I Predict a Riot

After a hiatus, it takes a hurricane and a working pc to bring me back to the blog. Props to the other two of the triumvirate for providing quality posts. But since Vince may have to take a refrain from posting for a while, and demand for posts remains high, I will try to prevent any sort of stagflation from reaching this blog. If you have come to expect intelligent posts in the past, I assure you that this one will be dissappointing. This is a post, thrown together in haste, where I will try to explain to myself what exactly is happening here in Dallas. I welcome all of the people from New Orleans, as well as Houston, who have made their way to our nearly fair city, but this self imposed panic stemming from Rita is killing me.
I went on an odyssey this evening, a quest for fuel if you will, and what I witnessed frustrated and infuriated me. 30 minute lines at Shell, 20 a Chevron, and 7-11 stations that were closed becuase they had no gas at all. Now, I realize that this is not just occuring in Dallas, but all over Texas as people from the gulf area make their way inland, but this is ridiculous. I heard about more people getting gas because they were afraid of rising prices, rather than actually needing it at the time. It seems to me that all it takes for this to happen is some guy sending an email to his office saying "I heard gas prices will hit $5.00 per gallon, so fuel up," for this whole damn state to go ape shit. I am probably wrong, but doesn't a sudden spike in consumption make just as much impact upon an oil crisis as a lowering of production itself? That is the same stagflation that I refered to earlier in this post. Sure, people are trying to get gas at its cheapest, but isn't this just a postponement of the inevitable? I refer to the sideways Laffer curve to help illustrate my point.

And what is my point?, I am not exactly sure, I am just venting, but seriously, this sucks. I think I will sell my car and move to New York City. Come to my going away party this weekedn here in Dallas, if you can get a tank of gas, as I bid this state and my car farewell. Seriously.

P.S. - People stocking up on bottled water here in Dallas, expecting massive power outages, and general confusion are also killing me. They complain about gas prices, then pay an even more inflated price for H2O, due to this same panic. For pitty poop's sake. Save the water and drink the wine.