Generational Dynamics
Fourth Turning Forum Archive


Popular links:
Generational Dynamics Web Site
Generational Dynamics Forum
Fourth Turning Archive home page
New Fourth Turning Forum

Thread: Gas Tracker - Page 27







Post#651 at 07-09-2008 07:41 AM by catfishncod [at The People's Republic of Cambridge & Possum Town, MS joined Apr 2005 #posts 984]
---
07-09-2008, 07:41 AM #651
Join Date
Apr 2005
Location
The People's Republic of Cambridge & Possum Town, MS
Posts
984

They certainly do "clarify", CH; those websites define the style of writing you are using -- and point out how ridiculous it is. Only two types of people could possibly provide those links in "support" of their position: someone too delusional to appreciate irony and sarcasm -- or someone deliberately making a performance piece out of extreme geopolitical arguments.

Either way, I'm certainly not laughing. You're a troll. Go away.

EDIT: ObOnTopic: The price of gas has not changed at my corner store in the PRC for two weeks; it's still $4.05. This is almost the cheapest gas in Greater Boston; one friend has reported a $3.97 in Medford, but mostly they're all still $4.09 or greater.
'81, 30/70 X/Millie, trying to live in both Red and Blue America... "Catfish 'n Cod"







Post#652 at 07-09-2008 11:57 AM by Bria67Xer [at Harrisburg, PA joined May 2007 #posts 339]
---
07-09-2008, 11:57 AM #652
Join Date
May 2007
Location
Harrisburg, PA
Posts
339

Skabunguscool video.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVv597m848s

Hmmmm...that's all fine and dandy, but this video doesn't take into consideration some disturbing facts about the America's national health. I'd like to see the bulk of us pick up one these things and spend all day long hacking at grain after we've spent the last 25-30 years smoking 2-4 packs of cigarettes a day, eating artery-clogging foods, exercising less than an hour a day, drinking soda vs. water, eating candy vs. fresh fruits, and taking an average of 5 different medications daily. This type of work is bound to put a majority of the population OUT of work. LOL.

You younger workers better stop eating your favored shitty fast, microwaved, easily processed foods - you're going to be needed by society to pick up the loss for those older people who lived in the fast lane and now won't be able carry their weight in the "new reverse industrial age" shown in this video. But, that shouldn't be a problem for ya'll, right?...being sooooo civic and community minded and all.

Bria







Post#653 at 07-09-2008 11:58 AM by Bria67Xer [at Harrisburg, PA joined May 2007 #posts 339]
---
07-09-2008, 11:58 AM #653
Join Date
May 2007
Location
Harrisburg, PA
Posts
339

Deleted because it was duplicated by accident.







Post#654 at 07-09-2008 01:02 PM by pbrower2a [at "Michigrim" joined May 2005 #posts 15,016]
---
07-09-2008, 01:02 PM #654
Join Date
May 2005
Location
"Michigrim"
Posts
15,016

I said:

I think that we are more likely headed back to the 60-hour workweek, 45-year lifespans for those who do the work, children back in the work force, and all-in-all, the sort of economic relationships that Karl Marx saw in capitalism in his time.


Quote Originally Posted by Zarathustra View Post
That's how thing would be if the trends of the 3T continued uninterrupted, but we know that linear trends don't always continue.
Much so. Good cause exists to suggest that the American public no longer can support the catastrophic policies, economic and international, that Dubya stands for (Whoops! With his foot in his mouth most of the time?)

3T trends are calamities in the making, and they lead as a rule, in America, to a 4T. Weak, inattentive leadership becomes the norm during a 3T, and the only people well organized at the time are the well-heeled plutocrats who exploit the political trend by backing the most ruthless yet sold-out political figures. Nobody trusts anyone, and hedonism becomes an anodyne for philosophical distress. Inequality intensifies, public life decades, popular culture becomes depraved, and organized crime flourishes.

