Gas is gonna go through the roof.....

[robbiedublu]

Ya, FannieMae, AIG, etc deserved to go under for what they did.

I will say isolationism sounds nice but is unrealistic these days. Look at WW2, Germany (Hitler) almost took over the world had the US not intervened.

Slobama makes me sick, where's all that change we can believe in ? All i see is the status quo. Guy spent more of our hard earned tax dollars than any other president I believe.


I hope the American people start to riot in the streets and get showered with gifts from the government like in Saudi Arabia, hopefully legalization of mj/hemp will be one of em !!

What the he** are you talking about? Fannie mae and AIG were both bailed out by the federal government and are both still in business.
One big difference between the Saudi government and our government is that the Saudis have money to give away vs. our government that only has debt. There is no money!! I believe that things in the US will in general get MORE oppressive, not less. Probably depends on where you live though as to whether or not anti pot laws will be enforced by the local authorities.

 

[SpasticGramps]

I also don't buy the arguement that man is doomed to repeat history. Granted his track record isn't the greatest to date but as long as it's possible to make choices that are different from what history shows, then there is always hope. A glass half full view, if you will, rather then half empty.

It doesn't have anything to do with optimism or pessimism IMO. It's simply acknowledging the reality that humans have weakness and will always be corruptible. Governing infrastructures should heed these lessons or we will repeat the failures.........like we always do!

 

[HempKat]

You really buy into that "too big too fail" stuff? That's just an excuse to scare people into accepting overt fascism if you ask me. To have even the far left (not just you) advocating for corporate welfare is quite the accomplishment on the part of the establishment. There is nothing "too big to fail." If it is then it needs to fail and be redesigned.

We were isolationist before WWI and did just fine. We did great actually.

Well I do buy it and I don't buy it. I don't buy it in the sense that the world would come to an end. I do buy that when companies that big, paying lots of people fairly large salaries, goes under during one of this contries worst economical crisis since the depression, there is wisdom to preventing that from happening. My point though was that while that may have been true of the American market with how China and India is emerging it won't be true much longer. Then it won't matter if America fails. Also I'm not on the left nor do I support corporate welfare. I am in favor of helping key industries that help sustain our economy during tough times but only when done as a loan as was done in the case of automobile companies. Also only if we actually have the resources to manage it.

I'm totally against what happened with AIG, it was what they did with the housing boom that pushed us into recession and damaged economies around the world. Everyone involved in the AAA rated mortgage backed securities scandal should be behind bars for life just like their pal Bernie Madoff. Not only that but I believe they got a sizeable amount of money before the real bailout with TARP got going and that money was really just that FED money the chairmen there of like to pull out of thin air. That doesn't fit my description of having "the resources to handle it"

The world was very different before WWI, family values and societal values were much better when we had single income families and stay at home Mom's but we're not head back that direction either.

 

[HempKat]

It doesn't have anything to do with optimism or pessimism IMO. It's simply acknowledging the reality that humans have weakness and will always be corruptible. Governing infrastructures should heed these lessons or we will repeat the failures.........like we always do!

Okay fine, so you concede were not necessarily doomed then? Otherwise it would be pointless to heed any lessons, doomed is doomed.

 

[Chronic Don]

So gas in gonna go through the roof


I wonder why? could it be vvv


NEW DEVELOPMENTS:

LIBYA

-- The British Ministry of Defense said it halted a mission to attack a target in Libya because of information about civilians in the area.

-- A witness in the Libyan city of Misrata reported "absolute destruction and carnage" by forces supporting leader Moammar Gadhafi on Monday -- despite the regime's recent call for a cease-fire. "Misrata is being flattened and razed to the ground as we speak," said the man, who was not identified safety reasons.

-- A group of Gadhafi supporters chanted "Down with the USA" and confronted UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon as he was leaving the Arab League building in Cairo Monday, a UN spokesman said. Ban was "fine" and "it was not a serious incident," said spokesman Khawla Mattar.

-- The French government disputed claims of civilian deaths in Libya from recent airstrikes. "We must be cautious of communication campaigns and propaganda," French government spokesman Francois Baroin said on the French TV channel Canal+ Monday.

-- U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said it would be "unwise" to set specific goals about targeting Gadhafi directly during attacks. "I think that it's important that we operate within the mandate of the U.N. Security Council resolution," Gates told reporters Sunday while on a plane to Russia.

