I want to hear how this country is goin to keep honoring all these aid promises they make. Who are they goin to borrow it from? Even Isreal doesn't want to take help from us in US dollars anymore! Give me a friggin break! Borrow some more from China? Yeah there's an idea :P. If sombody doesn't get a grip and get it right this country is gonna go tits up. There are so many countries who take our money and thumb their noses at our backs that it makes me sick. Politicians are to blame. ALL politicians. We are in such a bind over what we owe or have to sell or buy that we are losin all the respect we used to have. Like Russia said, " We'll leave when we are damn good and ready, what are you gonna do about it anyway?" That lack of respect sticks in my craw.
Our grandchildren and great grandchildren are gonna pay the price for all this you know. The people who are diggin this hole for us are NOT thinkin about how what they do is gonna affect the next seven generations that's for sure.
Same goes for the ones who pooh pooh global warming and pollution. They figure well we have two or three hundred years before it gets bad, I'll be dead it's not gonna bother me. Well, guess what unless you are not goin to have any children and are an orphan it's gonna affect some decendant of yours buddy.
These people can't or won't see past the ends of their noses. makes me sick. And why can't we hold Israel to accepting US dollars? If they are gonna take money from us it should OUR currency. I don't care that the euro is worth more than dollars, it SHOULDN'T be. If we had our **** together it WOULDN't be.
I don't give a **** who gets elected if they start being fiscally responsible and start listenin to people who tell them we got to change our way of operatin or the earth is gonna die on us.
The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) projected in February the country would have a $410 billion deficit at the end of fiscal 2008, but that will likely be a larger figure when it releases revised numbers later this month.
The national debt, which refers to the cumulative amount the government has borrowed and not repaid, is almost $9.5 trillion, the highest level in U.S. history, according to the Treasury Department.
TBILISI, Georgia - A U.S. Navy ship loaded with humanitarian aid steamed through the Dardanelles on its way to Georgia on Wednesday, as the Bush administration prepared to roll out a $1 billion economic aid package for the ex-Soviet republic.
Secretary of State Rice has acknowledged a communique from Israeli foreign minister Tzipi Levni which requests that all foreign aid payments and loans from the United States be made in Euros rather than in Dollars. Foreign Minister Levni cited the rapidly declining dollar and it's disfavor as a world currency as reasons for the request.
"In the spirit of Yom Kippur, the United States will not hold Israel to any agreements obligating them to accept Dollars as payment for their foreign aid. We will translate our obligations into Euros or whatever currency that best fits Israel's needs" Secretary Rice said in the Friday, Sept 21 announcement.
I noticed recently that you were wanting more young people on the forum. I don't think some of the words used in this post are what I would want young people reading. It seems to me that this distasteful language added nothing to the post and was totally unnecessary. Some will say that the young people, 5th,6th graders or around that have heard these words before and maybe they have but most of them know they are not nice words to use in public and I don't think we should be encouraging it. I am new on here so maybe I shouldn't say anything but I know some of you that are on the forum and I cannot think that you like this type of tasteless language in mixed company or around children. Banish me if you want but I couldn't pass this up.
Since you are fairly new to the forum, I wanted you to know that for the most part we post things with language that is mild and we take care to not have any cussin'. Sometimes though we get a little passionate about a subject and that barrier drops aside. I must defend the above posting as it is more trutful than offensive. And I wanted to let you know that I have complained about cussin' on the forum as I do not use it in my personal life, (or try not to), but the lady who posted this item is among our most brilliant writers. She is bold and explicit and if she offends you it probably is a good idea to skip her postings. Please do not take this as a criticism of yourself, and if 5th, 6th, and 7th graders are reading this forum you may be certain they read other forums where the writing is much more offensive. I would rather they visit here where they are known and the people who post they in turn know, no matter if there is a little salt on occasion. So long as the forum does not become a sewer, then I see no problems. I do hope this is read in the spirit it that was intended.
other than "damn" used in a quote I do not see any off-color words. I see some ***'s and that is up to you how you read them. Sixdogsmom is absolutely right. Pam will tell you like it is, PERIOD, and that's as it should be. Leave nothing to "wonder what she meant by that?"
