Why am I paying $2.00 a gallon again?

I mean didn't we send like the whole armed forces into Iraq last year so that I wouldn't have to scrape all the change off the floor just to make sure my Tercel can make it to work every day? I mean, geez, what are all these soldiers doing over there? Someone should check on that.

Meanwhile I have to buy two less lottery tickets a week at the Exxon station because all that impulse purchase money is going into the gas tank. Why is this happening? Here's a clue. WSJ Dec. 2003

"China is having an incredible influence on energy flows, not just in Asia but on a worldwide basis," Peter Davies, chief economist at BP, told reporters on a recent trip to Russia, from where BP hopes to supply China with Siberian gas. "The whole centre of gravity of the world energy market is changing."

So far, the most obvious impact has been on prices. In recent years, China has drawn fire in the US and Japan for exporting deflation, as its factories pump out cut-price T-shirts, sneakers, radios and other goods. In the $US1 trillion-a-year ($1.36 trillion) market for oil, the opposite is happening. This year and next, China is expected to account for about a third of the increase in global oil demand. China's purchases are an important reason the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries has been able to keep the cost of a barrel of oil at or above $US30 a barrel for much of this year.

This high demand for oil is driven by the enormous increase in capital investment in China which has taken place over the last decade. International markets have taken advantage of China's ample cheap labor supply and lax environmental standards to create a petro-guzzling manufacturing giant. This week, the Chinese government announced that it will take measures to combat inflation indicating a general slowdown in economic growth. However, oil prices are expected to remain buoyant.

So I guess, I'll just have to go without a powerball entry this week. At least I can still buy food.... oh wait a minute.

US environmentalist Lester Brown warned Wednesday that sudden food price hikes in China could be the sign of a coming world food crisis brought on by global warming and increasingly scarce water supplies among major grain producers.

Uh oh.