It's a joke playing on the fact that the US must now buy seats in Russian Soyuz capsules if it wants to get its astronauts to the space station. After the retirement of the shuttles in 2011, there is currently no home-grown alternative.

And they may be--

The standard econowonk response to such things (see e.g. , or for that matter , which has reverted to “surge pricing&rdquo is that if the market were just left to its own devices, none of this would happen. Prices fluctuate in response to changes in supply and demand, so when supply goes down and demand goes up, it’s only natural that they should rise to the point at which demand starts falling off and the two finally meet again. At that point, the gas stations will still sell most of their gas, but there won’t be massive lines at the pump, and there will always be gas — at a price — for those who really need it.

e3300eb16b6f8e5bae9c229bc9332b8b,Michael Kors 1 May 2014Last updated at 09:12 Sony predicts bigger full-year loss

Strap on that pawnshop badge and start practicing your siren sounds.