Britain heads further down the Brexit rabbit-hole – by Paul Mason

At my local petrol station a cadre of young men have suddenly appeared, in high-visibility jackets, to instruct car drivers in the fine art of the jammed-nose-to-tail refill. Each pump has three nozzles, for diesel and petrol—with some careful driving, and shouted instructions, two cars can use one at the same time.

That doesn’t stop the queue backing up 30 metres into the roadway, hazard lights flashing. After a while the jacketed men flip the makeshift sign, from ‘no petrol cans’ to ‘no petrol’, and the commotion ends. This is what happens when a country runs short of 100,000 truck and tanker drivers and the government says ‘don’t panic’.

In the supermarket next door there are rows of empty shelves. Fresh vegetables are a problem, fruit is a bigger problem and the remaining flowers look sad and wilted. The primary cause of the food shortage is said to be the absence of carbon dioxide for processing—itself a side-effect of the soaring price of natural gas.

Read more at: Britain heads further down the Brexit rabbit-hole – Paul Mason

France - strikes hit fuel supplies: Here is where France is hit hardest by fuel shortages

With 2,400 petrol stations across France either empty or running out of fuel, here's a look at which parts of the country are the most affected.

Key points 

- 2,400 petrol stations empty or running low

- PM warns the French not to panic

- Total says 509 of its 2,200 stations empty or running low

- Read also: What can the French do if there's no fuel?

Authorities have tried to quell all talk of any fuel shortages, but 2,400 petrol stations out of 12,000 petrol stations around the country - that's one fifth - had either run out of fuel or were running very low.

And as the map below shows, it's looking extremely grim.

French oil giant Total said 54 percent of its stations in Brittany, 46 percent in Normandy, and 43 percent in the Pays-de-la-Loire region are totally or partially out of fuel.

In Nantes it’s proving almost impossible to find fuel. Posters announcing that pumps are empty greet motorists at almost every station. It’s a similar case in Vannes, where almost all stations are out of fuel.  

Read more: Here is where France is hit hardest by fuel shortages - The Local

Energy Costs: The real reasons for high gasoline prices .......Wall Street - Financial Speculators

With gasoline prices approaching $4 per gallon in Madison, there are many factors that have been blamed by politicians and so-called analysts in the corporate media. Among those are tensions in the Middle East, supply and demand, OPEC policies, the Obama administration’s policies, etc.

While many factors can be considered in placing the blame for rising gasoline prices, the primary cause of the price increase is rarely mentioned - speculation on Wall Street. Wall Street is betting on higher oil prices in the future and that betting is causing prices to rise.

A recent article by Robert Lenzner, writing for Forbes, concludes that speculation adds $23.39 to the price of a barrel of crude oil, which translates to a $.56 increase in the price of gasoline at the pumps for Americans. In other words, relatively few players in the Wall Street casino with very deep pockets are placing huge bets on oil – and the consumer is paying.

For more: The real reasons for high gasoline prices - Madison Independent | Examiner.com