HA HA HA that was great! Well being in the food industry my guess is that using the gloves was a necessity not an extra expense (and trust me it amazes me I even eat in restaurants anymore knowing what I know about the back of a house!

i'd love to trade in my minivan for a more gas friendly car, unfortunately the government requires me to put all my kids in car seats and we couldn't fit into a compact car. not legally. hmmmm. but they do give me a tax break for my kids, so perhaps it evens out. oh wait, the break doesn't adjust for rising food and gas prices. or school taxes. or immunizations. or the cost of the car seats. i suppose it would be a lot cheaper for me (and them) if i could school my kids at home, but soon there will be certifications required to do that and they cost money, too. else, there'd be truancy issues and fines. oh, and the high costs of insurance on homes heated by woodstove. and the zoning laws that make commercial and industrial areas build so far away from residential that no-one can walk or bike to work. man, i wish the government could come up with some way to supplement the costs of my forced compliance to this energy guzzling economy in a more reasonable way, so i could put some money toward my future prospects and alternatives and enact a more cost effective distribution of my current resources with better returns.:blink:

In *this particular case*, actually, I blame the oil speculators who keep trading their "shares" of the supply, artifically driving up the price when the market supply runs short.



NEIITHER IS MAKING A PROFIT.



And the problem is that American Dream is a lie...nobody, but NOBODY, despite the lie, EVER made something from nothing. It was in fact, ALWAYS built from the hardship of others. Hence, while the second part of this quote is often true, the referenced criticism is entirely justified.

I dont know how to quote specific things individually (someone has to teach me please!)

As for the comments here are my responses...

The oil speculators are speculating on what we will pay and they are in the "business" of doing that and thats what makes them a profit. So kind of the same thing...I am not saying they are moral or just or right...just that they are doing it and making a profit as is the purpose of what they are doing.

No one claimed making a profit is a god given right but it is something we all strive for and even require to live. As crappy as it is....money makes the world go round.

As for the American Dream being a lie....you are very wrong. I have first hand experience in this reality. My grandfather fled Russia and walked into China...then took his family and fled China when the Japanese came in. He took his wife and 2 daughters to Australia. He left them there and moved to the US. Speaking NO English, having less than 5$ to his name. He worked 4 jobs (for Pan Am, painting houses, tending bar and in a jam factory). He lived in a water tower and after 5 years sent for his wife and 2 daughters. My grandmother was one of the first women doctors in China...she worked changing bed pans in the hospitals here because they wouldn't recognize her skills, she also cleaned houses, and did mending on the side. They all lived in that water tower. They saved and worked and bought a small deli...then later bought a house...and 50 years later (with NO government help and nothing but hard work) owned 2 successful businesses, over 20 houses/rental properties, put all of their grandchildren thru college with no student loans, and did all this themselves. They worked till the day they died. They built a legacy (sure we aren't the Hiltons) that has provided for and left enough for our children. The American Dream is possible....it's just not easy.

They did not build this at the expense of ANYONE. They did not play on the hardship of anyone. They worked hard, they sacrificed, and they had hard times. They also then spent years helping get other families out of China and other areas and help them.

Please don't get me wrong...I think that there are MANY that benefit at the expense of others...that is not the American Dream. But the American Dream is possible...its rare...but possible. My grandparents moved here because this is one of the few places such things are possible.

I won't disagree that many use the concept of the "American Dream" as a way of justifying the type of behavior you are talking about....that doesn't make it the American Dream nor does it make it right.


Wyndhy -

I agree and thankfully the only way I was able to trade in my SUV was that my oldest two are finally out of car seats and my youngest is in a booster. And not sure what I will do when they get a bit bigger!! They are growing so fast!! (Don't get me started on food costs or anything else!)

I'm not complaining about anyone making a profit. My dad is trying to get his own franchise off the ground right now. What I'm complaining about is the lack of forethought regarding the hurricane, and several other things. Kind of sucks. As for government assistance......it seems that if you're white, a born citizen, and make about 35k a year (that includes combined incomes for you married couples) you won't get it. Or at least that's what it seems like.

I think you are right!

And the funny thing in my mind is that the lack of forethought and planning isn't good for business. So someone f'd up!