I used the asterisks out of consideration for people that do not like cussin. I cuss when I'm serious about things sometimes, sorry if you're offended but I said what I meant and meant what I said. Thanks for the support y'all :)
I was going to post on this... but.. I don't have to now. :)
But I will anyway cause I am a windbag.. :D :D :D ;D ;D ;D
What has been said is correct. I respect your opinion Elk@KC.. but personally.. ( and PLEASE do not take this wrong ) this forum is mostly grown adults. ..5th and 6th graders do not frequent this forum much. I mean if they want to be in here that is okay.. but there really isn't much kid stuff in here actually... and some adult mild language will most likely be seen in here on occasion. But also.. some of the language I have heard out of the mouths of some of the kids would make Pam's post seem like it should be on afternoon kids hour show.
I don't monitor it much ( I am to blame occasionally too) And she used the little *** 's so you could have filled in with
darn or
poop if you wanted to. ( see? there is a positive to this *** stuff. LOL
What I am saying is...passionate writing sometimes takes on unsavory passionate terms.. (once again.. I have to hold my hand up as a guilty party on this one too) My apologies to anyone who is offended by the posts in here on any level. But don't sweat the small stuff..just post and read the forum and have a good time.
Quote from: ELK@KC on September 03, 2008, 01:32:12 PM
Banish me if you want but I couldn't pass this up.
;D I don't banish anyone.. LOL
( I could... but it would take a whoooooole lot for me to do it)
I am for free speech and everyone opinion matters. It may not agree with mine.. but I still respect and allow people to post what they want. :)
QuoteI don't monitor it much ( I am to blame occasionally too) And she used the little *** 's so you could have filled in with darn or poop if you wanted to. ( see? there is a positive to this *** stuff. LOL
That's why I used em ;D
Pam, I wish you'd get that motorcycle on a smoother road. All that bouncing is beginning to make MY back hurt. And I don't mean from Tiger Paw Ln to Edsel. ;D ;D ;D
Quote from: pam on September 03, 2008, 10:46:03 AMSame goes for the ones who pooh pooh global warming and pollution.
Man made global warming or just global warming? The former doesn't exist. The latter is simply the natural cycle of the earth, which there's nothing we can really do about that.
Pollution on the other hand... politicians and organizations like California's CARB and CAFE or whatever they have now usually are going against the WRONG people... the WRONG "polluters". They continually go after cars very heavily when actually cars are not the big issue. As far as pollution goes, diesel vehicles, factories, and similar are much, much, much worse.
For instance, the soot that comes out of diesel engines and some factories doesn't end up in the air, it instead comes back down to ground level and is very harmful stuff. Melting glaciers? I've read recently that they believe the reason may be the horrendous pollution coming out of China. Some of the soot, they believe, is ending up on the glaciers which essentially takes away their ability to reflect heat from the sun and instead "soaks" the heat in causing the melting. Also... I can't remember the numbers off hand but there are actually a huge number of cases of lung cancer attributed to second hand smoke when actually the culprit is said to be diesel exhaust.
I have a lot more to touch on, and will do that soon, but need to get home for my birthday dinner for now. :laugh:
I've seen diesel residue first hand, nasty stuff. All you have to do is walk along a busy highway to see what's bein spewed out into the atmosphere. I've had the paint ate off my vehicle from emmisions from chemical factories. Preachin to the choir here on pollution, no disrespect intended, I've been fightin it most of my life. I was environmentally conscious before it got to be the cool thing to do. If you can teach me somthin new I am all ears! :)
I am totally concerned about pollution and conservation and wildlife protection. I am deeply concerned that the anti-pollution laws in this country have so impacted our economy that we can no longer produce certain products, but freely import the same. At this time I believe that we ship out lumber to off-coast Chinese ships that then produce plywood that is in turn imported back into the country. If we are truly concerned about pollution, then we should not consume things that we are not willing to take the responsibility for. If we have electronics, then we should find a way to produce the needed components in an environmentally friendly way, and not buying them from overseas where the need for industry is so desperate that they will accept any conditions to make a little money. I am not only speaking of environmental issues but human issues as well. Some people these days say there is no global warming, and that polar bears are not endangered and wolves should not be protected. They also say drill, drill, drill without regard for environmental impact or the price that future generations may have to pay. I am not willing to sell Mother Earth and her inhabitants for cheap oil, gas, or anything else. We must begin to bear some responsibility for what we import. Off the soapbox now.
