$2.39 in Beltsville today. And with the BP pipe line shut down, too. Oh, that was going to create a real shortage for us and it was such a good ingredient to add to the justifications for the oil price increases, but brilliant as it was, it arrived on the scene just a little too late to be used to its full potential because the country started grumbling about the price of gas cutting into household spending for other items which also started going up in price because so many things use oil as an ingredient in manufacturing and everything has to be transported which uses fuel just like factories depend on gas and electricity which are also setting price records. Then as prices started rising across the board, the danger of inflation appeared on the horizon. The mood in the country was one of restlessness and disapproval of the party in power. Washington had tried the diversions, perhaps too soon, of beating up on the Queers and flag burners which didn't amount to a hill of beans so the order went out that prices were to be cut. One of the reasons that was given for the drop in the price of oil was that the Gulf Of Mexico had not seen any storms this year. That means that they were gouging us as insurance against their loss of income IF there was any disturbance like Katrina, but it's OK and fair and the nation is happy that gas prices are falling so maybe the ruling party will continue to rule. They say that a goldfish has a memory of 3 seconds. I wonder about the memory span of many of our citizens, at least the memory span of the ones that are even paying attention to what is happening around them and to them.