found this on another site. thought i'd post it here and see what kinda reactions and comments i get. :icon_mrgreen:
Remember Lee Iacocca, the man who rescued Chrysler
Corporation from its death throes? He has a new
book, and here are some excerpts.
Lee Iacocca Says:
'Am I the only guy in this country who's fed up
with what's happening? Where the hell is our
outrage? We should be screaming bloody murder.
We've
got a gang of clueless bozos steering our ship of
state right over a cliff, we've got corporate
gangsters stealing us blind, and we can't even clean
up after a hurricane much less build a hybrid car.
But instead of getting mad, everyone sits around and
nods their heads when the politicians say, 'Stay the
course'
Stay the course? You've got to be kidding.
This
is America not the damned 'Titanic'.
I'll give you
a sound bite: 'Throw all the bums out!'
You might think I'm getting senile, that I've
gone off my rocker, and maybe I have.
But someone
has to speak up.
I hardly recognize this country
anymore.
The most famous business leaders are not the
innovators but the guys in handcuffs.
While we're
fiddling in Iraq , the Middle East is burning and
nobody seems to know what to do.
And the press is
waving 'pom-poms' instead of asking hard
questions.
That's not the promise of the ' America '
my parents and yours traveled across the ocean for.
I've had enough.
How about you?
I'll go a step further.
You can't call yourself a
patriot if you're not outraged.
This is a fight I'm
ready and willing to have.
The Biggest 'C' is Crisis!
Leaders are made, not born.
Leadership is forged
in times of crisis.
It's easy to sit there with your
feet up on the desk and talk theory.
Or send someone
else's kids off to war when you've never seen a
battlefield yourself.
It's another thing to lead
when your world comes tumbling down
On September 11, 2001, we needed a strong leader
more than any other time in our history.
We needed a
steady hand to guide us out of the ashes.
A Hell of
a Mess
So here's where we stand.
We're immersed in a
bloody war with no plan for winning and no plan for
leaving.
We're running the biggest deficit in the
history of the country.. We're losing the
manufacturing edge to Asia , while our once-great
companies are getting slaughtered by health care
costs Gas prices are skyrocketing, and nobody in
power has a coherent energy policy.
Our schools are
in trouble. Our borders are like sieves.
The middle
class is being squeezed every which way.
These are
times that cry out for leadership.
But when you look around, you've got to ask:
'Where have all the leaders gone?' Where are the
curious, creative communicators? Where are the
people of character, courage, conviction,
omnipotence, and common sense? I may be a sucker
for alliteration, but I think you get the point.
Name me a leader who has a better idea for
homeland security than making us take off our shoes
in airports and throw away our shampoo? We've spent
billions of dollars building a huge new bureaucracy,
and all we know how to do is react to things that
have already happened.
Name me one leader who emerged from the crisis of
Hurricane Katrina.
Congress has yet to spend a
single day evaluating the response to the hurricane,
or demanding accountability for the decisions that
were made in the crucial hours after the storm.
Everyone's hunkering down, fingers crossed,
hoping it doesn't happen again.
Now, that's just
crazy. Storms happen. Deal with it. Make a plan.
Figure out what you're going to do the next time.
Name me an industry leader who is thinking
creatively about how we can restore our competitive
edge in manufacturing.
Who would have believed that
there could ever be a time when 'The Big Three'
referred to Japanese car companies? How did this
happen, and more important, what are we going to do
about it?
Name me a government leader who can articulate a
plan for paying down the debit, or solving the
energy crisis, or managing the health care problem.
The silence is deafening.
But these are the crises
that are eating away at our country and milking the
middle class dry
I have news for the gang in Congress.
We didn't
elect you to sit on your asses and do nothing and
remain silent while our democracy is being hijacked
and our greatness is being replaced with mediocrity.
What is everybody so afraid of? That some bonehead
on Fox News will call them a name? Give me a break.
Why don't you guys show some spine for a change?
Had Enough?
Hey, I'm not trying to be the voice of gloom and
doom here. I'm trying to light a fire.
I'm speaking
out because I have hope I believe in America .
In my
lifetime I've had the privilege of living through
some of America 's greatest moments.. I've also
experienced some of our worst crises: the 'Great
Depression', 'World War II', the 'Korean War', the
'Kennedy Assassination', the 'Vietnam War', the
1970s oil crisis, and the struggles of recent years
culminating with 9/11.
If I've learned one thing,
it's this: 'You don't get anywhere by standing on the
sidelines waiting for somebody else to take action.
Whether it's building a better car or building a
better future for our children, we all have a role
to play.
That's the challenge I'm raising in this
book.
