Oil issues in Europe. Getting bad FAST

[Alexb]

by Denholm BarnetsonWed Jun 11, 3:35 PM ET


Auto plants in Spain were paralysed and Portugal's main airport banned planes from refueling Wednesday as a third day of strikes by thousands of truckers caused heightened chaos and shortages.
Truckers in Thailand also threatened to strike next week while their counterparts in South Korea plan to stop work on Friday, as the outrage over soaring fuel prices intensified around the world.
Tens of thousands of truck drivers launched stoppages in France, Portugal and Spain on Monday to demand government help to cope with the rising price of fuel caused by rocketing oil prices, which last week reached almost 140 dollars a barrel.
The protests have paralysed roads, causing huge tailbacks, notably on the French-Spanish border and around major Spanish cities, and left supermarkets short of fresh produce and some petrol stations without supplies. Two strikers were run over by vehicles and killed at picket lines on Tuesday.
The Spanish auto plants of Seat, Nissan, Renault, PSA Peugeot Citroen and Mercedes Benz said they had cut or halted production as the strike left them short of parts.
In Belgium, the Volvo and Audi auto plants said they would be forced to close from Thursday due to the strike in Spain.
In Portugal, the strike hit air transport as fuel shortages forced authorities at Lisbon airport to ban planes from refuelling, except those on high priority flights.
"We cannot refuel any planes, except those on urgent, military or state flights," a spokesman for the airport authority, Rui Oliveira, told Lusa news agency.
The European Commission on Wednesday called on EU nations to take targeted action to help those most vulnerable deal with high oil prices.
The commission, the EU's executive body, said the measures should focus on the fishing, farm and transport sectors, as well as the chemical and auto industries.
In Spain, road haulage unions resumed negotiations with the government that were suspended on Tuesday after a truck driver was run over and killed by a van as he manned a picket line in the southern city of Granada.
Interior Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba promised to guarantee deliveries of food, fuel, medicines and spare parts for auto plants, under police escort if necessary.
Portuguese police stepped up patrols after a striker manning a picket line north of Lisbon was run over and killed by a lorry on Tuesday.
Police escorted about 40 oil trucks to petrol stations around Lisbon and the western town of Setubal. Strikers had prevented the trucks from leaving a warehouse north of the capital.
Long queues formed at many petrol stations, some of which were out of supplies.
The Portuguese truckers vowed to step up their blockades Wednesday, particularly in the north of the country, where they plan to seal off the port of Leixos as well as supermarket warehouses.
Several supermarket chains have already expressed concern over the shortage of fresh products, especially milk.

In Spain too, the blocked roads meant wholesale food markets in large cities suffered shortages of fresh fish, milk, fruits and vegetables.
Truckers also maintained a blockade of a motorway across the French-Spanish border by the western town of Biriatou. On the French side, traffic jams were reported up to the western port of Bordeaux.
But Spanish police early Wednesday reopened the main motorway linking Barcelona with France at the northeastern border town of Jonquera. On the French side, truckers who had blocked the road since Monday also left.
Elsewhere in Europe, around 50,000 Polish truckers staged one-hour protests across the country Wednesday, although without blocking roads, the organisers said.
The British government is also finalising contingency plans to cope with a four-day strike by oil tanker drivers this weekend.
And Dutch truckers announced plans to block roads at 18 points across the country for 30 minutes on Thursday.
Across the world, Thai truck drivers threatened Wednesday to go on strike next week and block roads to the capital with 400,000 lorries unless the government helps them pay for soaring fuel costs.
Truckers in South Korea have voted to go on strike on Friday. In Malaysia, the opposition has planned a series of rallies culminating in a July 12 demonstration which they hope will attract 100,000 people following the government's fuel price hike of 41 percent last week.

[sjohnson]

It's a blatherbung conspiracy, I tell ya! The Chinese and Indians and the WORLD demand for oil has nothing to do with it. It's a homosexual Con-spiracy, planned by middle-aged shakers and movers who meet in private enclaves that can only be seen in a book I'm publishing, only $99.95 and available at [Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

Buy it today! Don't be the idiot on YOUR block!!!!1!!!111

[upgrayedd]

[nkluksda]

I say, "Good for them!" If they go on strike, don't drive, don't fly, etc, it just means that they're going to use less gas, diesel fuel, and JP-4 while they're on strike.

That means MORE FOR US!

I think that's really good news

[mauser1959]

SJohnson: I knew that you had eaten one to many moon pies, like some of out other members, but at least you wrote a book for profit... so I guess that your the ultimate energy war profiteer... LMAO.

