corrente

George had better dig up a new crucifix or other knicknack to give to his dear pal, Gospodin "I Looked in His Eyes And Saw Into His Soul" Vladimir. If you haven't been following the story of the YUKOS Oil Co. in Russia I don't know exactly how to explain it, but Putin is engaged in a war-to-the-knife power struggle with the owner of the company. Today a court ordered that the company stop pumping oil. They haven't even done this yet and prices in the futures market are spiking badly. The guy at your local Hess station is probably out changing the numbers on the pumps even as we speak:

(via NYT)

U.S. light crude futures rose 52 cents to $42.36 a barrel,[prices as of story circa 10 this morning-Ed.] nine cents below June's 21-year high. ``We're going up on the back of the YUKOS news,'' one dealer said.

YUKOS pumps around 20 percent of the crude supply in Russia, the world's second-biggest oil exporter after Saudi Arabia, and if its sales stop, the company could fold quickly

When Bushco and Prince Bandar were rigging their little ploy to run the gas prices up in the summer then drop them for election time, I think they forgot a bear in the corner.

UPDATE 4 p.m. EST: (via Xinhua)

Light sweet crude for delivery in September soared 1.21 dollars to 43.05 dollars a barrel, the highest recorded for the contract since it was launched in 1983.