Source: Associated Press

WASHINGTON - On a day oil prices leaped to unheard-of highs, senators lined up Big Oil's biggest executives and pummeled them with complaints that they're pretending to be "hapless victims" while raking in record profits.

"Where is the corporate conscience?" Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., asked the top executives of the five largest U.S. oil companies.

It's all about economics, came the reply. Supply and demand. The company leaders tried to shift attention from motorists' anger over $4-a-gallon gasoline to a debate over new areas for drilling.

But senators at the Judiciary Committee hearing weren't having any of that. They wanted to press the executives about public anguish over paying $60 or more to fill up a car's gas tank.

"People we represent are hurting, the companies you represent are profiting," Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., told the executives. He said there's a "disconnect" between legitimate supply issues and the oil and gasoline prices motorists are seeing.

The executives, sitting shoulder to shoulder in the hearing room, said they understood people were hurting, but they tried to blunt the emotion with economic analysis.

Profits have been huge "in absolute terms," conceded J. Stephen Simon, executive vice president of Exxon Mobil Corp., but they "must be viewed in the context of the massive scale of our industry." And high earnings "in the current up cycle" are needed for investments in the long term, including when profits will be down.

"'Current up cycle,' that's a nice term when people can't afford to go to work" because gasoline is costing so much, replied Leahy with sarcasm.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080521/ap_on_go_co/oil_congress?_ylt=Aml8PUneRnJQGeHvsH3p4vmb.HQA

---

many, many more single sentence paragraphs worth reading

when what they are saying is "What are YOU going TO DO about it?"

their profits = the economy's losses.

As congress wakes up (or gets kicked out) things will have to change. We can't let these corporations railroad us into recession.

-The Political Jerk

I am working 3 jobs this month and any extra money I would have made is going nowhere..I almost couldn't afford to drive HOME from one of my jobs because I had no gas and no cash!

oh, and my bank account is in the negative, AGAIN...so any money I make will have to be (paycheck cashed at the pawn shop) kept in my pocket, because I can't have the bank taking my money for food for my kids. how do I get outta THAT hole, mr. bush

we were hanging by the bottom rung at the beginning of the year...now more like by a thin thread... don't know how we are oing to survive from one wek to the next.

Well if * knew that he would say to you, "Uniquely American, isn't it? I mean, that is fantastic that you're doing that. Get any sleep?"

Remember Enron??

At any given point there is a quantity available on the market and there is a given demand. This is what ends up setting the price. If the traders guess too high then selling oil at that price would mean there would be excess oil left on the market driving the price down. A similar result follows for a price that is too low. Traders who arbitrarily bring the price up stand to loose greatly if they are wrong about the quantity available and the demand. The notion that speculation changes the price is only true in the short run and cannot lead to sustained high prices.

how about making it not for profit?
how about churning out electric cars and solar panels?

Who the fuck do they think they are kidding?

for Opec and the Oil companies.... So now the US is a paying for oil at a rate of $800 billion a year... My Friends, the bottom is about to fall out from under us.

For the rich and whine whiney for us.

And every time the failing financial institutions get a hand out from Uncle Sam (That is we the taxpayers) well every time that happens, then the dollar deflates, and since oil must be paid for in Euros, the cost of oil goes up.

It is yet another transfer of wealth from the poor to the rich.

When did that happen?

policy.

This ethanol thing of converting the corn kernels, ie the food, to ethanol was one of the most blatantly bogus attempts ever to hijack the alternative fuels movement and mis-educate the public to the fact that croops to ethanol can't work.

It can work. We need to avoid using the "food" in the corn crop, as that is what drives up the food prices. Instead, we can use the "waste" of the corn crop to produce the ethanol - and immediately begin to have the type of prosperity that VBrazil is experiencing. (Though Brazil uses their sugar crop rather than corn.)

Oil is not sold on the world market in Euros. The only exception I know of is Iran, and I would guess that Norway deals in Euros as well. As far as I know, the top five US sources all sell in dollars. That has nothing to do with drilling in the United States. Your response doesn't really address my question.

Saddam Hussein decided that the oil purchases for his country's oil had to be paid for in Euros.

Iran has followed suit.

European nations are delighted with the decision.

But for us, it is exactly like when The Brits made currency decisions in the 1930's that locked
Germany and Japan out of the world economy. Both those nations became aggressive, in part as a result of the currency decisions.

