Arkansas Blog

Anyone know of a good tire center to get wheels aligned etc?

I'm buying the tires at Sam's Club so I'll be in LR to pick them up. I don't trust them to even put them on and they don't do alignment. I thought I'd just take the tires somewhere else in LR and let them put them on, balance and do the alignment.

Any suggestions?

I wouldn't trust anyone but Austin Brothers on Cantrell to work on my tires or alignment.

At the link: Mr. Deity and the Really Cheap Meal (season 2, episode 5)

(4 minutes)

Mr. Deity, Lucy, Larry, and Jesus go out for a heavenly night on the town.

I probably won't be taking the advice of pro-Obama supporters...they'd probably send me to the worst place in town. haha

Speaking of Obama, here's the latest. Click on my name for the rest...

Priest who mocked Clinton again draws spotlight
By DON BABWIN - 1 hour ago

CHICAGO (AP) - He's a white priest at a largely black church. He's held hands with Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan. He's been arrested dozens of times and battled anyone he thinks has wronged his parish - from gun dealers to a local Catholic sports league. Now the Rev. Michael Pfleger is something else: the latest thorn in the side of presidential candidate Barack Obama.

Racially charged comments Pfleger made last week mocking Obama rival Hillary Rodham Clinton - as a guest at Obama's church, no less - triggered a quick response from Obama, who wants nothing to do with a racial firestorm like the one generated by his former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright.

While Pfleger is not nearly as close to Obama as Wright had been, he has donated to the candidate's state Senate and presidential campaigns and sat on a Catholics for Obama committee until a few weeks ago. When Obama was in the Illinois Legislature, he helped land more than $200,000 in state grants for outreach programs run by Pfleger's church.

click on link to wath the priest spew Clinton hate at Obama's church (Church of Hate).

and the longer verison...

Click on the blue name for a video of Hillary supporters at their finest!

In terms of Hate, he's got nothing on you, Liberal Dem.

You'd keep us killing innocent women and children in Iraq, keep us from doing anything with health care, keep us on the track to privatizing social security, keep us rolling with the most corrupt administration certainly in my lifetime.

All because your candidate is behind.

Now that's hate. Hate for America.

Why do you hate America so?

Is it because the shoe the priest describes fits you? Are you scared that your entitlements are disappearing? Scared of a black man in office?

You're no liberal dem. You're a Republican, and either a troll or excessively stupid even for your type.

I hate America but Wright doesn't, right? hahaha

My "hate" is in repsonse to yours and other Obamanistas. Obama will be the nominee and you can expect 5 more months of me spewing hate right back at you and others.

Yet another thread where "lib dem [who won't vote for the Democratic nominee]" makes up over 50% of the posts.

Of all the places I've been -- the best alignments I've had have been with Sears. I don't give bad recommendations, but I will say that two other places in town have done less than a decent job on my car before. One place actually told me an alignment was done but was pointless, since I had bad tie rods. I sought a second opinion with a good mechanic friend of mine, and he pointed out my tie rods were fine -- but I had one bad tire -- hence the "funky alignment" problem in the first place. Considering how large a "tire hernia" the tire had formed, it seems like a good company would have realized that and made an appropriate recommendation!

Anyway -- Sears. Too bad they don't offer lifetime alignments any more.

I think lib dem is Drew Pritt.

When are you people going to figure it out? The grand cabal (rich white educated people) fixed the election. We hate Bubba Bill and HRC (and I mean loathe to the bone) to the point we would do anything to prevent her rise to power. The $$$$$$$$$$$$ behind good ole houseboy Barack came from us. We gave (and continue to give) to him without missing a beat, and our names appear on no radars because we are below the limit. He´s what we (I actually conceived the term, others are borrowing it) call our "Boys State" candidate. You know what I´m talking about. Check the historical records. Every year (at Hendrix in the case of Arkansas), a slew of educated white kids show up with handful of token blacks. During the liberal lovefest, the sheltered whities become enamored with this new "cultural" experience. Typically, one of the blacks runs for governor. The naive whities are enamored and overwhelmed by the preacheresque oratorical skills of the black candidate, and they elect him as governor. Seriously, check the records. You´ll find that a higher percentage of blacks win this "contest" than whites. This is not reality. There are a disproportionate number of blacks elected as Boys or Girls state "governors" compared to the real world. It is a show, just like the Obama campaign. The Clintons gave the blacks anything they wanted; the chickens have come home to roost and we are feeding them. Everyday, I take a sip of the Democrats pain alongside my rum in various countries, and I find them both exquisite. Cheers, you losers.

Jazzy, where are ya! It's Friday night.

So true about boys state. Was the case the year I went.

awww...don't start crying JD.....

Hey Leyburn, I believe Henderson, not Hendrix hosts Boy's State.

Wait. We've been hearing in these threads for weeks now that it's black racism that sunk Clinton. Now it's the wealthy, educated whites? Jeez, make up your mind.

How about this: Americans are tired of the same two families controlling the executive branch like some awful third world country. Also, Democrats are not enamored with a candidate whose judgment is so obviously flawed as to not only have supported the war, but to squander every advantage of being a frontrunner with 100% name recognition and blow through a huge financial advantage to end up $20 million in debt and losing.

Interesting story at the link below:

Obama used party rules to foil Clinton
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080530/ap_on_el_pr/obama_strategy;_ylt=AnNLZ1d1SOHKAqIFYPJ7zgoazJV4

Among other things it says:

"Obama's campaign mastered some of the most arcane rules in politics, and then used them to foil a front-runner who seemed to have every advantage - money, fame and a husband who had essentially run the Democratic Party for eight years as president."
And
"Careful planning is one reason why Obama is emerging as the nominee as the Democratic Party prepares for its final three primaries, Puerto Rico on Sunday and Montana and South Dakota on Tuesday. Attributing his success only to soaring speeches and prodigious fundraising ignores a critical part of contest."

Spoken like a true Republican Proudster, or have you switched sides now?

Liberal whites and blacks were two of Obama's main strengths, and black voters supporting him over 90% won him the primary.

It wasn't because of any great or bad campaign. Hillary's campaign left a lot to be desired, but the media never gave her a fair shot. I told someone last year that the media had already written the story for the primary. They thought I was nuts. The media does this a lot. They sure did it leading up to the Iraq war.

Obama might have thought playing the race card against the Clintons was smart since he got him the necessary support among black. It was a smart move for the Primary, but it will hurt him severely in the general election.

that should be...

Obama might have thought playing the race card against the Clintons was smart since it got him the necessary support among black voters. It was a smart move for the Primary, but it will hurt him severely in the general election.

My bees came back....I think we're gonna be alright. They disappeared last year, just upped and left. My bee kid said they were gone, not all dead inside the hive.....gone. About 3 days ago my wife hollered at me, since that is normal I didn't move at first, but she kept hollering and I went to see if maybe she got her well-formed tit in the wringer or something. She was standing, looking out the back door and just pointing. I looked and there was a black cloud of bees swooping down at the old hive.

We watched and watched as the they started crowding in carrying their tiny bags thru the front door. In about an hour most of them were in and they've been there ever since. I really don't know a damn thing about bees, but I'm taking this for a good sign. I don't give a flip about honey, I just like the idea of a hundred thousand bees making love to all the flowers in the neighborhood. I don't care if they're illegal bees or gay bees. When I look at them they remind me of the hundreds of thousands of new Democratic voters who've come to our hive and it makes me think, we're gonna be alright.

But we'd be a lot better off and the world would breath a sigh of relief if a hundred million bees swarmed the White House and chased off every last one of the criminal Bush administration. I happen to think we can have them in prison by Christmas if we'd work on it. They are a blot on humanity and a shame to every man, woman and child in this country. A thousand poxes on them!