It's a call to 'Action' for people who, like
me, believe in America .
It's not too late, but it's
getting pretty close.
So let's shake off the crap
and go to work.
Let's tell 'em all we've had
'enough.
'
Make a 'real contribution' by sending this to
everyone you know and care about......our future is at stake.
That's all from Lee Iacocca's new book.
My favorite three paragraphs:
On September 11, 2001, we needed a strong leader more than any other time in our history. We needed a steady hand to guide us out of the ashes. Where was George Bush? He was reading a story about a pet goat to kids in Florida when he heard about the attacks. He kept sitting there for twenty minutes with a baffled look on his face. It's all on tape. You can see it for yourself. Then, instead of taking the quickest route back to Washington and immediately going on the air to reassure the panicked people of this country, he decided it wasn't safe to return to the White House. He basically went into hiding for the day—and he told Vice President duck Cheney to stay put in his bunker. We were all frozen in front of our TVs, scared out of our wits, waiting for our leaders to tell us that we were going to be okay, and there was nobody home. It took Bush a couple of days to get his bearings and devise the right photo op at Ground Zero.
That was George Bush's moment of truth, and he was paralyzed. And what did he do when he'd regained his composure? He led us down the road to Iraq—a road his own father had considered disastrous when he was President. But Bush didn't listen to Daddy. He listened to a higher father. He prides himself on being faith based, not reality based. If that doesn't scare the crap out of you, I don't know what will....
I have news for the gang in Congress. We didn't elect you to sit on your asses and do nothing and remain silent while our democracy is being hijacked and our greatness is being replaced with mediocrity. What is everybody so afraid of? That some bobblehead on Fox News will call them a name? Give me a break. Why don't you guys show some spine for a change?
:thumb:
agreed TG. some have done what their heart told them to do, some did what tehir "friends" tolf them to do. and SOME did NOTHING :mad: as far as our dependance on foreign oil, we can solve this in 2 ways. short and long term
short term: drill in anwar
lonng term: get off fossil fuels, more nuclear power etc , alternative sources of energy. or far more stingy fossil fuel using vehicels, ( aka gs500's or whatnot :icon_twisted:) i dont see a happy outcome no matter who ends up in charge. it is going to be a long and sometimes nasty road to navigate.
OMFG!!!!!!!!!! THERE IS NO OIL SHORTAGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The next time you hear someone yapping about an oil shortage, ask them where they got their degree in Geology. The best estimates indicate that we have TENS of THOUSANDS of years worth of oil at current usage rates, if not more.
Capitalism is a good thing until someone else uses it against us, that is all that is occurring with current oil prices. We have a huge demand, they have the READY supply and thus make the price. Note the key word, ready.
i never said there was a shortage. but i did say ( in context. ) that we get our oil from mostly foreign sources . we are at their pricing mercy. we drill in anwar. we get our own oil. we drill in multitudes of other places we can eventually set our own prices :thumb:
Quote from: spcterry on April 23, 2008, 09:13:45 PM
OMFG!!!!!!!!!! THERE IS NO OIL SHORTAGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The next time you hear someone yapping about an oil shortage, ask them where they got their degree in Geology. The best estimates indicate that we have TENS of THOUSANDS of years worth of oil at current usage rates, if not more.
That's what my dad keeps telling me, I hope it's true.
And if it is, those dumb f*cks better lower the price of gas!
Quote from: bucks1605 on April 23, 2008, 09:34:59 PM
That's what my dad keeps telling me, I hope it's true.
And if it is, those dumb f*cks better lower the price of gas!
Honestly, why should the UAE lower the price of oil?? They are the only one's with a sizeable ready supply and are doing what anyone with half a brain and a little ambition would do. Bending us over and shoving it up our asses because they know we'll keep on buying their product.
i personally think this damn "war" we are in is helping to fuel the oil prices too. the folks who do the pricing, these so called, "risk evaluators" or whatever the hell they call themselves. they say prices of things such as oil goes up in times of war because of the "risks involved". losses or some shaZam!. OPEC is apparently saying, no, you can't produce more oil. everyone involved is just pointing the finger at someone else. i pray to God that our next President has some f%$king balls (real or not) and gets our economy back on track. if gas prices continue to rise, sales everywhere will fall. even eventually the fast food places. cuz someone has to deliver their shaZam! to em and if they can't afford the shipping well then....damn......some things just piss me off. f%$king $3.60 a gallon here in town. f%$king pirate bastards! damn....i'll be back in a minute to post more...i need a beer......
sooooo.....let's discuss "alternative fuel sources" now shall we? man, i've been dying to post this all weekend! :laugh: anyways. i read an article that Jay Leno wrote bout his new toy. apparently he's got a 2006 corvette c-6 that runs on ethanol. now, according to this article, jay basically says ethanol is the shits. all the things he said were pros, i heard no cons. it burns cleaner, and at a lower temp. thus reducing emissions and actually improving mileage, can have vast improvements on power and performance also. just simply because it burns cleaner and at a lower temp the engine runs colder so it lasts a bit longer. you can use smaller and lighter cooling systems for your car. which in turn improve performance etc. so by the end of this article, i'm going, damn, why aren't we using this more often? :dunno_white: i mean seriously, if it's that much better than gasoline, why not right? there's gotta be something i'm missing. someone with more info on this please clue me in man! :dunno_white:
He didn't mention the part about Ethanol requiring more energy to create than it can produce did he? Or how the massive increase in production of corn necessary would devastate aquifers? and facilitate soil erosion in an area very ecologically sensitive to erosive forces?
Let's talk about blended Gas with 10% ethanol. Like how lower compression cars just won't burn that portion of the fuel and end up getting poor gas mileage as a result. Or the build up of carbon that occurs around valve seats on higher compression vehicles like motorcycles and sports cars.
you're saying the only way we can grow corn is in farmer johnsons field down the road? :laugh: no seriously, would producing ethanol really be that much of a hassle to outweigh the proposed benefits? :dunno_white:
Where do you propose we grow the corn?? In Saudi Arabia?? :icon_rolleyes:
What benefits?? It's more difficult to produce, vehicles that would run on it would be more difficult to produce and thus more expensive and it smells like f%$king shaZam! when burned.
uhhhh....ok.....wanna beer??? :laugh: anyhow....next form of "alternative fuel". hydrogen. i don't know much at all bout it except it seems to be in it's infancy still. cars are still being tested. anyone know more? :dunno_white:
The major problem is the huge amount of energy necessary to compress it into a liquid form for storage. 'Production' of hydrogen will, also, need to undergo much refining before it is an efficient alternative as hydrogen gas does not occur naturally. Hydrogen has potential but is a long way off from being a real alternative.
I don't understand the whole fuel issue in the first place. Its all a game between big oil, corporate greedy america and the guys at the top of the steel business making money on the cars, and us idiots paying 3.99+ a gallon where i'm at not doing a thing about it. Europe got it right the first time around. They made very very fuel efficient cars to begin with. Our suburban with a 454 in it isn't doing so hot now that 8mpg isn't very good. We need to learn to adapt. Its not getting better anytime soon, so lets deal with it.
i find it funny to read about "electric" cars. i'm like, uhhh...the electric don't just pop outta the air does it? i mean, you gotta make it some hows. how bout coal? it's a bit messy but i hear it burns good. :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
i don't think we're as close to running out of oil as they're trying to tell us either. :dunno_white:
id have to find the link, but it takes roughly $2 to produce $1 of ethanol and the same in gallons, cause the farmer has to run his equipment to harvest the corn, deal wiht the cows, etc, all of the related expenses of the farm. and if we get our own oil from our own shores, ( which weve got plenty of. but some dont want it to happen) we do not need UAE or opec to dictate shaZam! to us :thumb:
i hear alaska has a good bit of oil....but we are worried about the caribou..... :laugh:
and so are teh errm certain divisions of certain political parties ( i am trying to keep this thread form degenerating) ahem ANWAR. as far as the caribou, there doing jsut fine along the pipeline so, i dont see a problem. and if it is properly managed, and barring a terrorist attack, foreign or domestic, there wont be a problem.
The price of a commodity is governed by "market forces" essentially this means supply and demand. Taxes and international politics can put a slant on it but supply and demand are the greatest forces. This applies to cabbages, peanuts, prostitution, bell-ropes and bibles as well as oil.
The supply side looks no worse than it did a couple of years back, in fact there has been a recent huge South American find (in Uraguay i think) but the demand side is running amok, industry in China and India seems to get the blame but all over the world people aspire to better lives they want to trade in their pedal cycles for mopeds then cars - who can blame them - the western countries have so why shouldn't they? hence demand rockets. ultimatly cutting the demand by being more careful and efficient may be the answer. Boifuels ? partly good partly not-so-good, big debate - jury out. Hydrogen, yes there is loads of it all over the earth we have it in abundance but extracting it is currently a very hard and expensive nut to crack. Eventually after a lot of research and effort hydrogen maybe the ultimate fuel.