As far as I know, all of those countries sell their oil in US dollars. And we don't buy oil from Iran. The Europeans who by from Iran are happy that they can pay in Euros. But I don't see how that effects us.

As they seem to be seriously mistaken.

And on Sunday night, I heard the former head of the CIA talking on CNN abt how our national security depends on the Middle East. I don't think he was talking about our need to import sand.

Here is one citation:
U.S. Oil Still Pours From a Mideast Barrel
BuzzPermalinkBy NEELA BANERJEE
Published: October 22, 2002
Even as talk of war with Iraq and the continuing fallout from Sept. 11 stoke concerns about American dependence on Persian Gulf oil, Western oil companies are showing no intentions of veering away from the Middle East, industry executives say. The Bush administration has made broadening the sources of America's oil supplies a touchstone of its energy and foreign policies, but officials concede that progress has been slow.

''I believe that the administration's emphasis on increasing and diversifying global energy supplies is having a positive impact on investment decisions -- but this impact is difficult to quantify,'' Spencer Abraham, the energy secretary, said in an interview.

Recently, the administration has encouraged efforts to import more Russian crude oil to the United States and announced plans to open a new consulate in oil-rich Equatorial Guinea. American oil companies say that they welcome such efforts. But the proportion of United States oil imports flowing from the Middle East remains high -- about 24 percent, down from levels during the oil crises of the 1970's, but up by a third over the last few years. And oil executives say that they have not markedly changed their plans for where to seek out, produce and purchase oil.

###############################

Oh and maybe the people in charge of our military policies should know that we don't need any of the oil from Iraq - that would be the best outcome of full disclosure of the five top nations being the ones that you name. At last, our troops can come home!!

The oil companies are recording RECORD PROFITS each and every quarter. There is no way they are going to "put down pressure on prices." They've done everything they can to increase prices.

Disingenuous bullshit.

Free to do as they want, just sickening.

Record Prices + Record Profits = Rigged Market

Otherwise, fair competition would drive down prices.

the finished product is produced. The same results could occur in a market with minimal market power if either property held.

And high earnings "in the current up cycle" are needed for investments in the long term, including when profits will be down.

So it's like their saying they need to put away profits for themselves to accommodate their executive lifestyles later on like alimony. I'm sure that's comfort to all the starving families.

That's for the short term.

For the long term, when are we going to see some serious investment in alternative fuels?

I'm not expecting to see any pigs growing wings any time soon.

1. They are not going to invest in anything that will bring the price of their product down. It's much easier to make more money by making less product.

2. They don't want to invest in oil when the world is looking for an alternative.

3. It's a lot easier to make more money by making less product.

0

-Hoot

some bigtime penalties for price gouging during wartime. It's their fucking war that we're fighting. And while the lower and middle classes kill (and be killed) for these corrupt treasonous bastards, they profit.

"Dream Team" installed in the White House and Vice President's mansion.

Lot's will have been said, and little done. I certainly don't expect things to improve before next year, and even then, I wouldn't hold my breath. Big oil calls too many of the shots in Washington now.

Nationalize the oil industry in the name of National Defense and the National good.

That might shake them up a bit.

the fucking subsidies to the oil companies passed in the last energy bill?

I would include the costs of the Iraq war.

That's the only reason we have a military presence in the Middle East. These companies should reimburse the taxpayers who have made their windfall profits possible there.

Can we also demand Mexico compensate us in cheap oil for all the social services we have provided their citizens (education/healthcare/legal/police) that have come to work and live here illlegally? I think you are on to something.

'And they said they're worried Congress was talking of requiring the five companies to pay more taxes.
"I urge you to resist these punitive policies," said Hofmeister.'

Thousands of our men and women have died or been injured in Iraq for these oil companies to increase their profits, and these executives consider paying taxes on their profits "punitive"? These profits are tainted by the blood of countless thousand innocent Iraqis and Americans. They should be ashamed to talk about not wanting to pay taxes while innocent people die so they can make more money.

It's pretty obvious what Cheney's secret energy task force meetings with these oil executives were about before the war started. They would be free to rake in as much profit as they wanted in exchange for.... I believe a lot of our "leaders" are on the oil company's payroll and are personally profiting from all of this.

