Iran Bluster and Gas Prices

Ken O’Brien

Republican Presidential candidate Newt Gingrich has taken two contradictory positions on two critical issues. One is in the area of domestic energy prices and the other is in the area of foreign policy.

Gingrich has recently promised that under his Presidency he would return America to $2.50 per gallon gasoline.

On the other hand he has pledged to participate in a joint military action with Israel to prevent Iran from gaining a nuclear capability.

A recent report by the Council on Foreign Relations demonstrates the total inconsistency of these two positions. 

FRAK ME!!!

Ken O'Brien

Thirty years of the dominance of the  Reagan reactionary movement has reduced Americans to sniveling serfs hoping that crumbs will drop to their feet from the bountiful tables of their "betters". That is the legacy of trickle down economics, endless foreign military adventurism that matches anything envisioned by George Orwell, and the ascendancy of the rights of corporations over those of individuals.

Americans no longer dream big dreams.

The American dream is no longer a home with a picket fence and a dog in the yard.

The American dream is no longer a better future for our children and our grandchildren.

How To Lower Oil Prices --- UPDATE

Kenneth M. O’Brien

On May 9, I posted an article titled “How To Lower Oil Prices NOW!”

I subsequently sent the piece as a Letter to the Editor that appeared in the Southbridge Evening News.

I even went so far as to send the proposal to our Congressman Richard Neill.

Apparently, there are those who still feel that my ideas are outlandish and of little merit.

How To Lower Oil Prices NOW!

Kenneth M. O’Brien

At present a futures trader can control $100 of oil futures contracts with only $6.

This is the magic of what’s called “buying on margin”.

It is the basis for a great deal of speculation in the commodities markets.

It is the Exchanges that dictate the margin requirements on commodities contracts based on their assessment of market risk.

But, there is another, more insidious, element of margin requirements.