The GOP is on the run and they are in a world of financial hurt with a horrible Bush the third candiate.. Bush and McCain together in AZ couldn't draw near the crowd or near the money as Michelle Obama did (by herself) just down the road at the same time. Mitch McConnell is in a world of hurt in KY.. MS may actually go blue this year.. certainly Trent Lotts old seat is not safe.. The former speaker of the GOP house (Hasterts Seat) got a thrashing.. a progressive beat the KKK in LA.. AZ might reject McCain this year... and we have rock star and constitutional scholar, of a D candidate..

Bush's own former press secretary is confirming many of the most egregious lies in our nations history on television every day!

The GOP may or may not end up behind bars... but they are going to take whipping like AMerica has rarely whipped anyone before!

Seize the day Arkansas freedom fighters! Nov is closer than you think!

>>>>He's a white priest at a largely black church. <<<<

Who cares?
This guy is not half as scary as the group Hillary was praying with each week.
It is too bad there are no videos of the head of "The Family" preaching about the need for a Theocracy in this country. (of course there would be no videos, Coe is very careful to stay hidden from the public)
What is she doing hangin' out with those folks?

In the past week someone asked "What's happened to MoveOn?" Try my name for their latest.

"Two of a Kind"

Oops.. Try this one...and Congrats DBI on your returning bees. Must be the winds, cellular towers, ELF waves, or something...flowers?

MoveOn once more-
Well, screw it. https://pol.moveon.org/donate/challengevideo.html?id=12756-9279907-q0YsRi&t=3
is my url on the site .

liberal Dem looking forward to 2012 says "but the media never gave her a fair shot"

Wrong! She actually got better coverage in most cases--even better than Obama or McCain--and even on Fox News. Get your facts straight.

A study by Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism and the Joan Shorenstein Center on Press, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard University found the following:
Cable TV--"Percent of all statements about each candidate that were positive" (Jan 1 - Mar 9, 2008)
Obama--Fox News 69%, CNN 59%, MSNBC 70%
Clinton--Fox News 54%, CNN 70%, MSNBC 72%
McCain--Fox News 45%, CNN 49%, MSNBC 53%

The full report is "Character and the Primaries of 2008". To see the entire section on "Differences by Media" with the narrative about each network, newspapers, talk radio etc. link at my signature.

And "liberal Dem looking forward to 2012" (or Repug in Disguise)--I'm looking forward to 2012 when Obama is elected to his second term. Some of us support him not because of his race, but because of his ideas. How pitiful is it that you are such a sore loser because your candidate has no chance and that you'd rather see a Republican in office for 4 more years? I have to agree that it sounds like you hate America. Go ahead whine for the next 5 months because you chose the wrong candidate to support. It just proves that are more concerned for yourself than the fate of the country. This country needs a change and the Democrats need to unite behind the outstanding candidate we've nominated and kick the Republicans out.

DBI - I has a million bees return this year.. during the japonica and forsythia bloom... Hardly see them at al right now.. Maybe they just spread out since everything is growing and blooming like radioactive wisteria these days.

Bob Dole writes a letter (comes unhinged) to Scottie (at my name)

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Bob Dole unloads on McClellan

Bob Dole yesterday sent a scalding e-mail to Scott McClellan, excoriating the former White House spokesman as a "miserable creature" who greedily betrayed his former patron for a fast buck.

In an extraordinary message obtained and authenticated by Politico, Dole uses his trademark biting wit to portray McClellan as a classic Washington opportunist.

"There are miserable creatures like you in every administration who don't have the guts to speak up or quit if there are disagreements with the boss or colleagues," Dole wrote in a message sent yesterday morning. "No, your type soaks up the benefits of power, revels in the limelight for years, then quits and, spurred on by greed, cashes in with a scathing critique."

Michael Marshall, Dole's spokesman and colleague at the Alston Bird law firm, confirms the message came from the former senator and presidential candidate. "Yes, it is authentic," Marshall wrote in an e-mail.

"In my nearly 36 years of public service I've known of a few like you," Dole writes, recounting his years representing Kansas in the House and Senate. "No doubt you will 'clean up' as the liberal anti-Bush press will promote your belated concerns with wild enthusiasm. When the money starts rolling in you should donate it to a worthy cause, something like, 'Biting The Hand That Fed Me.' Another thought is to weasel your way back into the White House if a Democrat is elected. That would provide a good set up for a second book deal in a few years"

Dole assures McClellan that he won't read the book - "because if all these awful things were happening, and perhaps some may have been, you should have spoken up publicly like a man, or quit your cushy, high-profile job."

"That would have taken integrity and courage but then you would have had credibility and your complaints could have been aired objectively," Dole concludes. "You're a hot ticket now, but don't you, deep down, feel like a total ingrate?"

He signs the email simply: "BOB DOLE"
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

Any study that says MSNBC was more favorable to Hillary Clinton is a joke.

"She actually got better coverage in most cases--even better than Obama or McCain--and even on Fox News. Get your facts straight."

Perhaps you should read your own facts moron. Your "facts" say Fox News w as more positive to Obama.

Obama--Fox News 69% positive
Clinton--Fox News 54% positive

What a dumb ass. lol

>>>>Your "facts" say Fox News was more positive to Obama.<<<<

But no one but old people and 28% Bush Kool Aid drinkers watch Faux news.....

I forgot to say in my earlier post that i wish Obama had made a stronger statement concerning that Priest's statements about Hillary.

"i wish Obama had made a stronger statement concerning that Priest's statements about Hillary."

Yeah..."deeply disappointed" doesn't cut it. He should have said he was disgusted by it, but obviously he wasn't. The only thing he was "deeply disappointed" about was that it would look bad on him. Obama has had harsher words for Hillary Clinton when he claimed she said thing she didn't even say.

F---- Obama

Alignment? Goodyear on Broadway at Seventh in Little Rock has done right by me through three different cars.

Fr. Pfleger was in Arkansas a few years ago...prayed at the Legislature...spoke at an event out at Clear Channel...met with a small group of preachers at St. Mark's Church...brought in by the city's Racial and Cultural Diversity Commission...AND HE'S BEING CONSIDERED FOR ANOTHER EVENT THIS YEAR...wonder if that invite will stick?!?!?!?!?

Loser Take All:
Election Fraud and The Subversion of Democracy, 2000 - 2008

Like I've been saying......

Institutional money drives up commodities

NEW YORK (AP) -- Next time you face sticker shock at the gas pump over a $4 gallon of gas, check out your pension fund's investments. They may explain much about the surge in oil prices.

Institutional investors such as pension funds, university endowments and sovereign wealth funds have ramped up investing in commodities as a hedge against inflation and to seek out higher returns versus stocks and bonds.

The strategy has worked - if you gauge success solely by the rising returns that come from a market where oil prices have doubled in the last year to levels above $130 a barrel and other commodities are also sharply higher.

But this story has an ironic twist: The money put into commodities is boosting the inflation investors have been trying to offset.

This isn't meant to lay blame for the rise in oil prices entirely on these investors' shoulders. They are part of the problem, along with soaring demand for oil in developing nations like China and India while global supply remains tight.

In recent weeks, however, more attention has been drawn to the big money these investors are putting into commodity-index funds. They don't actually own any of the commodities. Instead, they trade futures contracts, which are agreements that oblige the investor to buy or sell an asset at a predetermined price. Futures are considered a benchmark for prices in the market.

Critics allege that the continual inflow of institutional money is hijacking the market because the indices are permitted to bypass traditional speculative position limits imposed by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

"The rise in price of oil has weakened demand for the physical commodity, but it has boosted demand for the financial commodity since more investors are chasing returns," said Jeffrey Kleintop, chief market strategist at LPL Financial.

In the last five years, investment in index funds tied to commodities has grown from $13 billion to $260 billion, and the price of the 25 commodities that compose those indices have jumped 183 percent, according to congressional testimony from Michael Masters, managing member of the Virgin Islands-based hedge fund Masters Capital Management.

more... click on name

Dear, liberal Dem looking forward to 2012,

If you´re a female, I´d love to go to bed with you. You sound pretty kinky and correct. We´d have a good time (e.g., Carville and Matalin) in bed. I love to screw.

As for "EY", who gives a shit which college hosts Boys/Girls state, be it Hendrix or Henderson, the same results will appear. And, both towns are in shitpot dry counties. Who, in their right mind, would want to live in a dry county during college, other than the freaks from the cults in Texas?
Trust me, everyone in the world thinks Arkansas is a backwoods, freakdoom state. And, it´s not far from the truth. Just look at our elected officials; they´re rednecks (e.g. DUSTIN (what a name) McDaniel.

I feel so sorrow for you people and the other children of poor, uneducated people. Why in the world would one want to bring a child into a world of poverty, without opportunities, without a father, without the luck of the lucky sperm club. Seriously, If I were poor, the last thing on my mind would be procreation. You white people are from a very different breed than I´m from. It´s really sad.

on a final note, we´re a hell of a lot happier......
http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20080507/sc_livescience/conservativeshappierthanliberals

Posted by: EY

L Wood, I never did find the site for your URL, but I did take the quiz regarding Bush and McSame. Wow, it's worse than I thought. I expected to get all of them right but I was surprised at the times when it was only McCain who actually said things we attribute to the administration.

Regarding the import of happiness surveys, one only needs to get a perspective from history to see how little they reflect political reality:

If you were to do a survey in Germany around the 1930s, Nazis would've been definitely happier than non-Nazis. If you would've done a survey before civil rights legislation, whites would've been definitely happier than non-whites. Conservatives happier than liberals? BFD!

I have heard that psychics tried to reach Bush's brain but got the following message:

"You have reached a number that is disconnected or is no longer in service."

Rove and Cheney were more easily reached using their 1-900 numbers.

"Wrong! She actually got better coverage in most cases--even better than Obama or McCain--and even on Fox News. Get your facts straight..."--never vote republican

OK...that's just wrong. I would go on with specific details...again...but it's all going to be one version or another of 'that's just wrong.'

I understand your anger, liberal dem/2012, but I wish you'd change your mind about November...(I really understand that anger thing). Every time I read Democrats/liberals regurgitating the hateful Republican hate-Clintons' talking points, I want to gag...and smack some sense into someone somewhere. But those feelings are nothing compared to how I feel about the last seven years...how I feel about more of the same (McSame to be exact). I mean it when I say I'd vote for my immature teenage neighbor rather than subject our country to more of these disastrous policies. If our country isn't already broken and broke, it's getting close and four years would tip us over. Then there's the Supreme Court to consider...more Scalia's would drive all us aging feminists to the streets...literally...(and we're tired). Despite his actions and the actions of some of his supporters, I pray/chant/whatever that Obama beats McSame. It's going to be an uphill battle. (Unlike some, I haven't forgotten the last two presidential elections.) We need your vote.

Congratulations, DBI, on your wife's tit surviving (even better than the joy of returning bees!). I sure wish you'd allow the little missus to come on and share her version of DBI's World!!

Remind me, prouster, you don't like Dubya and his war, right?

Boys State is hosted by UCA- not Henderson or Hendrix.

I'll try to link to the MoveOn video L.Wood was trying to share.

bluename, I hope. (It's pretty funny.)

Nope. That link was a No Go, too. Trying again...

The 8:07 link works, but it takes a long time for some reason. Weird.

Thanks, Hugh. I got it finally. Hilarious! One of the best so far. I hope it gets some TV coverage.

cici, the original emphasized that McThird and Shit4Brains had to meet BEHIND CLOSED DOORS to jointly raise money for Rethuglicans. Not to be confused with meeting behind closed doors to raise joints.

Pro basket ball having a contract dispute with scraps

I stand corrected OBE; back when I went it was at Henderson and Girls State was across the street at Ouachita. They made it VERY clear that we were NOT, NOT under any circumstance to leave our territory to go hook up with those boys. I'm not sure if that was the paranoia of the Girls State folk, the Ouachita folk or both.

My mom is an alumna of OU and I think she kinda hoped I might go there. But with her stories of having to wear a rain coat over her gym clothes (it being totally inappropriate for a GIRL to wear shorts on campus) and the stringent regime, I wasn't sold on such a place that had such expectations.

I said Hillary got better coverage in "most" cases--the point being that even on Faux News, she got better coverage than McCain. So it's crazy to say that Hillary NEVER got a fair shot and use that as an excuse for her campaign losses when she actually got better coverage from 2 out of 3 cable networks (the so-called "liberal" networks to boot). If you look at the entire survey and all the topics they cover related to the election coverage, you'll see that Pew Research/Harvard University are well known and well respected and have no reason to skew the results toward MSNBC. For example it says "Among the differences, on network television, the morning news programs stood out for an exceptionally positive portrayal of the female candidate."

Blame the media if you have to for Hillary's losses--not her poor campaign strategy as pointed out in this same thread. It couldn't possibly be the fact that Prouster mentioned that America is tired of the same 2 families running the country. Of course it has nothing to do with her unlikability and the dislike of the Clinton's sense of entitlement. Blame everything on the media. And if you think that the media would be more "fair" to HIllary in 2012 after 4 more years of the same, you're really living in a world of delusion. As Zelda suggested--channel your hatred to the real enemy--4 more years of Republican government.

Anyone that thinks Hillary Clinton was treated fairly by the media is delusional.

Any Democratic candidate who treats Scaife, Murdoch, and Limbaugh et. al. as respectable media.. damn near deserves the end treatment they get..

Well ES, when nobody else will give you a fair shake, you go to those who will. It's a SHAME that such types were being more fair to Clinton than the rest of the media. It has been disgraceful how the rest of the media has acted in this primary. All those pundits need to be fired and they need to get back to just reporting the actual news. Just the facts please.

So I reported the facts of the Pew survey about the media coverage and all you can respond with is that anyone that believes those facts are delusional. Nothing to support your statement that HIllary was mistreated by the media except your own biased view. Yet you respond to Eureka and say you just want the facts. Why don't you admit that you only want "facts" that support your viewpoint?

At the risk of sounding like a Bushie, never vote Republican, I don't need the Pew facts, I gots eyes and ears. I watch way too much TV news and read way too much Internet news...I'm FK'ing sick of news, but to be a good American in a troubled time, I figure I better stick it out and keep as informed as I can.

I also understand how sensitive I've become of criticism of my own choice of candidates and I try to discount knee-jerk reactions I am prone to having. It's also very hard in this day and age to separate media news from media opinion....Olbermann is opinion, not news. It's hard as hell to find pure news reporting today. But watching a "news" show on TV when they get to talking about Hillary is like watching a pitcher wind up to throw a fast ball. It's works something like this:

"Today shrill, prone to lying Hillary Clinton, supposedly married to sexual predator, former Mark Rich pardoning, Bill Clinton known for staining Monica's blue dress, cried-screamed-bullied-cackled that Martin Luther King couldn't have done jack shit without lily white LBJ ramming the Civil Rights act thru Congress in 1964. Members of the black community are rightfully up in arms at Shillary's rude comments. Bart Blackman warned that Hillary will be using the N word next."