GOOD LORD, WE ARE LOST.

At least, that's the implication I drew.

faces. One minute it's "supply and demand", the next it's "nothing to do with supply and demand, it's what the market will bear".

Did anyone ask these oil crooks why they've been refusing to build more refineries?

and NOT left in the hands of private cooperations. The lack of oversight does no help either.

We are being screwed and Mega-Corp is getting away with it, it is DISGUSTING!

I do hope that these Senators are being sincere and just putting on a show for us.

industry should be nationalized. And yes, I do want government to intercede.

on a national scale. And oil should be immediately taken off the commodities market. No consumer should be at the mercy of compulsive corporate gamblers betting with taxpayer money.

"People's Petroleum" has a nice ring to it.

so they refused to put more barrels out in the market. The Saudi's blamed the problem on the sinking Dollar and put it back squarely on the U.S. This morning I heard that the price spiked over the $130 per barrel because of supply problems in this country.

I'm thinking at $4/gal that demand is kind of down in this country. So who is telling the truth here?

I don't think the oil companies are putting the profits back in maintenance of their refineries and supply chain. We know that when they consolidated companies they closed some refineries. We know no new refineries have been for a long time or are being contemplated. We hear that the environmentalists are to blame.

Give me a break - we're being hosed - and being hosed big time. I drove into the city (Chicago)today and had to go through what I would consider some poor areas. I saw gas stations in those communities with the price of Regular at $4.19/gal.

What I do is go to the gas station that has the gallon price the cheapest. If it's $3.99 at one station and $3.97 at the station across the street - I'll go to the one across the street. I'm not suggesting that we boycott gas stations because that can't work - but if everybody would go across the street and buy at $3.97 - at sometime the guy at $3.99 will begin to lower his price to get back customers. If everybody would just buy where gas is at its cheapest - perhaps we can create some mini price wars and get the price down that way. I know that that would probably squeeze the station owner - but - he's in a better position to put pressure on the oil company than we are. So be it.

And why should these companies build more refineries? If they increased capacity and lowered prices, the return on their investment would almost certainly be negative. If they are going to make less money by selling us more, they have no incentive to do it. It's called capitalism. If you ever hear someone whine as much about gas prices as they do about socialism, they are contradicting themselves.

I don't think putting pressure on gas station owners would do anything to lower prices. They make a pittance on each gallon of gasoline, and most of their profits come from the edible food substitutes in their little gas-station-marts. Station owners are price takers and don't really have any influence on their suppliers. If oil companies respond this way to senators, imagine what they will say to some shmuck who owns a gas station.

Stood before them.

He reached into his sack, and while chortling a whole bunch of Ho Ho Ho's, he began tossing money and stock certificates at the Senators' feet.

They suddenly realized that it was people's own faults for insisting on commuting places. After all, in some third world countries, people are willing to sleep under their desks at night.

.....and as long as we import a large percentage of our oil, price controls will only create shortages and perhaps rationing.

BASIC economics tells us that NO taxes are needed for the oil companies when they are raping American's pocketbooks with high prices.

Why was that meeting so secretive with Cheney?

If this is what it is going to take for the lazy Americans who don't pay attention like we do, then hey so be it. Let the Americans finally get angry enough and vote these bastards out of OUR government so they stop with this bs the oil executives are spilling out for the unnecessary high oil prices.

after Cheney and puppet declared a war and "destroyed" the oil infrastructure in Iraq so huge price increases could be foisted on unsuspecting Americans. I read that maps of Iraqui oilfields were part of the meeting. I think that's why Cheney fought so hard to keep this secret. Couldn't let the cat out of the bag that we'd be in Iraq until the oil companies got what they wanted - almost complete control and profits from the Iraqui oilfields for the next 30 years.

For all that is good and right, punish those bastards NOW!

I wish I could find the clip

Here it Is!

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/05/09/the-colbert-report-oil-profiteering/

I watched and enjoyed and emailed to others. And then forgot where the link came from.

'Twas nice to have a little laughter in amongst the grief of the spiking fuel prices.

at the oil companies, but I want them to actually do something!

line up the corporate profiteers and throw darts at them, then close the meeting and we all meet at Sweeneys for a round of drinks....

What a joke.