If one looks at the sort of leadership that America had late in a 3T (I know little about the pre-Revolutionary political scene, so I can say little about it, but I suspect that it wasn't very good) -- but when one looks at the likes of Pierce, Fillmore, Buchanan, Harding, Coolidge, and now Dubya, one would have to wonder how anyone could see Americans getting through bad times if one lived in those times. I can now understand how Dubya could win a near-majority of the popular vote in 2000: while Al Gore was warning us of global warming, Dubya gave us the indication that with him as President we could "party hearty".

... I have come to recognize that a 3T looks much like the Marxist stereotype of capitalism in its last stage of depravity, when more and more people are thrust into poverty. Wealth increasingly becomes concentrated, the rate of return on investment falls (look at General Motors today), and "players" take bigger risks. The few still rich turn the government into a de facto plutocracy, if not an outright tyranny. Business cracks the whip, but only pretends to give people the means with which to get sustenance. That situation creates the ultimate 4T -- a Socialist revolution in which workers overthrow the plutocrats and their flunkies. Maybe the workers overthrow their recent masters -- or the recent masters create a political Hell of outright slavery enforced, most likely, with either the cruel methods of the Middle Ages or with novel and even-more excruciating methods.

We are going to see a 4T here -- but no Socialist revolution. Ideally we let the speculators go under, which will be an easy choice for those who do public policy. Those speculators did little good for others when they held sway. We are likely to impose heavy taxes on those who make huge earned income, most of them having exploited monopoly power in a 3T.
The greatest evil is not now done in those sordid "dens of crime" (or) even in concentration camps and labour camps. In those we see its final result. But it is conceived and ordered... in clean, carpeted, warmed and well-lighted offices, by (those) who do not need to raise their voices. Hence, naturally enough, my symbol for Hell is something like the bureaucracy of a police state or the office of a thoroughly nasty business concern."


― C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters







Post#655 at 07-09-2008 01:32 PM by Marx & Lennon [at '47 cohort still lost in Falwelland joined Sep 2001 #posts 16,715]
---
07-09-2008, 01:32 PM #655
Join Date
Sep 2001
Location
'47 cohort still lost in Falwelland
Posts
16,715

The Big Day(TM) is now behind us, and it's time to see whether the gas prices will fall, as they have in previous years, or simply continue to climb. I'm going to wager that the rise will continue until mid-September. Here's why.

Almost anyone even vaguely implicated in the current rise, except for the consuming public at large, is more likely to support GOP policies than not. Given that, what provides the most benefit to their guy? I say it's the rate of fall rather than the amount, so the higher it goes and the later it falls, the more spectacular the decent.

This is speculation, of course, but it won't be that long to find-out if it's justified or not.
Marx: Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies.
Lennon: You either get tired fighting for peace, or you die.







Post#656 at 07-09-2008 07:07 PM by Brian Beecher [at Downers Grove, IL joined Sep 2001 #posts 2,937]
---
07-09-2008, 07:07 PM #656
Join Date
Sep 2001
Location
Downers Grove, IL
Posts
2,937

Was Jimmy Carter Right

In this morning's paper there was a piece which asked if Jimmy Carter got it right nearly three decades ago after all. It was on July 15, 1979 that he gave what is now derided as the "malaise" speech although he didn't officially utter that word. In it he stated that we can do better and that we could lick the overwhelming dependency on foreign oil. But we didn't listen and continued on our merry way. And now our lack of foresight is being severely challenged, and it now looks as though he had it right all along. But we ignored his pleas and went out and elected Reagan, and all bets were off.

Is this one example of the "regrets over mistakes made" scenario the authors described in the book as occurring before the crux of the 4T sets in?







Post#657 at 07-10-2008 11:37 AM by playwrite [at NYC joined Jul 2005 #posts 10,451]
---
07-10-2008, 11:37 AM #657
Join Date
Jul 2005
Location
NYC
Posts
10,451

Reasonable, but...

This guy seems to reflect that coming together and pragmatism of a 4T -

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1215...n_commentaries

A Bipartisan Fix for the Oil Crisis
By JOSEPH PETROWSKI
July 10, 2008; Page A15
I'd be willing to take the chance that offshore drilling is safer today. I'd also be willing to test the assumption that while the actual production would be off several years, a decline in forward price points would bring down today's spot prices.