[blu]

naw, just a Traitor. Just like the hand that feeds him:

Read em’ and weep:

Article I
Creating a Secret Propaganda Campaign to Manufacture a False Case for War Against Iraq

Article II
Falsely, Systematically, and with Criminal Intent Conflating the Attacks of September 11, 2001, With Misrepresentation of Iraq as a Security Threat as Part of Fraudulent Justification for a War of Aggression

Article III
Misleading the American People and Members of Congress to Believe Iraq Possessed Weapons of Mass Destruction, to Manufacture a False Case for War

Article IV
Misleading the American People and Members of Congress to Believe Iraq Posed an Imminent Threat to the United States

Article V
Illegally Misspending Funds to Secretly Begin a War of Aggression

Article VI
Invading Iraq in Violation of the Requirements of HJRes114

Article VII
Invading Iraq Absent a Declaration of War.

Article VIII
Invading Iraq, A Sovereign Nation, in Violation of the UN Charter

Article IX
Failing to Provide Troops With Body Armor and Vehicle Armor

Article X
Falsifying Accounts of US Troop Deaths and Injuries for Political Purposes

Article XI
Establishment of Permanent U.S. Military Bases in Iraq

Article XII
Initiating a War Against Iraq for Control of That Nation’s Natural Resources

Article XIIII
Creating a Secret Task Force to Develop Energy and Military Policies With Respect to Iraq and Other Countries

Article XIV
Misprision of a Felony, Misuse and Exposure of Classified Information And Obstruction of Justice in the Matter of Valerie Plame Wilson, Clandestine Agent of the Central Intelligence Agency

Article XV
Providing Immunity from Prosecution for Criminal Contractors in Iraq

Article XVI
Reckless Misspending and Waste of U.S. Tax Dollars in Connection With Iraq and US Contractors

Article XVII
Illegal Detention: Detaining Indefinitely And Without Charge Persons Both U.S. Citizens and Foreign Captives

Article XVIII
Torture: Secretly Authorizing, and Encouraging the Use of Torture Against Captives in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Other Places, as a Matter of Official Policy

Article XIX
Rendition: Kidnapping People and Taking Them Against Their Will to ” Black Sites” Located in Other Nations, Including Nations Known to Practice Torture

Article XX
Imprisoning Children

Article XXI
Misleading Congress and the American People About Threats from Iran, and Supporting Terrorist Organizations Within Iran, With the Goal of Overthrowing the Iranian Government

Article XXII
Creating Secret Laws

Article XXIII
Violation of the Posse Comitatus Act

Article XXIV
Spying on American Citizens, Without a Court-Ordered Warrant, in Violation of the Law and the Fourth Amendment

Article XXV
Directing Telecommunications Companies to Create an Illegal and Unconstitutional Database of the Private Telephone Numbers and Emails of American Citizens

Article XXVI
Announcing the Intent to Violate Laws with Signing Statements

Article XXVII
Failing to Comply with Congressional Subpoenas and Instructing Former Employees Not to Comply

Article XXVIII
Tampering with Free and Fair Elections, Corruption of the Administration of Justice

Article XXIX
Conspiracy to Violate the Voting Rights Act of 1965

Article XXX
Misleading Congress and the American People in an Attempt to Destroy Medicare

Article XXXI
Katrina: Failure to Plan for the Predicted Disaster of Hurricane Katrina, Failure to Respond to a Civil Emergency

Article XXXII
Misleading Congress and the American People, Systematically Undermining Efforts to Address Global Climate Change

Article XXXIII
Repeatedly Ignored and Failed to Respond to High Level Intelligence Warnings of Planned Terrorist Attacks in the US, Prior to 911.

Article XXXIV
Obstruction of the Investigation into the Attacks of September 11, 2001

Article XXXV
Endangering the Health of 911 First Responders

[MUSIBIKE]

Originally Posted by sjohnson

It's a blatherbung conspiracy, I tell ya! The Chinese and Indians and the WORLD demand for oil has nothing to do with it. It's a homosexual Con-spiracy, planned by middle-aged shakers and movers who meet in private enclaves that can only be seen in a book I'm publishing, only $99.95 and available at [Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

Buy it today! Don't be the idiot on YOUR block!!!!1!!!111

Come on man, get serious.

[sjohnson]

You mean, I wasn't being serioux? Who'da thunkit?

[MUSIBIKE]

OK, you are our BEST comedian.

[MUSIBIKE]

What do you guys drink on here?

It sounds like it is pretty good.