-- Gates acknowledged that the mission could potentially be perceived by Arab leaders as a NATO operation. "I think there is a sensitivity on the part of the Arab League to being seen to be operating under a NATO umbrella, and so the question is if there is a way we can work out NATO's command and control machinery without it being a NATO mission and without a NATO flag," Gates said.

Roots of unrest

-- Protests in Libya started in February when demonstrators, fed up with delays, broke into a housing project the government was building and occupied it. Gadhafi's government, which has ruled since a 1969 coup, responded with a $24 billion fund for housing and development. A month later, more demonstrations were sparked when police detained relatives of those killed in an alleged 1996 massacre at the Abu Salim prison, according to Human Rights Watch. High unemployment and demands for freedom have also fueled the protests.

YEMEN

-- A top general in Yemen joined the anti-government protest movement and will order his troops to protect protesters demonstrating against the country's long-time president, the general told reporters in Yemen. Maj. Gen. Ali Mohsen Al-Ahmar's announcement ramps up the pressure on President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who is seeing cracks in his support after 32 years in power.

-- Saleh dismissed his Cabinet on Sunday, according to Tareq Al-Shami, a spokesman for the country's ruling party, but has asked the officials to stay on until a new Cabinet is appointed.

-- The move followed what sources said were the weekend resignations of two top Yemeni officials to protest a government crackdown on protesters that left 52 people dead last week.

-- Yemen's minister of human rights, Huda al-Baan, has resigned after a government crackdown on protesters resulted in the deaths of 52 people last week, an official in her office said Sunday.

Roots of unrest

-- Protesters have called for the ouster of Saleh, who has ruled Yemen since 1978. The country has been wracked by a Shiite Muslim uprising, a U.S.-aided crackdown on al Qaeda operatives and a looming shortage of water. High unemployment fuels much of the anger among a growing young population steeped in poverty. The protesters also cite government corruption and a lack of political freedom. Saleh has promised not to run for president in the next round of elections.

BAHRAIN

-- Bahrain's King Hamad said Sunday a foreign plot to destabilize the country has been foiled. The plot had been in the making for more than two decades, he said, but did not name a country that he believed was trying to carry it out. Bahrain's Sunni Muslim monarchy has long suspected Iran of attempting to foment unrest among the island's majority-Shiite population.

-- Human Rights Watch urged Bahrain on Monday to end its "campaign of arrests" of doctors and human rights activists. Over the weekend, security forces arrested four medical doctors and two activists, the group said.

-- Nabeel Rajab of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights said about 25 people in about a dozen cars pulled up to his house early Sunday morning and took him to the offices of the interior ministry's investigative department. "They said that they were looking for a suspect who was armed and thought I might know him," Rajab said. "They beat me, punched me, kicked me, handcuffed me. Blindfolded me."

-- Security forces on Friday demolished the Pearl Monument, a landmark that had been the site of massive recent anti-government protests.

Roots of unrest

-- Protesters initially took to the streets of Manama to demand reform and the introduction of a constitutional monarchy. But some are now calling for the removal of the royal family, which has led the Persian Gulf state since the 18th century. Young members of the country's Shiite Muslim majority have staged protests in recent years to complain about discrimination, unemployment and corruption, issues they say the country's Sunni rulers have done little to address. The Bahrain Center for Human Rights said authorities launched a clampdown on dissent in 2010. It accused the government of torturing some human rights activists.

SAUDI ARABIA

-- Security forces in Saudi Arabia arrested several people demonstrating at the interior ministry Sunday, putting them in police cars and buses to take them away, witnesses said. The demonstrators were demanding the release of imprisoned relatives, the second such protest in as many weeks.

-- About 100 men had gathered to protest at the government office in the capital Riyadh, said activist Mohammed Al-Qahtani and another witness who did not want to be named to protect his safety.

-- Other than a pledge to set up an anti-corruption agency, the activists said, King Abdullah promised little to meet their demands. Instead, the long list of new measures simply expands powers for the kingdom and the religious establishment.

Roots of unrest

-- Demonstrators have demanded the release of Shiite prisoners who they feel are being held without cause. Others have taken to the streets over the creation of a constitutional monarchy, more rights and other reforms. Late last month, King Abdullah announced a series of sweeping measures aimed at relieving economic hardship and meeting with Bahrain's beleaguered monarch.

