Biggest Quarterly Profit... agian.

Exxon Mobil just announced its quarterly profits. I feel bad for the guys - they didn't meet what the market was projecting their profits at - about $12.1 billion.

Despite not meeting projections, they just broke the United States record books again. They brought in a whopping $11.68 Billion dollars in profit. In numerical form, that's $11,680,000,000. The previous record was $11.66 Billion in the fourth quarter of 2007. Sure it may be only 0.02 points, but don't forget that 0.02 points is $20 Million dollars. That's a lot of cash.

Sure their shares are down 3%, but lets look at some of the other industries of this nation. It seems like 3% for the largest publicly traded oil company is not that much in comparison to the downfall other sects have experienced around the country.

Much of the increased profits that are seen in the oil industry [in comparison to other industries] comes from government tax cuts that are issued to Exxon Mobil and companies alike. Some argue that these tax breaks allow for new drilling sites and would eventually raise the price of crude. I can understand this, but as energy is getting more expensive, roads are getting worse, and education budgets being cut - it seems as though we should be taking equal tax money in an effort to improve roads, develop 'green' technology, and get America's children the proper education they need and are entitled to.

Maybe it's just me, but for some reason I think that if the executives at Exxon Mobile had to fork over a little more in tax money, they would still be able to eat pretty well. Hah!

This Time of Year

I was in the library today getting some work done and the librarian near me sneezed. Since she sneezed, I figure I would say 'Bless you'. (To be honest, I kind of had the urge to say 'God bless you and his almighty fortress' just to see what she would say, but I didn't).

After saying 'Bless you' she proceeded to tell me that they were allergies and that they were 'oh so bad this time of year'.

One thing that I tend to notice is that not very many people say, 'this is the most delightful time to have them' - in the most genuine way possible. I think there is just a constant assumption that when one has allergies, that it, at that moment, is the very worst season (or 30 seconds for that matter) to have them.

Pollen and allergies usually initially sprout from higher than normal levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) which cause over production in plants. This in theory *could* be linked to global warming and greenhouse gasses, which only brings the idea of blaming your allergy-induced sneeze on the fact that you drive a Hummer. Just a theory.

In actuality, it really is not allergy season right now, but saying so could justify your Godforsaken sneeze.