I know some of my more politically-left-leaning friends will be unhappy about the prospect of agreeing with Bill O'Reilly on something, but I encourage everyone to give this article a read. If Brazil can do it, so can we:

http://www.billoreilly.com/currentarticle

Gas Pains
By: Bill O'Reilly for BillOReilly.com
Thursday, Apr 20, 2006

The next time a gas fill-up costs you 40 bucks or more, consider this: Lee Raymond, the retired CEO of Exxon-Mobil, was paid more than one billion dollars by that company from 1993 to the present. Raymond's retirement package is about $400 million, according to published reports. Does everybody love Raymond? I don't. I think he's a greed-head.

The Exxon-Mobil board of directors approved Raymond's compensation, and guess who appointed most of those well-paid board members to their positions? Does the name Lee Raymond ring a bell?

And guess who is paying all those Exxon-Mobil salaries, including our pal Lee's? The regular folks who must buy gas to go to work and heat their homes. This is called "predatory capitalism."

Let me explain, and please keep in mind that I am a big-time supporter of capitalism. Gasoline supplies are at an eight year high, according to OPEC. There is plenty of gas selling on the open market, more than enough to meet the worldwide demand.

So rising gas prices are not a supply and demand issue.

What the American oil companies are doing is exploiting the uncertainty in the world. Every time the nutty Iranian government threatens to kill the Jews or the Americans or whoever, speculators bid up the paper price of a barrel of oil.

These speculators operate in the so-called commodities markets. They gamble on where the price of oil and other tangible assets will be months from now. These Vegas-type people sit in front of their computers and bid on "futures" contracts.

Every time the oil company executives, guys like Lee Raymond, see these people bidding up oil "futures," they order their retail gas station owners to jack up prices to you. Supply and demand my carburetor—this has nothing to do with the free market.

If you don't believe me, try to start your own oil company. Just try. The government has to approve almost everything these conglomerates do, and there's no room for any "startups."

So everyday Americans are at the mercy of a complicated shell game that is manipulated by a few people playing high risk financial roulette. But it is no game to millions of Americans who have to buy gas. We have no choice.

That's because the U.S. government declined to do what the government of Brazil did. Next year, Brazil, population 188 million, will be totally independent of imported oil. Back in the 1970's, the Brazilian government mandated that all cars sold in that country run on sugar-based ethanol. And now they do.

These are the same cars we drive. But in Brazil, the fuel situation is sweet. Vehicles run on sugar.

Back here in the USA, the federal government rejected ethanol, and all other alternative fuels, because Lee Raymond and his brethren wanted none of that. Raymond is in the oil business, not the sugar business.

In the time of the French Revolution, Lee Raymond and his $400 million pension would be running one step ahead of the guillotine. But today, some in America admire Raymond and support his unbelievable compensation.

But to those of us who really understand what's going on here, Raymond and his ilk are hurting the country and the government is their enabler. Talk about gas pains. There isn't enough Alka-Seltzer in the world.
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Movies - Paramount is resurrecting its "Star Trek."
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"Star Trek" is dead, long live "Star Trek". Paramount is resurrecting its "Star Trek" franchise by setting "Mission: Impossible III" helmer J.J. Abrams to produce and direct the eleventh "Star Trek" feature, aiming for a 2008 release reports Variety.

Abrams, who's highly buzzed M:I-III marks his feature directing debut, is most famous for creating and producing such hit series as "Lost", "Alias" and "Felicity". Damon Lindelof and Bryan Burk, Abrams' producing team from "Lost," also will produce the yet-to-be-titled feature.

The project, to be penned by Abrams and "Alias"/M:I-III scribes Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, looks like it'll be a prequel of the franchise with the story set in the early days of original series characters James T. Kirk and Mr. Spock - including their first meeting at Starfleet Academy and first outer space mission.

"Star Trek" has been Hollywood's most durable performer other than James Bond, spawning 10 features that have grossed more than $1 billion and 726 TV episodes from six shows spanning five decades.

The decision to relaunch comes a year after UPN pulled the plug on "Star Trek: Enterprise" amid dismal ratings, and four years after "Star Trek: Nemesis" turned in the worst performance of the ten films with $43 million domestic.

Its expected long time producers Rick Berman and Brannon Braga will not be involved and their proposed plans for an eleventh feature, including a script by Erik Jendresen, have been scrapped.