EGYPT

-- Egyptian voters overwhelmingly approved proposed constitutional amendments that pave the way for parliamentary elections in June, according to the head of the judicial committee overseeing the referendum. An estimated 45 million Egyptians were eligible to vote in what was widely viewed as the country's first free election in decades.

-- The proposed amendments included limiting the president to two four-year terms, capping emergency laws to six months unless they are extended by public referendum, and placing elections under judicial oversight.

Roots of unrest

-- Complaints about police corruption and abuses were among the top grievances of demonstrators who forced President Hosni Mubarak from office. Demonstrators also were angry about Mubarak's 30-year rule, a lack of free elections and economic issues, such as high food prices, low wages and high unemployment. Since Mubarak's departure, several thousand people have protested in Cairo's Tahrir Square to urge Egypt's new rulers to implement promised reforms. They pressed Egypt's Supreme Council to end an emergency law and release political prisoners, among other things. They also demanded civilian representation in government.

SYRIA

-- One person died Sunday in clashes between anti-government protesters and security forces in the southern Syrian city of Daraa, witnesses told CNN.

-- Sunday's protests come the same day a delegation from President Bashar al-Assad offered "condolences to the families of the two martyrs who died during the unfortunate events which took place in Daraa on Friday," the Syrian news agency SANA reported.

Roots of unrest

-- Opponents of the al-Assad government allege massive human rights abuses, and an emergency law has been in effect since 1963. Earlier in March, Syrian human rights attorney Haitham Maleh -- arrested in October 2009 during a government crackdown on lawyers and activists -- was freed, his son said. The move comes amid demands by many citizens for more economic prosperity, political freedom and civil liberty.

PREVIOUS DEVELOPMENTS:

TUNISIA

-- In two short months, this country has gone from decades of strict one-party rule to an explosion of more than 30 registered political parties.

Roots of unrest

-- The revolt was triggered when an unemployed college graduate set himself ablaze after police confiscated his fruit cart, cutting off his source of income. Protesters complained about high unemployment, corruption, rising prices and political repression. An interim government came to power after an uprising prompted autocratic President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali to leave the country January 14. Those demonstrations helped spark protests across North Africa and the Middle East.

ELSEWHERE:

Sporadic demonstrations have erupted in recent weeks in other Middle Eastern and northern African nations, such as Algeria, Djibouti, Jordan, Morocco, Oman, Kuwait and Sudan and in the Palestinian territories.

 

[robbiedublu]

The world was very different before WWI, family values and societal values were much better when we had single income families and stay at home Mom's but we're not head back that direction either.

It's gonna be kind of like that again, and already is for multi millions of people. Both parents at home and the single income is a govt. unemployment or welfare check. More to come!

 

[Justin_Credible]

gas went up 33 cents a gallon over last 10 days news just said....and then they liven up my day by adding that today oil up 2 dollars a barrel from Operation Odyssey Dawn? WtF!


Time to get a bicycle...this going to get worse before gets better huh?

 

[SpasticGramps]

So how long till we invade Yemen too?

Arab Regimes Under Siege Wall Street Journal

A contingent of Yemen's key military commanders defected to the political opposition Monday, the most significant challenge yet to the ability of the country's president, a U.S. ally against al Qaeda, to hold on to power.

The development followed a bloody weekend crackdown on pro-democracy protesters that left dozens dead, as other countries in the region tipped toward instability. In Syria, residents of a town south of the capital demonstrated against the government for a fourth straight day, undeterred by protester deaths and the authoritarian regime's threats of crackdown.

In Yemen, the defections put President Ali Abdullah Saleh in the position of choosing between sending his elite units into battle to defend his authority or negotiating his own exit, officials from the government and the opposition said.

The president has the loyalty of the country's best-equipped forces, including the U.S.-trained Republican Guard, which is led by his son Ahmad, a counterterrorism liaison with Washington.

 

[chefro420]

Glad Ill be getting a 100mpg+ this summer!!!!

 

[DiscoBiscuit]

Watcha got, chefro? A pooter scooter? I want a pooter scooter to ride when I don't need to drive. And I want the one that goes 40mph down hill. A friend has one and it's got a governor. We're gonna bypass that rascal and probably mess up his mpg.

