A "Slippery Slope"...

AP: VIENNA, Austria - Oil prices rose Monday as traders weighed the effects of sabotage that disrupted Iraq's southern pipeline exports against partially resumed crude production in Ecuador.

Analysts cautioned against putting too much emphasis on the Iraqi outages, saying it was too early to say how long the shortfalls in output would last. An official of Iraq's South Oil Co. said exports had resumed on a limited basis, while other officials said waiting tankers were being serviced by pumps on auxillary power at a rate much reduced from normal.

As if gas prices of $3/gallon weren't bad enough, contemplate what they're really paying for: A booming Saudi stock market. Subsidies for Castro. And...weapons for terrorists.

Iran's mullahs, locked in a standoff with the U.N. and U.S. over Tehran's nuclear ambitions, are boosted by an oil-rich economy that will grow 6% this year and next.
(According to the International Monetary Fund)

After the 9/11/01 attacks, the Saudis met U.S. demands by ending government support for Islamic charities linked to terrorism. But individuals in the kingdom continue to send cash to groups that support terrorists.

"We know wealthy Saudis are funding terror. With higher oil prices, they just have more money to do so," says Rachel Bronson, director of Middle East studies for the Council on Foreign Relations.

Saudi Arabia's population has exploded from 5.7 million in 1970 to 25 million today. That has driven down per-capita oil export revenue from more than $22,000 in the early 1980s to less than $5,000 today.

"Even with oil at $65 a barrel," says Bronson, "they can't solve all their economic problems."

There's no time like the present to increase funding of alternative energy research, and using the existing technology as much as possible.

I get relatively good gas mileage with my Harley, but the cold weather's a-comin'...