And the show goes on. sigh

...the big oilmen are going to have the peasants w/pitchforks ON THEIR DOORSTEP. Then we'll see how their explanations work for them.

that pitchfork thing ain't ever gonna happen, what with the bread and circuses and whutnots.

I'm sorry, I just do not understand why an Admin Assist gets $35,000 a year, and an executive makes 500,000 and up. And please, it has nothing to do with "the market". These people are crazy if they think they couldn't get just as good and better for much much less.

I don't see why increasing wages for regular people is not even discussed as a solution to our economic woes. Executive pay could be reduced to decent levels and pay for working folk could be increased at least 15%. Why is my salary subject to market conditions, so I am told, but my bosses boss is a gift from the old boys (and girls) club? And let's not even get started about executive pay being tied to (bad) performance.

Oh, and by the way Senators. A grateful gas buying working person recently left me a piece of real estate in New York. It has the potential to be a huge income generator.

Can I interest you in shares of the Brooklyn Bridge? And since it's you guys, I let you in on the deal for a rock bottom price....

get some real economists together, figure out how much it costs to produce gasoline and get it to the pump, and leave a small bit extra for the companies to make a profit, and tax the shit out of them if they charge more than that.

What, 1%, 2%, 5%, 10%, how much.

we need to use far less of it, and the only thing thats going to get people to use less gas is if its hitting them hard in their wallets.

we need to hit them with a windfall profits tax and then invest some of it into working public transportation.

What's anyone in our criminal govt going to do about it? Bush/Cheney is the Nixon Whitehouse on Steroids. Reminds me of Al Capone back in the 30's...
"Nyaa... I'm clean I tell ya... lay off copper"

These fuckers will lie, cheat and steal every penny they can get and I don't believe a goddamn word they say.

Yes, $400 million dollar bonus. And just a little tidbit of info: guess how much money exxon has paid on the judgment for the damage caused by the Exxon Valdez and the oil spill in Prince William Sound? Not a fucking thing. exxon put on a brave show for the world media, once they left, so did exxon. exxon has spent millions ensuring they won't have to pay a dime. exxon is at the very heart and center of the Texas Petroleum Mafia. exxon is also the company that had a hired gun on the cheney*/bush* White House payroll to "edit" all the reports of global warming.

Wake up America!:kick:

Today,
the manufacturing sector in Germany is growing
as a proportion of the country's total economic output,

and Germany looks set to out pace far larger economies
like China and the U._.of A.
as the world's largest merchandise exporter
for the fourth year running!

Ref: International Herald Tribune (Paris)
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/05/20/business/tools.php

As the European Union laughs at us,
tis finally about time
we :nopity: amurikans experienced 8.50+ gasoline.

...back in February 2001 where the entire plan to defraud the American people began

Definition

A secret activity undertaken by two or more people for the purpose of fraud.

They are still well below what Europeans paid even a few years ago when oil was cheap and were about the level that Canadians were paying at that time. Oil is a scarce resource and most of the cost increases are due to factors which America (including American oil companies) have no control over. America hasn't produced enough oil to have a major influence in the domestic price for about 30 years. You can keep blaming your senators and the Bush administration for the high prices but it is a fruitless task. Instead you should be blaming pretty much every politician, Democrat and Republican, for maintaining an institutional structure which is not capable of functioning effectively when oil prices are high.

like health care.

We're climbing closer to European-level prices at the pump and we're not seeing anything in the form of universal health care and other programs.

the social programs in the mentioned countries. Actual competence in developing social programs is another reason. It seems that any form of social spending has to be disguised in a fashion such that they are "socialist". The majority of effort seems to be devoted to making policies look good rather then making them work.

In Canada and Europe the prices have increased. In Canada the change has been by a non-trivial amount, around 30% over the last year. In Europe the taxes are higher so the prices have not changed by much. It is one of the "benefits" of having a good that is taxed high. Price increases don't increase the cost of the good by much. In America the prices have increased by a greater percentage due to lower taxation and a falling dollar. It would be interesting to see what the changes in price amount to after changes in the exchange rates are taken into account. They could be higher in Canada and Europe.