"Man did not weave the web of life - he is merely a strand in it.
Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself."
Chief Seattle, 1854.
This is what I try to live by, it is the truth.
Alright... continuing on with global warming and pollution.
"Al Gore didn't invent the internet... but he did invent man made global warming."
This guy some how came up with the crazy notion that CO2 (carbon dioxide) is actually causing the earth to heat up due to the greenhouse effect. He has all of the charts showing how CO2 is the worst greenhouse gas of them all... when in fact, water vapor is actually the most prevalent greenhouse gas in our air. As far as quantity goes, its somewhere in the upper 90% range while CO2 is around maybe 4% to 5% if memory serves. The claimed "potency" of both is in the area of up to 70% for water vapor and 26% for CO2. Methane comes next, which is at 9%... and methane is where it starts to get interesting.
I feel that methane (natural gas) would be an absolutely awesome alternative to gas. There is a ton of the stuff everywhere, most people already have it at their home and with the proper equipment could fill up at home, its way cleaner than gas both in the emissions coming out of the tail pipe and for the engine itself (i.e. your oil won't turn black near as fast if at all), and the best part for me (being a sports car guy) it has a very high octane rating of 130, which is a lot higher than most race fuels... not only could you make a TON of power with that but you could also make a very fuel efficient machine with it. With that high of an octane rating you could heavily increase the compression ratio of the engine. Essentially, the higher the compression ratio the more efficient the engine generally is. Most car engines these days I'd say average around 10:1 for their compression ratio. With natural gas you could easily jump that up quite a bit more... an easy 12 to 13, but I would think even more would be possible. This in turn increases efficient AND power. You could have a very fuel efficient car that actually moved pretty decent unlike a lot of the econo-boxes these days. As a comparison, diesel engines are quite efficient. A small turbo diesel in a car can see an easy 40 to 50 mpg while the same car equipped with a gas engine would probably get 30.
Lets take the VW Beetle for instance. In 06 they offered a 1.9 liter turbo diesel 4 cylinder that was EPA rated as getting 44 mpg highway. The same model year Beetles had a 2.5 liter 4 cylinder gas engine so to get a slightly better comparison I went with the 2004 Beetle with a 2 liter 4 cylinder gas engine. Both however were rated at 31 on the highway. The diesel was rated at 37 in town, the 2.5 gas was 22 in town, and 2 liter gas 24 in town. The 2.5 has a compression ratio of 9.5, the 2.0 at 10:1, and the 1.9 diesel at 19:1. Other factors are involved of course... but the compression ratio can make a huge difference and with the right fuel (natural gas) you can have a standard "gas" engine running a high compression ratio. This is how you offset the lower amount of energy in natural gas as compared to gasoline. That's one of the biggest issues when you see conversions to natural gas, propane, even ethanol... all of them have "less energy" than gasoline but due to their much higher octane rating are able to offset the fuel economy and power drop by increasing the compression ratio and/or using forced induction (turbocharger or supercharger).
