The Price of Petrol

Comrade Shampanyov, Gentleman wrote:

sweetness wrote: About the first thing I said after getting off the plane was "Holy shit! How big are the cars?" Can't believe people are still riding around in these land yachts. They must live in them.

Gotta have room for all those super-size food orders. :D

I stopped in for some fat food for some reason. The guy behind the counter noticed my bag that has "Manchester, England" written on the side. He says, "Why does it say England? Manchester's in Ohio." I explain that it's the original one. "Oh. Where's England? That's a country, right?"

In terms of public transport though, if you lived around here and didn't have a car you'd be screwed. It's a necessity of life.

sweetness wrote:

Comrade Shampanyov, Gentleman wrote:

sweetness wrote: About the first thing I said after getting off the plane was "Holy shit! How big are the cars?" Can't believe people are still riding around in these land yachts. They must live in them.

Gotta have room for all those super-size food orders. :D

I stopped in for some fat food for some reason. The guy behind the counter noticed my bag that has "Manchester, England" written on the side. He says, "Why does it say England? Manchester's in Ohio." I explain that it's the original one. "Oh. Where's England? That's a country, right?"

Before I went to England, a co-worker asked me if I spoke the language...

In terms of public transport though, if you lived around here and didn't have a car you'd be screwed. It's a necessity of life.

Cheap oil is what enables people to choose to live in an area that doesn't have realistic transportation options, and it's what enables transportation officials to avoid providing realistic transportation options. When oil prices rise, people and governments will adapt.

It happened to me once, in Massachussets... "Where do you live ? Montpellier. In Vermont ? What can do a Frenchman there ?... I can't tell you..." as I have never been in Montpelier...

By the way, the name of the American town that amuses me the most is : Bâton rouge.

Was it a game ? Has it a naughty meaning ?

One of the things Government needs to do is to stop subsidizing the automobile. The hidden subsidies are ubiquitous; for example, government approves housing that is miles from where commerce and industry are, and Government pays for the roads to connect the homes to commmerce and industry. That is a hidden subsidy to the automobile.

How attractive would distant jobs or housing be if there were no inexpensive transportation system connecting them?

One solution is to build public transit to connect far-flung developments; another solution is to rethink development itself-- to build housing within human-scaled commuting distance of jobs and commerce.

As oil prices rise, government and people will make the rational choices they should have been making all along, were it not for the hidden subsidies.

Jiphy wrote: It happened to me once, in Massachussets... "Where do you live ? Montpellier. In Vermont ? What can do a Frenchman there ?... I can't tell you..." as I have never been in Montpelier...

By the way, the name of the American town that amuses me the most is : Bâton rouge.

Was it a game ? Has it a naughty meaning ?

Don't know. Does it have a naughty meaning in French? Louisiana was French once...

Jiphy wrote:

Comrade Shampanyov, Gentleman wrote:

SHEDSRUS wrote: The price will come down, once America bombs IRAN

Funny, the price went up once we bombed Iraq.

I remember when they said that it would come down after the invasion... another lie...

It's disgraceful how Bush and the Republican Party have treated our oldest ally because France dared to think for herself.

public transportation and networks are to be thought as long-term investments... which has nothing to do with the current philosophy of fast profits...

W comes from oil industry... I assume he must be told by the wise people around him to say we have to find new alternatives in matters of energy... I strongly doubt he pointed it out by himself last time he spoke about it...

Comrade Shampanyov, Gentleman wrote: Don't know. Does it have a naughty meaning in French? Louisiana was French once...

Well Bâton rouge means big red stick...

Also like Des Moines... Some monks...

Jiphy wrote:

Comrade Shampanyov, Gentleman wrote: Don't know. Does it have a naughty meaning in French? Louisiana was French once...

Well Bâton rouge means big red stick...

Also like Des Moines... Some monks...

I went up to Lake George (formerly Lac du Saint Sacrament) in upstate New York in March, followed it all the way up to Lake Champlain at Ticonderoga (formerly Fort Carillon). I'd like to go back in the fall maybe, and tour the area by bicycle. There's a long history of the French in North America. From the Native American perspective, it would have been far, far better had the French won; unfortunately for them, the worst of the European colonizers-- the English-- won that war.