This argument is complete bullshit. Much of Europe's is taxes and ours goes into pockets of people like lee Raymond. Give me healthcare and roads that do not suck, free education and I will pay the 7 bucks a gallon europe pays.

through the subsidization of roads, are paying less then the economic cost associated driving. These hearings are nothing more then a sham so that the politicians can pretend they are doing something about the issue. Depending on who is in office next year you might get a windfall profit tax or perhaps a gas tax holiday. In either case prices are not going to go down and such policies just delay the inevitable realization that current methods are not sustainable. The money that Lee Raymond is making is for all intense and purpose irrelevant. It is only relevant so long as it distracts the attention from those who should be blamed for the problem.

that Europe has it worse off because they pay more for a gallon of gas. They get perks with those taxes.

Most people in the US would save hundreds if not thousands a month on health care if we had a system like the UK. College would be free and more is saved by the family.


The money we pay goes into Lee Raymond's pocket.

theme in those hearings and in many of the responses to the topic was how unthinkable it is that gas reaches those prices.

Europe has the systems they do because they have a commitment to implement systems that create the outcomes they desire. Europe has spent a substantial amount of time developing the systems they have in place and have looked to the wisdom of other countries in developing these policies. Even if the political will ever arises for these programs I would not expect the same results with the current politicians America has. There policies are good because they consider the goals not benchmarks such as how much money goes to executives.

which, not so coincidentally, keeps the second largest oil reserves off the market.

...and keeps the Saudi oil managed by the Texas Petroleum Mafia at top dollar.

and Iraq with that label. If you meant Iraq, I know for a fact we import Iraq crude = it's not off the market, but who gets the profit there now?

have not been included in estimates because up until recently they were not economical to produce.

We intentionally crippled their infrastructure for this very purpose.

You want to know what's really going on? Get the records of the task force meetings... but the SCOTUS says we're not entitled to them. The task force records is wehre answers can be found to all of this. This is illegal felonious collusion that goes right to the Oval Office and the office of the VP.

The nature of the replies these oil execs blasted out of their two mouths (they sit on one of them) were totally predictable. Yeah right, "And we're doing all we can to put downward pressure on prices."

I wonder, what is the percentage of the revenue that is the profit these companies are making? If the percentage has risen as prices have risen then I think it would be harder for execs to explain away or excuse away the huge profits they are making as people everywhere hurt.

Eventually the greed of these people will come to bite them in the butt as people need to stop cut down more and more on how often they travel, how far they travel, and what they buy.

frigging gas and drive to work and other necessary runs to get a feel of what the average American is going through.

Take away some of their extravagant pay and extravagant corporate profits and earnings and use it for something of a good cause.

those oil guys can go to hell, I wouldn't put it pass them they all met with Cheney, and manipulated this whole thing.

Explicit agreements have the possibility of jail time and are easier to catch.

and blame the real culprits.

Where do you believe that they have fallen short?

then they DON'T need subsidies of any sort. By their own definition.

I'd set up a draconian windfall tax, part of which is escrowed for them to borrow against
if things are ever actually bad for them.

Now THERE is an oxymoron for ya!!

That's the whole problem with giving corporations the same rights as a person -- they have no conscience.

Good first post. Welcome to DU! :hi:

What position do Mccain, Clinton, and Obama have on this? Anyone? Class? Anyone?

are angry then just imagine how angry we the people are.

Most of the cost of oil now is due to the "fear factor" because bush&co have destabilized the region so much. They have achieved exactly what they were after and anyone that thinks they didn't invade Iraq to STOP the flow of oil I'd like to talk to. I have a Timeshare in beautiful downtown Baghdad I'd like to sell them.

be economical. Even disregarding scarcity rents the price should probably be higher.

I'm only interested in buying if it's in the Green Zone.

Well, nothing on Obama's or McCain's websites aside from claiming to plan a decrease dependence on foreign oil, without anything about oil windfall taxes or anything else similar. On Clinton's there was only this:

"A $50 billion Strategic Energy Fund, paid for in part by oil companies, to fund investments in alternative energy. The SEF will finance one-third of the $150 billion ten-year investment in a new energy future contained in this plan;"

(The original seems to contain a spelling error which has been corrected.)

To which one should ask "How MUCH of a part would oil companies fund?"

None of them address the ongoing rising cost of gasoline and diesel, and the domino effect it is having.

At least as far as I could find...

then it must be Memorial Day" ...