What I have problems with is trusting about half the country and their politicians and captains of industry that they just won't once again return to blowing-off any real long-term solution and leaving it to the future -- once again, riding around in biggest sized Hummers, explaining how "America is Kick Ass," and either flipping the bird at the hippies in the Prius or running them off the road while their political and industry leaders get us even more tangled up with the nasty oil-exporting countries.

As a Boomer Progressive who has had to deal with these selfish counterparts his whole life, I'd say keep the offshore oil bans until these assholes sign a legally binding pledge. Otherwise, wait until all us Boomers are either dead or legally determined to be mentally incapacitated. I realize a lot of GenXers are the worst of the Hummer types, but I have faith that their kids will make them change their ways.
"The Devil enters the prompter's box and the play is ready to start" - R. Service

“It’s not tax money. The banks have accounts with the Fed … so, to lend to a bank, we simply use the computer to mark up the size of the account that they have with the Fed. It’s much more akin to printing money.” - B.Bernanke


"Keep your filthy hands off my guns while I decide what you can & can't do with your uterus" - Sarah Silverman

If you meet a magic pony on the road, kill it. - Playwrite







Post#658 at 07-10-2008 02:03 PM by Marx & Lennon [at '47 cohort still lost in Falwelland joined Sep 2001 #posts 16,715]
---
07-10-2008, 02:03 PM #658
Join Date
Sep 2001
Location
'47 cohort still lost in Falwelland
Posts
16,715

Quote Originally Posted by playwrite View Post
This guy seems to reflect that coming together and pragmatism of a 4T -

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1215...n_commentaries

I'd be willing to take the chance that offshore drilling is safer today. I'd also be willing to test the assumption that while the actual production would be off several years, a decline in forward price points would bring down today's spot prices.

What I have problems with is trusting about half the country and their politicians and captains of industry that they just won't once again return to blowing-off any real long-term solution and leaving it to the future -- once again, riding around in biggest sized Hummers, explaining how "America is Kick Ass," and either flipping the bird at the hippies in the Prius or running them off the road while their political and industry leaders get us even more tangled up with the nasty oil-exporting countries.

As a Boomer Progressive who has had to deal with these selfish counterparts his whole life, I'd say keep the offshore oil bans until these assholes sign a legally binding pledge. Otherwise, wait until all us Boomers are either dead or legally determined to be mentally incapacitated. I realize a lot of GenXers are the worst of the Hummer types, but I have faith that their kids will make them change their ways.
There is little doubt that we will backslide given any reason more compelling than invisible pink unicorns. We Americans don't like to be inconvenienced, and we believe we are uniquely blessed with infinite resources that makes inconvenience unnecessary.

If we are ever disabused of that fantasy, we will either commit communal suicide or start fixing what is broken. I'm afraid of the former, but hoping for the latter.
Marx: Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies.
Lennon: You either get tired fighting for peace, or you die.







Post#659 at 07-20-2008 12:12 AM by herbal tee [at joined Dec 2005 #posts 7,116]
---
07-20-2008, 12:12 AM #659
Join Date
Dec 2005
Posts
7,116

Right Arrow No holiday from reality

Why the gas tax cut had no chance of happening just before the election.

Lately it has been sugggested on a few blogs that our energy policy should include a variable gas tax. In this case the tax would somewhat like a tariff in that it would rise if the cost of gas dropped too low to keep alternetive fuels competitive. Part or all of the revenue from the tax could be used as seed money for clean energy start up projects.
Last edited by herbal tee; 07-20-2008 at 02:50 AM.







Post#660 at 07-20-2008 08:09 AM by The Grey Badger [at Albuquerque, NM joined Sep 2001 #posts 8,876]
---
07-20-2008, 08:09 AM #660
Join Date
Sep 2001
Location
Albuquerque, NM
Posts
8,876

Address Not Found













Firefox can't find the server at =http.



Bad link! No story!



The browser could not find the host server for the provided address.

* Did you make a mistake when typing the domain? (e.g. "ww.mozilla.org" instead of "www.mozilla.org")
* Are you certain this domain address exists? Its registration may have expired.
* Are you unable to browse other sites? Check your network connection and DNS server settings.
* Is your computer or network protected by a firewall or proxy? Incorrect settings can interfere with Web browsing.
How to spot a shill, by John Michael Greer: "What you watch for is (a) a brand new commenter who (b) has nothing to say about the topic under discussion but (c) trots out a smoothly written opinion piece that (d) hits all the standard talking points currently being used by a specific political or corporate interest, while (e) avoiding any other points anyone else has made on that subject."

"If the shoe fits..." The Grey Badger.







Post#661 at 07-20-2008 04:25 PM by The Wonkette [at Arlington, VA 1956 joined Jul 2002 #posts 9,209]
---
07-20-2008, 04:25 PM #661
Join Date
Jul 2002
Location
Arlington, VA 1956
Posts
9,209

Quote Originally Posted by herbal tee View Post
Why the gas tax cut had no chance of happening just before the election.

Lately it has been sugggested on a few blogs that our energy policy should include a variable gas tax. In this case the tax would somewhat like a tariff in that it would rise if the cost of gas dropped too low to keep alternetive fuels competitive. Part or all of the revenue from the tax could be used as seed money for clean energy start up projects.
The link is bad.
I want people to know that peace is possible even in this stupid day and age. Prem Rawat, June 8, 2008







Post#662 at 07-20-2008 05:18 PM by herbal tee [at joined Dec 2005 #posts 7,116]
---
07-20-2008, 05:18 PM #662
Join Date
Dec 2005
Posts
7,116

The "natives" would have gotten restless

Quote Originally Posted by The Wonkette View Post
The link is bad.
It figures that the one time I choose not to include a snippit of an article, the article in question would have a bad link.

At any rate, the jist of the story is that as the Federal Highway Trust Fund is dedicated money that is used in ongoing projects, a summer "tax holiday" would create a cutoff of money that would halt work on many projects employing thousands of construction crews. This would be in effect an anti-stimulus creating a jump in unemployment that would be broadcasted in the news to the general public.Even worse, it make the affected workers very angry just in time for the November election. This is a situation no politican, regardless of party, wants to have existing on election day. Hence, that talk about cutting the gas tax just before the election never had the chance to be anything more than talk. ::
Last edited by herbal tee; 07-20-2008 at 05:26 PM.







Post#663 at 07-23-2008 06:34 PM by jamesdglick [at Clarksville, TN joined Mar 2007 #posts 2,007]
---
07-23-2008, 06:34 PM #663
Join Date
Mar 2007
Location
Clarksville, TN
Posts
2,007

Go figure...

I saw this headline, and I actually laughed; every rose has it's thorns, and every cloud has a silver lining:

http://www.theleafchronicle.com/apps...13/1002/NEWS01

Traffic deaths fall as gas prices climb

To everything, turn, , turn, turn...







Post#664 at 07-24-2008 03:52 PM by sean '90 [at joined Jul 2007 #posts 1,625]
---
07-24-2008, 03:52 PM #664
Join Date
Jul 2007
Posts
1,625

Mitch McConnell

Recently Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has been running campaign commercials blasting his opponent Bruce Lunsford for having supported automatic increases in the state gas tax back around 1980. My dad, who's not exactly a sympathizer for the Democrats' ideology, has mentioned that those commercials' impact really depends or the voter having a low level of intelligence. Do you think this may have a bad effect on McConnell's campaign, and help Bruce Lunsford win McConnell's Senate seat?