:2cents:
Well... :rant:
The big oil company owners spend big money to lobby congressional change. Bigger money=quicker change and more advantageous legislation. Since the big bucks influence law it is reasonable to get laws enacted that would save the big bucks first as disasters come along. Voila! Insurance bailouts. The oil companies don't want to self insure, they want big insurers to carry them. The insurance underwriters know which way the oil flows and puts the money where the profits are. Lawmakers can now nationalize insurers as insurers runs the oil companies. Oil companies and insurance companies buy advantages in laws and PRESTO-CHANGO Uncle Sam now is the proud father of foundering oil companies. The bosses of those oil companies pull out with massive profits and are forever rich while we are strapped with the tax burden and an oil company that we are tied to like brown on shit!
:cboy:

Once again, you have taken to inserting words into someone else's mouth. All because I spoiled your fun by not taking the bait, & engaging in a link-posting battle. As I said, I can post figures proving I'm right, & you could post just as many to prove me wrong. Numbers, facts, figures can all be manipulated & massaged to suit the circumstances. All I know for sure is, I can't remember the last time I heard of an oil co. having to go into Chapter 11, or even having financial difficulties.

I stated in another thread that I don't suffer from high blood pressure...mostly that happens because I try to stay out of pointless point-of-view debates. Get a life. I don't need this.

Actually, I doubbt that you can.

Good Luck

scotziodman,

Here are links to 4 Oil companies which have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection

http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/gi_...Oil-Co-Inc.html
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpa...5C0A9679582 60
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/...26/ai_n15629988
http://www.cfo.com/article.cfm/11919660?f=most_read

wyndhy,

Perhaps if we increased the involvement of government in the lives of the citizens, it could fix all those problems.

*ignore*












oh! You can't put a whole thread on ignore. My bad :p

Did you want to ignore the thread when you were trying to make your point? :rofl:

:truce: :truce: :truce: :truce: :truce: :truce: :truce: :truce: :truce:

No, I was stating my point of view not trying to force anyone to agree with it or to change their views. It was when you once again obviously still suffering from a case of self importance, began challenging other's views that it caused another good conversation to go south. Thanks again. If there was a gold medal for obnoxious you'd be a freakin' champ. Really.

less "involvement" would suit me better.

Lord Snow,

I believe that Murfreesboro ran out of gas due to the combination of the interruption of supplies by Hurricane Ike, and the panic buying created by the rumor of shortages and/or large price increases. TingligTess, scotzoidman, and Lilith were discussing the shortage/price issue in the $$Gas$$ thread on the 12th & 13th. Lilith posted that her town also had problems almost as bad as yours.

As was commented on in that thread, some people jump to conclusions, and others join in without thinking. It is an unfortunate fact of life.

Has Murfreesboro been resupplied yet?

Yeah, we got some. I went to the pumps today and they had nothing but the 87 octane in most of them. No mid or premium.

Merely cut and paste the individual quotes and on/off html commands individually.



Actually this, would be second-hand, but tha's a very minor quibble. Not anywhere near as important as:



Yeah, yeah, Ive heard this all before. "I/my father/my friend/my cultural hero, worked his/her/their assess off, and never exploited anyone", blah, blah, blah.

Hey, if that response seems dismissive, it's because it is.

The problem with this line of argument is that it totally ignores the vast majority of people who did exactly the same amount of work, worked exactly as hard as whomeever you're aggrandizing, and yet ended up with nothing to show for it.

The line of argument you're pursuing, (and I am attacking the argument, not you personally), is not much more than a continuance of the "blame the victim" mentality.

The social paradigm is that "In America, anyone can succeed. Therefore, if you don't succeed, there*must* be soemthing wrong with you."

...as opposed to the idea that we have something wrong with a system that encourages people to do whatever it takes (and "whatever" means "whatever": there can be found numerous examples of people who do succeed in socially acceptable ways that aren't as nasty as other, equally socially acceptable ways) to succeed. Indeed, "success" under this system is largely defined as being "better" than the majority of people, in whatever aspect you, the individual choose to emphasize.

Bonjour Jacques – toujours :rolleyes:

Sounds as if someones bitter & also in favor of socialism! Irish :banghead:
P.S.Blame the Govt because I wasn't successful & don't know how to play the game!This is ExACTLY why I don't post much anymore!