But the French paid them back in 1777.

Which is why George Bush's behavior towards the French is a national disgrace.

Comrade Shampanyov, Gentleman wrote: It's disgraceful how Bush and the Republican Party have treated our oldest ally because France dared to think for herself.

Well, quite out of date propaganda for the leading nation of the world.

On the other hand, the Freedom Fries were one of the best jokes if not the best in 2003.

The last French monarchs were as good as W for managing the budget. They wasted too much money so that they could not afford a realistic foreign policy.

Hess stations always have plenty of free air, unlike any other gas station where it's $.50

Well, that was my contribution to this great debate. G'bye.

Comrade Shampanyov, Gentleman wrote:

Jiphy wrote:

Comrade Shampanyov, Gentleman wrote:

SHEDSRUS wrote: The price will come down, once America bombs IRAN

Funny, the price went up once we bombed Iraq.

I remember when they said that it would come down after the invasion... another lie...

It's disgraceful how Bush and the Republican Party have treated our oldest ally because France dared to think for herself.

Um, Comrade, it is heavily noted that the French government was supplying and arming Saddam as recent as 2002.

$25 Billion worth before the UN embargo

$3.5 Billion worth after the embargo. Which of course was against the UN stipulations.

France was interested in Iraq's oil, just like everyone else. They weren't on some moral high ground.

JHC

68 Pontiac wrote:

Comrade Shampanyov, Gentleman wrote:

Jiphy wrote:

Comrade Shampanyov, Gentleman wrote:

SHEDSRUS wrote: The price will come down, once America bombs IRAN

Funny, the price went up once we bombed Iraq.

I remember when they said that it would come down after the invasion... another lie...

It's disgraceful how Bush and the Republican Party have treated our oldest ally because France dared to think for herself.

Um, Comrade, it is heavily noted that the French government was supplying and arming Saddam as recent as 2002.

$25 Billion worth before the UN embargo

$3.5 Billion worth after the embargo. Which of course was against the UN stipulations.

France was interested in Iraq's oil, just like everyone else. They weren't on some moral high ground.

JHC

It's clear that France was pursuing her own interests in Iraq. Hardly unusual among nations, though, is it? And I hear that other nations also sell arms. Some of them have even sold arms to Iraq.

What I find disgraceful is not that we disagreed with France, which is perfectly acceptable, but the way in which we disagreed with France: With insults, snubs, condescension. We behaved as if France must clear her policies through us, and when she didn't, we behaved very, very badly. We shouldn't have treated any nation that way, but to have treated our oldest ally like that is a disgrace.

if your ever going down the M5 stop off at bristol where the asda is, .. cheapest fuel on the M5

This blue-eyed boy that wants to be wrote: Screw the car. Start taking the bus and subway. A monthly pass in Boston - for the bus and subway - costs less than a week's worth of gas. Then again, I guess that only works if you live in a city.

make that a public transport-friendly city. naturally orlando has a bus system, but it has inane routes and mysterious timetables. hence the dependence on cars.

Comrade Shampanyov, Gentleman wrote: It's clear that France was pursuing her own interests in Iraq. Hardly unusual among nations, though, is it? And I hear that other nations also sell arms. Some of them have even sold arms to Iraq.

What I find disgraceful is not that we disagreed with France, which is perfectly acceptable, but the way in which we disagreed with France: With insults, snubs, condescension. We behaved as if France must clear her policies through us, and when she didn't, we behaved very, very badly. We shouldn't have treated any nation that way, but to have treated our oldest ally like that is a disgrace.

The difference between other countries selling arms, and France selling to Iraq is that they went against the UN embargo. They took on self interests and stabbed the UN in the back.

As for France being our oldest ally and friend is debatable, much of history shows the opposite.

As for the way people acted towards France, maybe we bahaved poorly. I would definately agree if the UN had done something to punish France for going against the embargo. . .but of course they didn't, which isn't suprising since the UN is a paper tiger.

JHC