Post#665 at 07-25-2008 01:11 AM by Roadbldr '59 [at Vancouver, Washington joined Jul 2001 #posts 8,281]
---
07-25-2008, 01:11 AM #665
Join Date
Jul 2001
Location
Vancouver, Washington
Posts
8,281

It's official: gas in Vancouver is dropping in price. We're now down to $4.159/259/359 for petrol. Even diesel has dropped significantly, from $4.959 last week to $4.799 this afternoon.
"Better hurry. There's a storm coming. His storm!!!" :-O -Abigail Freemantle, "The Stand" by Stephen King







Post#666 at 07-25-2008 02:05 AM by pbrower2a [at "Michigrim" joined May 2005 #posts 15,016]
---
07-25-2008, 02:05 AM #666
Join Date
May 2005
Location
"Michigrim"
Posts
15,016

Quote Originally Posted by sean '90 View Post
Recently Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has been running campaign commercials blasting his opponent Bruce Lunsford for having supported automatic increases in the state gas tax back around 1980. My dad, who's not exactly a sympathizer for the Democrats' ideology, has mentioned that those commercials' impact really depends or the voter having a low level of intelligence. Do you think this may have a bad effect on McConnell's campaign, and help Bruce Lunsford win McConnell's Senate seat?
It is pure demagoguery. John McCain has been attacking Barack Obama for his opposition to a federal gas tax "holiday" as evidence of his failure to solve the problem of overpriced gasoline. Gas taxes did not create the problem. Failure to drill, failure to build refineries, failure to find alternative energy, excessive dependency upon motor vehicles -- those are part of the problem.

The alternatives to those automatic gas taxes are either (1) bad roads, or (2) toll roads -- even on two-lane blacktops. Both are bad ideas.

Highway construction uses up much motor fuel and (with tar roads) petroleum products. Those federal taxes will be needed just to make auto travel safer.
The greatest evil is not now done in those sordid "dens of crime" (or) even in concentration camps and labour camps. In those we see its final result. But it is conceived and ordered... in clean, carpeted, warmed and well-lighted offices, by (those) who do not need to raise their voices. Hence, naturally enough, my symbol for Hell is something like the bureaucracy of a police state or the office of a thoroughly nasty business concern."


― C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters







Post#667 at 07-25-2008 10:29 AM by herbal tee [at joined Dec 2005 #posts 7,116]
---
07-25-2008, 10:29 AM #667
Join Date
Dec 2005
Posts
7,116

Good Question

Quote Originally Posted by sean '90 View Post
Recently Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has been running campaign commercials blasting his opponent Bruce Lunsford for having supported automatic increases in the state gas tax back around 1980. My dad, who's not exactly a sympathizer for the Democrats' ideology, has mentioned that those commercials' impact really depends or the voter having a low level of intelligence. Do you think this may have a bad effect on McConnell's campaign, and help Bruce Lunsford win McConnell's Senate seat?
Several days ago I posted above as to why cutting off highway construction funds in an autocentric country is such a bad idea that it won't happen with an election looming. During a 3T most people feel such inner world satisfaction as all of the awakening era questions seen to have been answered that they are often able to convince themselves of whatever they want to believe. In this case it means that somehow the roads that they drive upon will somehow stay maintained, the roads that the others drive on will get the potholes. Replacing shocks and struts prematurely as well as having other maintenence costs skyrocket on a car is a whole lot more expensive than paying gas taxes. This year we will see if short term narrow appeals still overcome long term thinking post Katrina. In 2006 the Iraq war was such a dominant issue that that election did not test this question. This year with its high gas prices will.
Last edited by herbal tee; 07-25-2008 at 10:31 AM.







Post#668 at 08-11-2008 12:15 PM by The Wonkette [at Arlington, VA 1956 joined Jul 2002 #posts 9,209]
---
08-11-2008, 12:15 PM #668
Join Date
Jul 2002
Location
Arlington, VA 1956
Posts
9,209

Most stations are selling gas at under $4.00 in my patch of the Union (Northern Virginia). The range seems to be $3.79 to $4.06.