It occurred to me as I was rushing off to work, that I should be clear, here: I am *not* dismissive of the work done by the referenced people, who were Airy's family.

I am dismissive of the line of argument that Airy advanced.

Comment allez-vous ?

"Bitter"? You bet your frekin' ass. "Socialism"? I don't know. That term has been bandied about by so many different people in so many different ways, that I can't honestly say I'm in favor of "socialism" in whatever sense you're using it.

I can say this: I am in favor of a complete *communist* political, economic and social interaction, as I mean the therm "communist". Of course, that meaning is a whole different thread. Not going to go into that explanation here, now.



If you're levelling that charge at me, you're way off base. First of all, I know very well how to play the bourgeois game of screw thy neighbor. And second, you miss the opint: *I* don't blame "the government". I blame the power brokers that run the politico-economic system that sets up the majority of people to fail.

If everyone wants to be negative,I don't care!Have at it.I'm not going to get all stressed because of peoples attitudes.I'm going back to just worrying about my own family.Hard work has always gotten us by,you learn to do things for your loved ones nomatter who's in charge.If you figure out the best
deals,instead of jumping into things,you never get in monetary trouble!Just worry about your own & don't try to keep up with the Joneses(sp?)I quit,I'm
tired of debating things.Everyone has thier own opinions! Irish :pissed:

What I really doubt is that anyone might ever get the last word with you.

scotzoidman,

I believe that you are mistaken. That ^^ happens often. As the evidence here at Pixies place will show, most of the threads in which I have posted do not end with my post.

This truth claim can be verified or falsified. Count the number of threads in which I have a post. Count the number of these threads which end with my post. If more than 50% of the threads in which I post end with my post, you are correct. If fewer than 50% of the threads in which I post end with my post, you are wrong.

That should be simple enough to do.

Good luck.

Of jseal's 358,934 posts, 293,659 involve him counting to a million or from a million.

Scotz, if you actually give a rat's ass which I know you do not, throw those out before you start your fuzzy math.

Bonjour jseal.

Zis thread she seems to be well fuelled.

Wot say we start 'er up and see 'ow fast she does ze standing mile.

Irish, you can be ze starter and Mlle Lilith can catch ze buggers as zey fly off ze pier.

Did I forget to mention zat?

All ahead, wharf factor one.

FFS Zoid, I've been trying hard for the last few years.

Lord Snow,

How long was it before your town received supplies of premium gas? I presume there has been delivery of those grades by now.

All I give a rat's ass about is the fact that nothing he could post would do anything but prove me correct. Now, everybody who bet against jseal answering me, pay up! :wink:

scotzoidman,

Actually, you made the suggestion. Now it is up to you to substantiate it.

... again.

Good Luck

I can answer the question myself, I've been back & forth between the 'Boro & NashVegas (including other points in the mid-state)all weekend... most stations have nothing, some have received some kind of allotment, followed by long lines of panic buyers, followed by said stations being out of gas again the next day. I felt very lucky indeed to find fuel at Kroger in Smyrna (halfway between M'boro & Nash) this a.m., & at slightly less than $4/gallon, somewhat of a bargain. Tough times for those of us who drive for a living. :banghead:

All I need is a leisure suit & a disco ball, & it's back to the 70's again. :doorpeek:

I wonder how long it will take to get supply to balance demand there. There are no shortages up here in Maryland that I am aware of, and I have not heard about this on the network News programs.

Odd.

not really^^
it's not a shortage. it's spot shortages. if peeps would stop topping off every time they see somewhere has gas, instead of resuming the old routine of filling up when close to empty, this would not be happening.
and nat'l media lose interest in anything not life threatening, low-down, or political in 12 hours flat. ABC nightly couldn't care less anymore, so i don't know why some station a thousand miles away would care either.
AAA still cares.

scotz, i heard AAA is predicting this problem will last til the end of this week. dig in, dude.

wyndhy,

Could be. At least that provides a plausible explanation.

not could be. is. do a search using tennessee news sources and you'll find the info.

wyndhy,

Thank you. Would you PM or post those links? I’d like to see what they have to say.

You do have a point. It's only middle Tennessee with the problem. Nashville, Murfreesboro, Smyrna, Franklin.......