The Swiss have a dark side....

The Swiss have history they would like to forget. For almost 100 years poor and rebellious youth were put in prison or work camps by the state without trial, and without committing a crime. The reason? Read the article and find out why.  Will they get justice?
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$5 a gallon gas..

One ex-Shell Oil CEO has predicted $5 a gallon gas by 2012. While some people are scoffing at the idea, I figure it sounds about right. We are in a different world now. I talked to an friend who works for Chevron in Bakersfield and he said there is not really a shortage of oil, just a shortage of cheap oil. He was saying that to get oil is harder, and the quality of crude is not as good as it was in the past. Also, if you really want to do some research Google 'peak oil'.

We are also in a market where China and India are now wanting more oil. When I lived in Long Beach (back in 2003) one of my neighbors was a commodities broker who worked the exchange and his specialty was oil. He said back then that the Chinese were buying futures and were willing to pay 25% more than other buyers for oil. This is probably more the norm today.

We are facing a future where we need to look at alternative means of getting around. I'm into bikes, and my bigest gas guzzler gets 28 mpg. We need to look forward, more public transit, more pedestrian friendly cities, and the end of suburbs and the revitalization of the city core  It will be a change we will face soon enough.





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