We'll see how the Russia/Georgia war affects gas prices. There is a big oil pipeline running right through the disputed areas.
I want people to know that peace is possible even in this stupid day and age. Prem Rawat, June 8, 2008







Post#669 at 08-11-2008 12:21 PM by The Grey Badger [at Albuquerque, NM joined Sep 2001 #posts 8,876]
---
08-11-2008, 12:21 PM #669
Join Date
Sep 2001
Location
Albuquerque, NM
Posts
8,876

I just drove from Albuquerque to Denver and back and the only place with gas over $4 was in Raton, NM, at the top of Raton Pass. I filled up at a roadside gas station - convenience store south of Raton for $3.999. The rest was between $3.769 and $3.899. Amazing.
How to spot a shill, by John Michael Greer: "What you watch for is (a) a brand new commenter who (b) has nothing to say about the topic under discussion but (c) trots out a smoothly written opinion piece that (d) hits all the standard talking points currently being used by a specific political or corporate interest, while (e) avoiding any other points anyone else has made on that subject."

"If the shoe fits..." The Grey Badger.







Post#670 at 08-11-2008 05:10 PM by jamesdglick [at Clarksville, TN joined Mar 2007 #posts 2,007]
---
08-11-2008, 05:10 PM #670
Join Date
Mar 2007
Location
Clarksville, TN
Posts
2,007

Quote Originally Posted by The Grey Badger View Post
I just drove from Albuquerque to Denver and back and the only place with gas over $4 was in Raton, NM, at the top of Raton Pass. I filled up at a roadside gas station - convenience store south of Raton for $3.999. The rest was between $3.769 and $3.899. Amazing.
-Clarksville, Tennessee: $3.599 - 3.699; since I've forsaken automobiles for the time being, it's no skin off my hide.







Post#671 at 08-13-2008 01:28 AM by stab1969 [at Albuquerque, NM joined May 2007 #posts 532]
---
08-13-2008, 01:28 AM #671
Join Date
May 2007
Location
Albuquerque, NM
Posts
532

Quote Originally Posted by The Grey Badger View Post
The rest was between $3.769 and $3.899. Amazing.
I was in Las Vegas last weekend and it was about the same there too. Cheapest I've seen where I live is $4.15







Post#672 at 08-19-2008 04:21 PM by jamesdglick [at Clarksville, TN joined Mar 2007 #posts 2,007]
---
08-19-2008, 04:21 PM #672
Join Date
Mar 2007
Location
Clarksville, TN
Posts
2,007

Quote Originally Posted by jamesdglick View Post
-Clarksville, Tennessee: $3.599 - 3.699; since I've forsaken automobiles for the time being, it's no skin off my hide.

-The Shell station has been at $3.559 since yesterday (at least).
Last edited by jamesdglick; 08-19-2008 at 04:22 PM. Reason: Wrong price







Post#673 at 08-19-2008 08:58 PM by Marx & Lennon [at '47 cohort still lost in Falwelland joined Sep 2001 #posts 16,715]
---
08-19-2008, 08:58 PM #673
Join Date
Sep 2001
Location
'47 cohort still lost in Falwelland
Posts
16,715

The best price I've seen lately is $3.399, $3.499 and $3.599 for Regular, Plus and Premium.
Marx: Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies.
Lennon: You either get tired fighting for peace, or you die.







Post#674 at 08-20-2008 01:17 AM by Roadbldr '59 [at Vancouver, Washington joined Jul 2001 #posts 8,281]
---
08-20-2008, 01:17 AM #674
Join Date
Jul 2001
Location
Vancouver, Washington
Posts
8,281

Regular gas in my neighborhood is down to $3.899; midgrade is available for a dime more. Only premium and diesel are still over-4.
"Better hurry. There's a storm coming. His storm!!!" :-O -Abigail Freemantle, "The Stand" by Stephen King







Post#675 at 08-20-2008 05:16 PM by Bri2k [at joined Aug 2007 #posts 133]
---
08-20-2008, 05:16 PM #675
Join Date
Aug 2007
Posts
133

Saw $3.69/gal. on my way to work this morning in S.W. PA. It's been a while since I've seen it that "cheap".

Bri2k
-----------------------------------------