"Also today, Barack Obama announced he has a cure for cancer! Over to you Tammy"

Do ya see a difference? I had to sit with Ma and listen to this crap all day and most of the night, no matter what channel I turned to....and I never once turned to Fox, of course. This crap was coming from "Liberal" media like CNN and MSNBC. I don't even want to imagine what Fox was saying.

I like Obama and I'm ready to march thru hell for him and you know what.....that's what we're going to have to do to get him into the White House next year. But you know, we'd have to do the same for Hillary because those cheating Republican bastards will do all they can to torpedo anyone we nominate. I would be screaming just as loud if the media had or starts trashing Obama unfairly.

I want a fair race, I want good government run by honest people who are naturally prone to making honest mistakes. Nothing else....no lottery win or handouts for my family or free stocks in the mail. Just good government and a....yuck...I hate to even say the words.....and a fair and balanced news media. Let the best candidate win, but none of them including old rat bastid McCain should have to lug 2 tons of unfair media slime across the finish line. What used to come so naturally in the US is now almost impossible to achieve. Dude, where's my country?

Never vote, if you look at the methodology of those "facts" you'll see why I dismissed them. Everyone with half a brain knows the media hasn't been fair to Hillary Clinton. There are other "facts" that back up that claim as well. These studies show different things just as polls do. They are not facts and are very subjective.

OPEC: Speculation is Driving Oil Prices
OPEC, OIL, ENERGY, COMMODITIES
By Reuters| 21 May 2008 | 05:24 AM ET
Record-high crude prices have nothing to do with supply and demand but rather are caused by speculation and a weak dollar, OPEC Secretary General Abdullah al-Badri said on Tuesday.

World leaders have hounded OPEC to pump more as prices hurtle towards $130 per barrel, but Badri said the organization would not act on production levels until it was warranted by market fundamentals.

"There is a lot of oil in the market, stocks are very high, about 53 days forward," he said in an interview with Reuters during a visit to OPEC founding member Venezuela. "We are worried because these prices have nothing to do with supply and demand."

U.S. crude rose to a new record above $129 a barrel earlier on Wednesday.

The International Energy Agency on May 13 reported that oil stockpiles in OECD countries equaled 53.3 days of demand in March, at the same time revising down its forecast for world oil demand growth in 2008 because of record prices and slower economic growth.

Badri warned prices could keep rising due to non-market factors such as a continued decline in the dollar, but said the organization sees no reason to hold an extraordinary meeting before the next one scheduled for September.

Oil prices topping $129 per barrel have sparked anger from consumer nations that have accused OPEC of gouging, but Badri said the boom in oil prices has lifted commodities prices across the board, which has made it more expensive to pump oil.

"I'm not an advocate of high oil prices," he said, adding that the situation "is not a bonanza for us" because higher prices for commodities ranging from food to steel have created new expenses for producer nations.

"If you want to produce more oil now, you have to pay more," he said.

Asked if OPEC was considering moving away from the plummeting dollar as a way of stabilizing energy markets, Badri said: "It's not something that happens overnight to move from currency to currency, every country has its own policy."

Angry Consumers

The United States House of Representatives passed legislation on Tuesday allowing the U.S. to sue OPEC members for working to set crude prices - though the White House has threatened to veto the measure.

"It's their policy and I'm not going to challenge it, but I think this is not the way to handle any problem, problems should be solved with dialogue" he said. "You cannot go and just blame OPEC or try to abolish OPEC."

An OPEC decision to raise output could help ease the price rally, which energy analysts say has been fuelled largely by resilient world energy demand even as the United States economy slows.

Badri's visit to Venezuela comes amid continued disputes over the South American nation's oil production figures.

Official statistics show output close to 3.1 million barrels per day (bpd), but agencies such as the U.S. Department of Energy say production is only around 2.5 million bpd.

Badri said he met with Venezuelan Energy Minister Rafael Ramirez to discuss the issue.

"For us the principal information we get is from Venezuela," he said, referring to official production figures. "But when we look at secondary sources they say something different. We are working together to see how we can solve this problem."

How old are you getting? Click on Cato and you will find out.

You are a wise sweetheart, DBI.

I didn't know anything about anyone on that website, Cato. Does that make me a mere babe? (lol) Fingers crossed.....

DBI:
"I want a fair race, I want good government run by honest people who are naturally prone to making honest mistakes. Nothing else....no lottery win or handouts for my family or free stocks in the mail. Just good government and a....yuck...I hate to even say the words.....and a fair and balanced news media. Let the best candidate win, but none of them including old rat bastid McCain should have to lug 2 tons of unfair media slime across the finish line. What used to come so naturally in the US is now almost impossible to achieve. Dude, where's my country?"

BooWho; where's my hankie. This is our own fault DBI. Suck it up and live with it.

DBI:
"What used to come so naturally in the US is now almost impossible to achieve. Dude, where's my country?"

GOD; how stupid of me to think that liberals would be willing to acknowledge the truth. We are sitting smack in the middle of the country we all created. Lincoln says "Of the people, By the people and For the people." BullS+++. He knew exactly what he was doing. Creating a government that People would come to depend on for every need. Support us; care for us; Feed us and we will vote how ever you want us to. Humph; you all call me a fear monger; tell me, which of you did not make a bee line to the gas pumps on september 11?

We created this mess, there is no reason for us to cry about. So again; Suck it up and enjoy the ride we paid for.

Wes, you can speak for yourself. The only ass-brained thing I've done in the last 10 years is vote for Mark W. Pryor. His daddy was ok, his classmates in law school said Mark was OK. I thought I was voting for a good Democrat, but I got sucker punched when Pryor became Joe LIEberman's butt-boy and voted a near straight neo-con Republican line.

As far as the rest of this mess, I'm not guilty. My wife and I were ahead of the curve on the War for Oil in Iraq. Colin Powell almost got me on his Iraqi mobile nuclear labs BS, but if either of us had been in Congress we would have cast a NO vote to let Bush go to war. I knew we were in trouble when candidate Bush wiped his glasses on the skirt of a stranger on the Letterman Show in early 2000. No sir....this is not my mess, I'm just forced to float in the turd bowl with the rest of the people who were dumb enough to support Cheney-Bush-Pryor from the beginning.

The number one excuse I heard in 2000 from people who decided to vote for Bush was.....I'm just tired of all this Clinton stuff and Al Gore would just be some more Clinton. Yeah right....so while it looks like the Republicans failed to impeach Clinton over a blowjob, it actually was a victory because it gave them 8 years of Cheney-Bush running at full tilt to enrich their buddies while killing the world.

And think about this......Al Gore is so smart.....why did he pick Joe LIEberman to be his VP? There has to be a story there we haven't been told.

You do know that Lincoln didn't create our government right?

DBI:
"Wes, you can speak for yourself. The only ass-brained thing I've done in the last 10 years is vote for Mark W. Pryor. His daddy was ok, his classmates in law school said Mark was OK. I thought I was voting for a good Democrat, but I got sucker punched when Pryor became Joe LIEberman's butt-boy and voted a near straight neo-con Republican line."

Why do you think I have been saying that all politicians are the same? Vote, by all means because it maybe the one privilege that we have left for the time being. LORD help us; at least they did have pseudo elections in Russia. There are some biblical prophecies that I am still working on; so I am not sure how this is going to work out. Just remember that the government we serve is of our own making.

Meet John Doe:
"You do know that Lincoln didn't create our government right?"

Sir: He may not have created this monster we serve; but IMO he was the most instrumental person in taking our government from the service of the people and making the people the servants of our government.

Like to give a shout out for Jett's BP on West Markham, near the deaf school. Really nice guys. They have helped my uncle for many years and are honest. Oil change is reasonable last time they did something to my tires just because it was time and didn't charge me extra.