In the meantime we have to live in reality and trim our demand or get used to paying more. In a few months time the company that makes London's iconic Black-cabs will be selling an electic version, it only does 50mph but for city centre cabs that's fine, sure the electricity is not produced by magic but overall it is a step in the right direction.
Who's fault? who's problem
GO FIGURE.
I do not support drilling in ANWAR. There are many environmental reasons (not Caribou) why. The amount of oil estimated to be there doesn't outweigh the risk of messing up one of the last wilderness areas in the US. No matter how much oil there is left (and no one really knows) we need to conserve rather than try to find ways to continue our thirsty habits. How many SUVs are there on the road with one person in them?
I think that we should immediately institute a $2/gallon additional gas tax. Use the proceeds to fund research into renewable energy (hydrogen, solar, wind, wave, etc) and mass transit. The international energy companies are not interested in solar, wave or wind research (they cannot control the flow of those), and we are years away from affordable solutions in those areas at current levels of research. Mass transit is needed immediately, especially as gas prices continue to rise. In a very few years, we could be energy independent from the middle east -- the world would be a very different place as a result.
The other benefit of a sudden rise in price (tax) would be an immediate reduction in demand. People will conserve when it is in their economic best interest. We're already seeing some of that. Then the Saudis (our dear friends) and Dubai and UAE would have to reduce the price. I sincerely hope to see the day when they have to choke on their oil because no one wants it.
People will commute on mass transit if it's cheaper and faster than sitting in traffic, but the system has to be there or they cannot use it.
Save the gas for the fun stuff, like our Suzukis!
I did find it interesting that the original post left out the part about Bush blowing it after 9/11. I guess that doesn't make good fodder for the right-wing echo sites.
I have 2 words for you ...
Tele - F^&king - commute. All the time all the jobs. OK all IT jobs, sure there will be an adjustment period ... but its no different than calling dell customer service and talking to someone in Bangalore ... WTF ... he's telecommuting to your house.
So why cant I telecommute to NYC ... BTW NYC can stop paying NYC wages and say, yea this job, we'll pay Kansas wages, and you do the rest via your phone/internet line.
Cool.
Buddha.
many jobs dont have telecommuting as an option. and as ive said, the pipeline hasnt had a bad effect on wildlife. but then again im a "neo-con" and the only ppl who have raised objections to both anwar, and nuclear power have been liberals" but hey i respect everyones opinion. even though i mnay disagree with it. if someone can PROVE anwar would be bad. from a balanced POV then im willing to adjust my opinion :cheers:
I seriously have not read this entire thread.
Consumerism is part of it but lack of meaningful research into alternative energy and our hostage status to foreign energy sources is largely the fault of tree hugging libs.
Nucler energy reduces the burdens on heating oil, coal, natural gas. Wanna know how to get rid of the waste...rocket...solar trajectory...big incinerator in the sky.
Fuckin food costs are screaming through the roof yet you can fix your mouth to propose a $2 a gallon gas tax...all whilst posting on a site which by it's very nature promotes consumption of fossil fuels as a hobby.
Government is so inneficient we will go the way of the dinosaurs before a study to even figure out where the problem lies could be organized.
Turn it over to private industry and sweep government regulations out of the way and watch shaZam! get fixed
Who the hell is gonna bail your elitist arses out when you can't make ends meet...the government.....thats funny shet.
[sarcasm]I don't wanna be a grown up I still wanna hang on to mommy's apron strings...mr government will you be my mommy.[/sarcasm]
G.odd DDDammnnnnn it TG you pissed me off and got my blood pressure up.
When in the hell is the next gold release of this software going to come out so I put you on my ignore list.
Oh and one last thing even if we begin drilling in ANWAR today and we begin increasing refining capacity today it will be 3 yeras before the out of control ballistic trajectory of costs will even begin to slow. Get outta my way I'm going to alaska with a pic axe once enough of that shaZam! starts bubbling up from the ground they'll have to do something with it might as well use it.
There used to be a time when a man making 40k a year could support a family of 4 now a couple making 80k a year can barely support a family of 3.
jserio you started this crap go get a motorcycle that way you talk about it instead o stirring people up.
Sorry to raise your blood pressure, BP. Seriously. It ain't worth THAT. :thumb:
My point is that capitalism isn't going to fix this. Solar power needs research to get the breakthrough to be economically feasible. The big energy companies with the money to do the research will not do it because they don't see a $$$ return. Yet the solar breakthrough would benefit mankind tremendously. Those are the kinds of things that government can sponsor. Universities can do the research -- but again, most of their research is $$$-driven. Corporations pay them to do research and reap the profits. They're only doing what people give them money to do.