Anyway... natural gas would be an awesome alternative and probably the best... BUT... if the man made global warming (MMGW) people seriously believe CO2 is causing global warming then they should never, ever, ever allow the use of natural gas as a replacement for gasoline BECAUSE... natural gas/methane is a much more potent greenhouse gas than CO2, by about 2 times if memory serves. Basically, if CO2 is causing global warming and you remove the CO2 and methane is put in its place global warming should be even worse. Nuclear power? I love it... but it puts out water vapor which is both a more potent greenhouse gas than CO2 and in much greater quantities. Hydrogen powered cars? Just like the reactors, they emit water vapor. Now, when you burn methane CO2 is still released but to a lesser quantity than gasoline. The problem however lies in the fact that if natural gas replaces gasoline, a lot more will be released into the air (which should be why "they" wouldn't want to use it). Simple stuff like leaks, accidents, etc. etc. would simply cause more methane to be released into the air. All this really proves though is that the MMGW people either don't know all of the facts or simply don't want us to have cars anymore.
Regardless of all that... I would LOVE to see natural gas take place of gasoline. The only real issue with it is that its a little more difficult to store than say propane since it must be cooled down to store it in liquid form. Most cars running it today, that I know of, simply use it in compressed form which would be quick and easy... but quantity would be very limited and the tank size is pretty large. Take the natural gas powered Honda Civic GX for instance, it will only hold roughly 8 gallons worth of natural gas while reducing the trunk size by nearly half. If it were stored in a liquid form you could have as much as you would normally have with gasoline and likely a much smaller tank, but until the proper equipment is setup to do that it will likely stay in compressed form for a while.
The 2007 Honda Civic GX is rated as getting 39 mpg on the highway**, which I think is actually terrible as I think, if done correctly, it could do much better. Power is also kind of pathetic but again, it think it could be better. I really, really, really want to try it out sometime to see what I could pull off with natural gas but I wouldn't be surprised if I could get that thing to get better fuel economy with at least two times as much power. One thing to keep in mind though... I know back when fuel was touching $4 a gallon, natural gas was right around half that price... $2 a gallon. That used to be a lot but sure sounds nice right about now. :laugh:
I think the problem is they took the same engine they used in the standard Civic (which actually gets the same fuel economy) but I think they basically designed more towards being emissions "friendly" instead of being an economy engine. I would almost treat a natural gas engine like a diesel engine. Build it very strong, give it a high compression ratio, slap on a turbocharger, keep the revs low (also making it more efficient AND reliable - revs actually kill engines faster than power does) and have some fun. Power and economy in an environmentally friendly package would be a definite winner in just about anyone's book, I would hope. ;D
Hopefully some day I'll get a chance to try out natural gas or at least propane in one of my vehicles and see what I can pull off with it. ;D
** New EPA fuel rating standards, starting for '08 models I believe, rates the 2009 Civic GX at 36 on the highway. Keep in mind gas powered vehicles will see a similar drop in the fuel economy ratings as well, though these are said to be a little more accurate than the old ratings.
Interesting post. I'd like to clarify one tiny thing. Al Gore didn't "invent the Internet" nor did he ever say he did.That's been tossed around incorrectly for years. I saw that interview and what he said was "I took the initiative in creating the Internet." He saw early on the importance of the internet's potential for the public, not just the military. He sponsored several bills that eventually led to the public use of the internet as we use it today.
Good post mt. lots of information!
On the methane topic, I watched a report about a hog farm I believe it was that had found a way to convert the methane from his maure piles to run the barns electric and heating. I'd heard of it before but it was interestin to watch the actual process.
Hey you guys.. Maybe if we take all the "methane" that we have in this forum, and convert it to energy for this winter.. we might be able to save on our gas and heating bills. LOL LOL
Pep wouldn't have to pay a dime for any of his bills for the next 10 years..(http://www.rightnation.us/forums/style_emoticons/default/rofl.gif)
Just kidding PEP... You know that I am your biggest fan.. ::)
;)
:o ;D ;D ;D
Quote from: Diane Amberg on September 04, 2008, 12:20:52 PM
Interesting post. I'd like to clarify one tiny thing. Al Gore didn't "invent the Internet" nor did he ever say he did.That's been tossed around incorrectly for years. I saw that interview and what he said was "I took the initiative in creating the Internet." He saw early on the importance of the internet's potential for the public, not just the military. He sponsored several bills that eventually led to the public use of the internet as we use it today.
Yeah, the Gore thing was mostly a joke... at least the internet part. :laugh: