New Wave Outpost Forum

by **Otters Walk Among Us** » Sun Apr 23, 2006 2:06 am

The best, by which I mean saddest/most pathetic/horrifying, response in a list of emails to CNN about gas prices:

"People where is the *&%*&% outrage! Now I could see if our soldiers were over dying in the Middle East and we were getting gas for a 1.20 a galloon, but our boys are dying and we're still paying 3.00 a gallon. I got a gallon of water (which could sustain life for a week) for .69 and spent almost five times that for a galloon of fuel!!"
Michael McDermott, Noblesville, Indiana

Yup, it would be fine for thousands of soldiers to die for gas at $1.20 a "galloon."
http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/04/21/feedba ... index.html

by **2Nu** » Sun Apr 23, 2006 3:05 am

First off,
I liken that mensa logic to somehow linking the American bodycount in Iraq to the price of tea in China.
Or better yet.. that we're in Iraq to punish Saddam Hussein for his 'role' and 'involvement' in 9-11

Go Figure..

As for hitting close to home, my cheapest pump price (BJ's self serve gas) is $3.03. (Remember when you used to get your windshield washed and oil checked? - I was one of those gas jockeys who did that back in the early 80's, not to mention getting the free glass tumblers for a 10 gal fill)

I already saw that O/L shipping costs have gone through the roof. What used to cost $9.00 for UPS ground now has shot up past $18.00!!

I'm sure 'Free Shipping' will go the way of the 8 track tape and milk in glass bottles delivered to your door (yes, I remember those..)

BRING BACK THE WINDFALL PROFITS TAX!!

<IMG SRC="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v395/richp62/Icons%20Avatars/inot.gif">
I'm firmly of the belief that we have become hapless citizens of <a href="http://www.starbase118.net/academy/library/alien/frules.htm" target="blank">"'Ferenginar'"</a>.

by **i_like_lectric_motors** » Sun Apr 23, 2006 5:12 am

I'm lucky. I work 2 miles away from my house and only have to fill my tank about once a month if that so it's had minimal effect on me. I do love to hear the SUV, truck and minivan owners complain though, a privilege I'm more than happy to pay extra for. [:D]

by **coop41** » Sun Apr 23, 2006 7:09 am

Here's an Interesting piece from ABC's 20/20 a few weeks back:

No. 7 — MYTH — Gas Prices Are Higher Than Ever

"Record high gas prices," has been the refrain of many in the media this past year while talking about the price at the pump. Jay Leno even said, "They don't even put the price on the sign anymore — it just says, 'If you have to ask, you can't afford it.'"

Drivers I talked to at a New York gas station agreed. "Too high, it's scary," said one man. "It's going up and up and up and it's the most expensive it's ever been," said another woman.

But the reality is that the "record high gas prices" are a myth. The U.S. Department of Energy records show that when you adjust for inflation the price of gas is now lower than it's been for most of the twentieth century. Prices are lower now than they were 25 years ago. Yes, they price is up from the 1998 all time low of $1.19, but they are a dollar lower than they were in the early 1980s.

When I told this to people at the gas station they didn't believe me. And why should they? The media keep telling us about the record high prices — they're just not adjusting for inflation!

I asked people to compare the price of gas to bottled water or ice cream you can buy inside the gas station. Most people were sure the gas was more expensive. But they're wrong.

If you took the average price of a bottle of water, a gallon would cost nearly $7. A gallon of Haagen Dazs ice cream would set you back nearly $30 — 15 times the price of gas.

And think about how much harder it is to produce gasoline.

First, oil has to be sucked out of the ground … sometimes from deep beneath an ocean or underneath ice or from the Middle East where workers risk their lives. And just to get to the oil often means the drill may have to bend and dig sideways through as many five miles of earth. What oil companies find then has to be delivered through long pipelines or shipped in monstrously expensive ships, then converted into three different formulas of gasoline, trucked in trucks that cost more than $100,000 and then your local gas station has to spend a fortune on safety devices to make sure you don't blow yourself up.

Gas is actually a bargain, not that you'll hear that from most of the media.

http://abcnews.go.com/2020/story?id=448934&page=1

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by **hutter** » Sun Apr 23, 2006 7:21 am

In 1979, the price for a comic book was $.40. Now it's $2.95, at the lowest. The average is $3.50, and that's too cheap for the makers of the comics to take in much of a profit.

I hate it that gas is more than it has been in the last few years, but it could be so much worse. If Carter were President right now, it would be around $15.00 a gallon.

<a href="http://electricdreams71.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">My Blog: ElectricDreams</a>

by **2Nu** » Sun Apr 23, 2006 7:50 am

[quote][i]Originally posted by hutter[/i]
 I hate it that gas is more than it has been in the last few years, but it could be so much worse. If Carter were President right now, it would be around $15.00 a gallon.

[/quote]:: Edit ::

Keeping things solely in the energy conservation context hutter, I would certainly believe that we would have shirked much of our present day dependance on hydrocarbon based fuels to offset the higher price given Carter's strengthening and raising of <a href="http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/rules/cafe/overview.htm" target="blank">"Automotive CAFE standards"</a> (which were LOWERED during Reagan's 2nd term and REMAIN UNCHANGED TO THIS DAY mind you) as well as the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act which STILL requires utilities to BUY BACK energy (at market rate) that surplus energy residential customers produce from alternate energy sources (photovoltaic, hydroelectric, wind etc..)

Surprised that the energy industry lobbyists haven't rescinded that one!

Oh, let's not forget to mention the Crude Oil Windfall Profits Tax (PL 96-223, signed 4/2/80) in all likelihood, would still be IN FORCE.

<IMG SRC="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v395/richp62/Icons%20Avatars/inot.gif">
I'm firmly of the belief that we have become hapless citizens of <a href="http://www.starbase118.net/academy/library/alien/frules.htm" target="blank">"'Ferenginar'"</a>.

by **djsoss** » Sun Apr 23, 2006 2:32 pm

The other day I payed $30 for gas and only got like 9 gallons worth. Thank you Mr. Bush.[:(]

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by **randy** » Sun Apr 23, 2006 9:11 pm

Hutter--Comics were 12 cents when I started collecting.[:D]or should I say..[:(]
Gas--I dont live close to work--travel about 90 miles a day and its sucking me dry!!!!! Cant help but notice the prices started creeping up with the beginning of Bush's war. Not to mention record breaking profits for Bushy babies Oil buddies. Whats up with that???

by **WolverineSyr** » Sun Apr 23, 2006 10:33 pm

It's interesting to make the comparison of bottled water, starbucks and Haagen Dazs, the fact remains, I don't need any of those things to make a living & none of them are a necessity.

Fortunatly I live a mile from work & can walk if need be. Unfortunatly, I have to drive to Albany tomorrow - if I started out walking Friday evening, maybe I'd make it by tomorrow!
[:D]

by **eight6** » Mon Apr 24, 2006 1:30 am

As of this morning, locally it's $1.08 CDN per litre, which works out to about $3.60 U.S. per U.S. gallon. Hasn't really had an effect on my driving yet...but I notice more and more that when I go to the pump the person who used it before me has only put $10.00 in their tank.

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by **birdmadgirl** » Mon Apr 24, 2006 2:07 am

We're up to $2.81+ a gallon (galloon!) here in Vegas. The higher prices haven't affected me (unless you count my incessant bitching about the cost to fill up my little car).

It cost me $35 to fill up over the weekend, and that should last me until Friday. When gas prices started creeping up last year, we sold my SUV and bought me a little car. Even back then, it was costing me around $60 to $80 a week in gas. I feel sorry for the poor sucker who bought it from us, with its 13 mpg.

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by **UniversalRadio** » Mon Apr 24, 2006 2:35 am

[quote][i]Originally posted by 2Nu[/i]
 (BJ's self serve gas) [/quote]

ROFL!! BJ's self serve? Is this place owned by Ron Jeremy?[:D]

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by **marie3** » Mon Apr 24, 2006 3:11 am

You know, it wouldn't be so bad if we were paying more because of a shortage situation. Or some damn good reason. But when you have record profits from oil companies and 400 million dollar bonus's to ceo's of these companies, Sorry, It's all greedy b.s.

When a vice president is in office 10 days and has secret energy meetings with oil execs and lobbyist, you know it wasn't going to be good.
And it is not just gasoline that is more expensive now more then ever when you see how much natural gas has gone up. When I first moved into my home 12 years ago, I paid 80 bucks a month to heat my home. This year it has climbed up to $330.00 a month! That's a freaking car payment! Now I have to spend over $3.00 a gallon for gas?
It's becoming unaffordable for the middle class to live here in the United States. I am afraid to see what is going to happen to our children when they grow up.

by **stella** » Mon Apr 24, 2006 5:01 am

I'm in the same boat with heating except I got a preview via ENRON. My heating bill was around $130. in the coldest winter and all of a sudden I get one for $350. and it's not even winter. It was like some bastard reached into my pocket and stole $220. dollars. Next month it went back down and now its back up. I'm really getting killed at the grocery store too. On the flip side my house is worth so much money I would be embarrassed to sell.

by **MattW** » Mon Apr 24, 2006 5:49 am

[quote]
If you took the average price of a bottle of water, a gallon would cost nearly $7. A gallon of Haagen Dazs ice cream would set you back nearly $30 — 15 times the price of gas.

First, oil has to be sucked out of the ground … sometimes from deep beneath an ocean or underneath ice or from the Middle East where workers risk their lives. And just to get to the oil often means the drill may have to bend and dig sideways through as many five miles of earth. What oil companies find then has to be delivered through long pipelines or shipped in monstrously expensive ships, then converted into three different formulas of gasoline, trucked in trucks that cost more than $100,000 and then your local gas station has to spend a fortune on safety devices to make sure you don't blow yourself up.

[/quote]

I love the gas-water comparison. Last time I bought my fill of water it cost me $1.25. If I need a gallon of bottled water, it costs .99 at the supermarket. Yesterday, 3/4 of a tank of gas cost me $78.00, yeah....gas is cheap.

I guess I should show a little compassion though since it's so hard to produce. If ever there was a need for a roll-your-eyes smiley, it is now.

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