(i forget who said it)

so, where are you guys headed this weekend?? :eyes:

We are but one side of the 'supply and demand' equation. I say let them drown in their own yellow liquid supply for a while.
dp

my tank this morning, but had to get the dog to the vet for surgery then go to work. Gas at my local station went up 10 cents in 8 hours. Sonoma County, CA.
You can't tell me they're not raping the country with their obscene profits. This IS A CULTURE WAR between the haves and have-nots.

I am tired of people bitching about high gas prices. I live 2 miles from my job. I ride my bike to work or drive my Honda Civic when it's too hot, too cold, or raining. People in Britain pay twice what we pay. The oil companies profit from our laziness and stupidity. Stop being lazy and stupid. Make sacrifices if you don't like it. Use less and the price goes down.

Local conservation is meaningless post globalization, that's old school thinking.

supply if that was their pricing strategy.

Try selling a house in this market so that you can move closer to work.

Sometimes life is not simple or black and white. And I personally do not believe that the gas prices will go down even if the entire country stops using gas. Peak Oil+Greed=High Gas Prices.

there is significantly less consumption?

I use a bike and drive a Honda Civic, too. I'm all for conservation and protecting the environment.

But it seems like oil companies are engaging in price gouging, given the fact that they post consistent record or near record profits every quarter.

If the upper level executives were not making multi-million dollar annual salaries, it would be a lot easier to believe that rising oil prices were the result of supply and demand.

If consumption dropped to zero then the value of gasoline would also be zero. Imagine a curve of value vs consumption. They would be directly proportional and would both decrease together, rather than the price remaining constant and dropping to zero only when the consumption reaches zero.

I don't trust corporate monopolies. There has been a free-for-all money grab going on since Bush took power. It's more complicated than you imply.

:hi:

I'm not an economist, but it seems like even if only a single company controlled the price they would have to lower prices just to stay in business if consumption dropped significantly. We'll never know what would happen since huge reductions in consumption aren't very likely.

depending on the area and in what ways the recession/unemployment has hit it, not everyone has the option to find another job. other people are beholden to their current jobs because of f*cked=up retirement policies. And not everyone can move closer to where they work, because, guess what, a lot of people can't afford the cost of living closer to workplace. Many people combine their commute with dropping off and picking up children at daycare. Other people live in climates where biking is an option for a fraction of the year. you bike? Good for you--I mean it sincerely--but that's not a solution that works for everyone, and you are pointing fingers at the wrong person.

as someone up the thread already pointed out, the British pay twice what we pay and have gas taxes subsidizing free healthcare and education. If I wasn't in a situation right now where I can either pay $540/month for COBRA (well, theoretically--I can't actually pay that) or go without health insurance--because my boyfriend makes $22,000/year, which is apparently $1,000 above the cut-off line for a family of three (me, him, and our one-year old) to be eligible for Medicaid--I wouldn't bitch about the gas prices.

With deregulation, no real over sight they charge as they please....greedy fucks, huge profits will continue...the only five oil companies (that control it all) have a monopoly with little over sight which can only amount to collusion....and were paying for it....They can and will go as high as their greed can accomplish. These huge multi-nationals certainly don't give a shit about the American people.

and now they hold more when it's $134... and they'll hold them again when it's $200. So effective, so proactive. Our congress works for US!

http://www.gravmag.com/oil.html

Oil companies blame the rising cost of crude. But when the price of crude rises the additional profit on every barrel would go to the "producers"--the Saudis, the Russians, etc.--the people who own the oil fields. That rise in the cost of "raw materials" would eat into the profits of the refiners/marketers and obviously NOT boost U.S. oil company profits to record highs.

No drilling for oil in the US because......global warming/save da bears...or

the taps are not dry over seas.

(Not accusing of course, just a coincidence that this was
posted as a reply to you)

Funny how this inavsion/occupation of Iraq is benefiting oil giants.....


Time to take back what they have taken from our country as a whole.

Seems to be half this board these days - anyway I digress... the FUCKING MORONS who voted for BUsh and Cheney thought putting two oil men in charge would *lower* the price of oil.

Nice to know that we're all paying for the fucking idiots who voted for those criminals stupidity.

And hey, they're about to do it again. Go morons!

Translation: You supply us so much of your hard-earned money because we demand more and more record profits.

???

probably believed. As usual, it is what is not said that is important.

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