. Also, I think that the 2006 Mizuno Wave Alchemy 5's are better than last years by a fairly good margin even if they don't look as cool. Now, I thought last year's were just about perfect... these new ones are just amazingly comfortable. I got the 2006 models right before this Ironman began...

Distance: 5.3 miles
Time: somewhat less than a hour, that's all I know. I really should buy a watch... but then I'd have to wear it.
Playlist: King's X (stuff from Dogman, Ear Candy, King's X, and Gretchen Goes to Nebraska)
Feeling: euphoric. I had an endorphine rush like no other since... that's another story.

Side note: It's been a while since I listened to King's X. I won't say that I forgot how awesome they are, but the reminder was a nice kick in the teeth. Those guys make very original and inspired music that really rocks.