Free Republic

The chasm between those who want President-elect Barack Obama to produce his birth certificate to verify his eligibility to hold the nation's highest office and those who simply support the Democrat is widening. "The Constitution means what we today decide it means," opined one participant on a new WND forum that offers readers an opportunity to express their opinion on the birth certificate dispute.

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Crude prices tumbled Friday and a gallon of gasoline fell below year-ago levels for the first time in 2008, even as OPEC announced a huge production cut in an attempt to halt the declines. --snip-- Gathered in Vienna, Austria, on Friday to stanch plunging oil prices, OPEC announced it would slash oil production by 1.5 million barrels a day. Oil prices plunged more than 5 percent. --snip-- Light, sweet crude for December delivery fell $3.69 to settle at $64.15 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices had fallen as low as $62.85 earlier in the...

As of 11:07 Pacific Time: Crude Oil 116.24 +11.69

...and it *was* down to $94.13! Wouldn't it be great to see it go below $89.99 by the end of the day? ;OD

I cannot post the content, but here's the link to the Bloomberg news story: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aoNw5BZAk8Uc&refer=home Hopefully, this does not contravene the rules.

The price of Crude Oil was $99.57 as of 11:15AM EDT today! And on a Sunday, no less. :oD

Large and dangerous Hurricane Ike approaching the Upper Texas coast. Mandatory evacuations began in earnest Thursday as an estimated one million coastal residents headed inland. There were widespread reports of gas stations running out of fuel. The National Weather Service posted dire storm surge predictions of 20-25 ft storm surge along the coast and bay heads. Hurricane warnings covered a 400 mile swath of the Gulf of Mexico. Wholesale gasoline prices spiked 30 percent Thursday, or nearly $1 a gallon, out of fear of what Ike might do. Public Advisory Updated every 3 hours Discussion Updated every 6 hours Buoy...

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Oil futures tumbled nearly $7 a barrel on Tuesday after Hurricane Gustav hit the Gulf region with less force and apparently less damage than nitially feared. Prices were also pulled lower by a strengthening dollar and a return to concerns that an economic slowdown has crippled demand for energy. U.S. crude futures for October delivery dropped $6.81 a barrel to $108.65 at 11:40 a.m. ET.

Oil prices have dropped about 20 percent in a little more than a month, but that may not mean it's time to put the pedal back to the metal for long recreational drives. It's true that a weakening economy, a sell-off by speculators and a stronger dollar have broken the momentum that sent crude near $150 a barrel hardly a month ago. But in this case, what goes down may come up once the drop in prices makes fuel consumption more attractive. Last summer, Americans breezed through once-unthinkable $3-per-gallon gasoline, driving as much as they did in 2006 while starting...

LONDON (AFP) - Crude prices continued their dizzying spiral down on Friday, shedding nearly four dollars to trade below 114 dollars a barrel as the US currency strengthened amid concerns about energy demand, dealers said. Brent North Sea crude for September delivery hit an intra-day low of 113.55 dollars a barrel. It recovered slightly to stand at 114.06 dollars, down 3.80 dollars, at about 1420 GMT New York's main contract, light sweet crude for September stood at 116.28 dollars a barrel, down 3.74. Oil futures have shed more than 20 percent in value since hitting record highs above 147 dollars...

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas) -- India's Ministry of Coal has received 22 applications in response to the bidding process it commenced early last month for the allocation of captive coal blocks for coal-to-liquid (: 36.06, -0.16, -0.44%) projects. Industry majors hopeful of securing captive coal mines include the Tata Group (Mumbai), Reliance Industries Limited (BOM:500325) (Mumbai) and Reliance Power Limited (BOM:532939) (Mumbai). RIL had sent in an $8 billion investment proposal to set up a CTL project with a capacity of 80,000 barrels per day (BBL/d) of oil and requiring 1.5 billion tons of coal...

Call Congress back to have an up-or-down vote on a comprehensive energy bill which includes expanded drilling for oil. There is a petition here: http://www.callbackcongress.com/

Oil prices fell below $120 a barrel Monday, touching levels last seen in May, as investors began to rethink the idea that crude is on an inevitable march to $200. Light sweet crude oil fell as low as $119.50 on the New York Mercantile Exchange amid increasing evidence of falling U.S. demand and ample worldwide supplies. That helped drag down the shares of energy firms like Exxon, which fell 3% to near its 52-week low of $77.26 and oil-services giant Schlumberger, down almost 5% to $95. The pullback is vindication for analysts who for months have been saying that oil...

America's leading energy regulator has accused a Dutch oil trading firm and three of its employees - including British-born Christopher Dowson - of manipulating crude oil market for their own ends. In the first lawsuit of its kind since the agency began investigating alleged manipulation of the market in December 2007, the US Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has filed civil actions against Dutch-based Optiver Holdings and the three men, accusing them of making $1m in profit in just 11 days. The CFTC alleges that the defendants were involved in scheme known as "banging the close" where a sizeable position...

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Oil prices fell Tuesday as a perceived decline in U.S. demand took hold again after worries subsided about disruption of production in the Gulf of Mexico. Light, sweet crude for August delivery fell $5.09 to $125.95 a barrel at 11:35 a.m. ET. Trading of the August contract was set to conclude with the close of the market in New York. Economy: Analysts said remarks by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and a huge loss posted by banking company Wachovia Corp. contributed to the perception that demand for oil will drop in a weakened economy

Nearly two-thirds of Egyptian men admit to having sexually harassed women in the most populous Arab country, and most say women themselves are to blame for their maltreatment, a survey shows. The forms of harassment reported by Egyptian men, whose country attracts millions of foreign tourists each year, include touching or ogling women, shouting sexually explicit remarks, and exposing their genitals to women. "Sexual harassment has become an overwhelming and very real problem experienced by all women in Egyptian society, often on a daily basis," said the report by the Egyptian Centre for Women's Rights. Egyptian women and female visitors...

Oil drops $5.31 to settle at $129.29 for biggest three-day dollar drop ever. Wall Street rallies as stocks reverse earlier losses.

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Crude-oil futures fell over $4 a barrel Wednesday, leaving crude with its biggest two-day drop in 17 years, after government data showed a surprise increase in U.S. petroleum inventories. U.S. crude inventories rose 3 million barrels to stand at 296.9 million barrels in the week ended July 11, the Energy Information Administration reported. Analysts surveyed by energy-information provider Platts were expecting a drop of 3 million barrels. "If there is anything that should keep the bulls in the corral while the bears feed in the berry patch, this EIA report is it," said James Williams, an...

Fall baby fall.

Oil prices fell sharply Tuesday on concerns that a slowing U.S. economy will decrease demand for oil. The price of crude oil in New York at one point fell more than $9 a barrel in New York trading, the biggest one-day drop in dollar terms in 17 years. Oil later eased up from its low, but still closed down 4.5 percent at $138.69 a barrel. Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke warned lawmakers Tuesday that the U.S. economy faces the dual threat of slowing growth and inflation. Analysts say that points to lower U.S. demand for oil going forward.