Nuclear energy is OK, but we'll have waste with a half-life of thousands of years. More research would allow us to use nuclear fusion -- almost free unlimited energy. Capitalism isn't fixing that one, either. And sending fission waste up in a rocket just doesn't seem too safe. What happens when a Challenger-type disaster occurs on liftoff?
Government doesn't have to be inefficient, any more than corporations have to be efficient. Ever dealt with an insurance company? Picture of efficiency, that...
Us tree-hugging libs haven't prevented meaningful research into alternative energy -- quite the opposite. And our hostage status to foreign oil has been fed directly by Detroit and Madison Avenue. A few 500cc motorcycles are a TINY drop in the bucket compared to what is burned every day by SUVs and full-size pickups with one person in them and not a scratch in the pickup bed. None of that is worth crapping in our bed by drilling in a wilderness area.
We still have cheap gas compared to other countries. We would still have cheaper gas than most with an extra $2 tax on every gallon. We'd just be doing some good with our money instead of sending it to the Arabs.
Reasonable minds may differ, of course! :icon_lol:
with the sprawl of this country a 2 dollar tax would severely cripple the economy even more so than it already is. mass transit, is a long term solution. which needs to be looked at. as well as alternative energy sources. we need a short term solution. and government. all sides of both parties have failed in teat respect. extra taxes WONT go to what it was meant for. and will be spent foolishly by whoever is in charge at whatever time.
(http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k2/yamahonkawazuki/bagley.jpg)
well, someone has to "stir the pot". might as well be me. seriously. these issues i've brought up are ones that appear to be important and they make folks upset. if they weren't that important, it wouldn't upset you. they only way we're gonna come to agreements and solutions to these problems is to discuss them. if you don't like what i've got to say, well then don't read my posts.
Tele commuting is just the first step. There has to be more ... trip combining, trip sharing, multi tasking etc etc etc. Loooooong list. Seriously public transit is also an option ... but then again those people actually can telecommute really.
Cool.
Buddha.
Quote from: trumpetguy on April 24, 2008, 09:18:19 PM
Nuclear energy is OK, but we'll have waste with a half-life of thousands of years. More research would allow us to use nuclear fusion -- almost free unlimited energy.
Almost free??? you mean aside from the technology needed to produce temperatures of 100m kelvins and the obscene amount of hydrogen needed??? And that's just for Deuterium-Tritium fusion which has even more implied work as Tritium has to be made from lithium. Deuterium-Deuterium reactions would be ideal as Deuterium can be refined from seawater but the temperatures necessary for that reaction are far beyond our current technology.
Quote from: spcterry on April 25, 2008, 09:10:10 AM
Deuterium-Deuterium reactions would be ideal as Deuterium can be refined from seawater but the temperatures necessary for that reaction are far beyond our current technology.
Hence the need for research money!
Quote from: jserio on April 24, 2008, 10:03:48 PM
well, someone has to "stir the pot". might as well be me. seriously. these issues i've brought up are ones that appear to be important and they make folks upset. if they weren't that important, it wouldn't upset you. they only way we're gonna come to agreements and solutions to these problems is to discuss them. if you don't like what i've got to say, well then don't read my posts.
This goes for you too if you don't have a sense of humor about my tirade damn it, especially considering the length of time since I have blown a gasket.
Quote from: bettingpythonWhen in the hell is the next gold release of this software going to come out so I put you on my ignore list.
TG and I have an understanding and will never see eye to eye on about many things, and I do everything I can to avoid discussing politics....
(http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n261/bettingpython/awwww.jpg)
You pansies sit around discussing how to fix the world I am going to try doing something about it...now where the hell is my pick axe and truck keys.
I just turned over 23,000 miles on my bike tonight. And it finally doesn't leak oil after I replaced the clutch cover gasket last month. First time since I bought the bike (at 11K miles) that it doesn't leave droppings when I park it.
That's my personal contribution to limiting my use of oil. :thumb: :thumb:
Quote from: trumpetguy on April 25, 2008, 06:48:29 PM
I just turned over 23,000 miles on my bike tonight. And it finally doesn't leak oil after I replaced the clutch cover last month. First time since I bought the bike (at 11K miles) that it doesn't leave droppings when I park it.
That's my personal contribution to limiting my use of oil. :thumb: :thumb:
ZOMG! roflmao :cheers:
oh, i've got a sense of humor. maybe i just haven't been round here long enough to understand the strange humor of BP. :laugh: no hard feelings here. no offense taken from anyting you've said. and even if i was offended, it's not really your problem. if something i say offends you well, you know, shaZam! happens. :cheers:
political discussions here are like RARE GOOD orgasms. only happening once every four years