quote:

Originally posted by Magnetonium Well, no shit. Big Mac's and McFries and other junk food is cheaper than the healthy foods. Note to myself: yes, there's a whackload of McDonald's being build in those red countries, but its not a big number so far ...

Nononono ... I actually thought about this and realized why people in some countries pay more for food as percentage of their income than other countries: its because of income. The lower the income, the less money they have for other things, and thus it would appear that they spend a lot on food.

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My problem with changing driving habits and using less gas is that making the switch to hybrids and tightening my ability to go anywhere I want, whenever I want in a car/truck of my choice wouldn't really be saving me any money. For example, in CA Schwarzenegger and all of the other morons in the assembly started demanding people, "Hey, you need to clean up this state. This state's got smog, pollution, you need to drive smaller cars and get more miles to the gallon. You need to do it for yourself, it'll reduce your travel budget," and all these other supposed wonderful things. So a lot of people went out and did it because of course people are loyal to their governments and if they believe their trusted elected officials, then of course they'll do what they can to help. Anyway it didn't take long for the state to realize that with all these new little lawn mowers disguised as automobiles getting a lot more mileage, the fuel tax was not producing as much revenue because people weren't buying as much. The gasoline tax out there was not generating what it had been projected to be in the budget so guess what? They raised the tax, wiping out every saving that the dutiful citizens of CA had matched and enjoyed by following instructions. In North Carolina where I live, in a similar example, they put water restrictions on because of a drought last summer. So people, by law, could not water their lawns as much. And guess what? The municipal water supply was not used as often, and thus sales of water and tax revenue declined and so local communities decided to raise water rates, while less was being used. Everything in government happens the exact opposite of supply and demand, and the reason for it is that there is not one government who understands the concept that government can do with less, too. Where did this notion come from that government can never do with less, that government by fiat has to have more every year? You and I need more every year, but we don't just by fiat wave a magic wand and get it. They can and do.

Last edited by The17sss on Jul-10-2008 at 13:57

I watched a CNN special on 4th of july called "out of gas". Really scary shit! ON a positive note, Brazil has been running on combination of ethanol and fuel for nearly 30 years - ever since the first oil crisis. They are 100% energy independent, the cars are not as "dirty" as your regular fuel guzzlers, and the fuel is relatively cheap. Cool shit is that you can either squirt "petrol" or "ethanol" into the tank - the engine switches automatically, depending what type of fuel is in the tank.

Oh, guess who makes these cars? That's right. GM. fuckers.

Friend of mine came back from Mexico few weeks ago - told me they have a pickup that runs on 4 cyllinders, also uses biofuel/regular fuel and can haul up to 1500 pounds. It's also smaller - size of Chevy Camino... and gets about 40MPG hwy. Also made by american car maker (can't remember - chevy or ford).

I think the reason why we have such monstrous gas suckers is because oil and car industry are in bed together. It's about time they have been held to higher standards, had some shit kicked out of them and oil companies are drilled by congress to find out what the fuck are they doing with their profits and why no new refineries are being built to increase our capacity/reduce dependence.

There's hopefully some silver lining to this - I think the world needs this kick in the arse to marginalize these fat oil bastards and kick the energy out of realm of international politics. Perhaps if there was no need for oil, our country would be more reluctant to "liberate" some shithole of a place under "let's bring them freedom" bullshit excuse.

I am driving Acura TL right now which gives me very nice 31MPG on the highway, while being a V6, 3.2, 268HP. It's also ULEV - which is also somewhat comforting, although my bitch of a commute (130 miles every day or even 200 miles on some days) is denting the shit out of my wallet.

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quote:

Originally posted by aNYthing I watched a CNN special on 4th of july called "out of gas". Really scary shit! ON a positive note, Brazil has been running on combination of ethanol and fuel for nearly 30 years - ever since the first oil crisis. They are 100% energy independent, the cars are not as "dirty" as your regular fuel guzzlers, and the fuel is relatively cheap. Cool shit is that you can either squirt "petrol" or "ethanol" into the tank - the engine switches automatically, depending what type of fuel is in the tank. Oh, guess who makes these cars? That's right. GM. fuckers. Friend of mine came back from Mexico few weeks ago - told me they have a pickup that runs on 4 cyllinders, also uses biofuel/regular fuel and can haul up to 1500 pounds. It's also smaller - size of Chevy Camino... and gets about 40MPG hwy. Also made by american car maker (can't remember - chevy or ford). I think the reason why we have such monstrous gas suckers is because oil and car industry are in bed together. It's about time they have been held to higher standards, had some shit kicked out of them and oil companies are drilled by congress to find out what the fuck are they doing with their profits and why no new refineries are being built to increase our capacity/reduce dependence. There's hopefully some silver lining to this - I think the world needs this kick in the arse to marginalize these fat oil bastards and kick the energy out of realm of international politics. Perhaps if there was no need for oil, our country would be more reluctant to "liberate" some shithole of a place under "let's bring them freedom" bullshit excuse. I am driving Acura TL right now which gives me very nice 31MPG on the highway, while being a V6, 3.2, 268HP. It's also ULEV - which is also somewhat comforting, although my bitch of a commute (130 miles every day or even 200 miles on some days) is denting the shit out of my wallet.

GM makes and sells more flex fuel vehicles in the United States than any other car manufacturer in the world.

and just because a car runs on E85 (thats what we have here in the states) doesn't mean it's cleaner or more efficient. in fact, it's the total opposite for E85. E85 requires almost twice as much volume as regular gasoline due to it's much lower energy potential.

the only reason E85 is viable is because it comes from a renewable source. thats why Brazil uses it.

EDIT> actually i forgot. GM makes most of their flex fuel vehicles in Mexico and Canada to sell here in the states.

Last edited by Q5echo on Jul-11-2008 at 04:31