 

[SpasticGramps]

Next shoe to drop?

Troops open fire as protests explode across Syria AP

DAMASCUS, Syria – Troops opened fire on protesters in cities across Syria and pro- and anti-government crowds clashed in the capital's historic old city as one of the Mideast's most repressive regimes sought to put down demonstrations that exploded nationwide Friday demanding reform.

The upheaval sweeping the region definitively took root in Syria as an eight-day uprising centered on a rural southern town dramatically expanded into protests by tens of thousands in multiple cities. The once-unimaginable scenario posed the biggest challenge in decades to Syria's iron-fisted rule.

Protesters wept over the bloodied bodies of slain comrades and massive crowds chanted anti-government slogans, then fled as gunfire erupted, according to footage posted online. Security forces shot to death more than 15 people in at least six cities and villages, including a suburb of the capital, Damascus, witnesses told The Associated Press. Their accounts could not be independently confirmed.

The regime of President Bashar Assad, an ally of Iran and supporter of militant groups around the region, had seemed immune from the Middle East's three-month wave of popular uprising. His security forces, which have long silenced the slightest signs of dissent, quickly snuffed out smaller attempts at protests last month.

Syrians also have fearful memories of the brutal crackdown unleashed by his father, Hafez Assad, when Muslim fundamentalists in the central town of Hama tried an uprising in 1982: Thousands were killed and parts of the city were flattened by artillery and bulldozers.

The Assads' leadership — centered on members of their Alawi minority sect, a branch of Shiite Islam in this mainly Sunni nation — have built their rule by mixing draconian repression with increasing economic freedom, maintaining the loyalty of the wealthy Sunni merchant class in the prosperous cities of Damascus and Aleppo.

 

[chefro420]

Watcha got, chefro? A pooter scooter? I want a pooter scooter to ride when I don't need to drive. And I want the one that goes 40mph down hill. A friend has one and it's got a governor. We're gonna bypass that rascal and probably mess up his mpg.

Couple scooters , 1 49cc and 1 72cc!

 

[Mountain]

Next shoe to drop?

Troops open fire as protests explode across Syria AP

Yeah Syria is interesting. Many were saying nothing would ever happen there and does not bode well for Saudi Arabia in the long run IMO but maybe Iran will have more serious problems first? That whole area is blowing up! We'll see...fun to speculate and try and figure out what will happen next.

The US military is already spread thin and the guys are overworked. Will be interesting to see how this all plays out but a lot of these countries don't have much so easy takeover targets.

Local gas price - I paid $4.10 for regular yesterday.

Couple scooters , 1 49cc and 1 72cc!

A friend has a plug in Prius conversion and solar panels soon to be installed at the office to charge it up. I'm jealous...lol. I had a 3 wheel Honda powered 'bike' a few years back and was fun and practical. I live in a small town so easy to get around though. Now I got a GMC pickup and she's always hungry...ha ha!

 

[chefro420]

That's sick! I don't have the coin for that, but some scooters I can do. I 've been thinking about buying 6-10 more and fixing them up for when $5 gas! I bet they would double in value if gas hits $5!!!

 

[DiscoBiscuit]

Sounds like a plan, chefro420.

I'm selling a compact auto. Could have sold an automatic three times. Nobody wants a stick shift these days.

 

[SpasticGramps]

The crown jewel of the potential Black Swans in the Middle East is beginning to show it's wings. If war comes to Israel, as it usually eventually does, all bets are off on gas prices and other things.

ElBaradei: We'll fight back if Israel attacks Gaza
In interview with Arab newspaper, former IAEA chief says if elected as Egypt's next president he will open Rafah crossing in case of an Israeli attack
Ynet

Published: 04.04.11, 14:15 / Israel News
Former International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei, who had previously announced his intetions to run for the presidency of Egypt, said Monday that “if Israel attacked Gaza we would declare war against the Zionist regime."

Don't see a lot of good outcomes for what's going on over there right now. War has come to the region in earnest.

 

[thingshappening]

And I just bought a damn boat.

 

[WelderDan]

My Harley gets better than 50 mpg as long as I keep it under 80, and the weather is mild enough to ride it all year 'round. I think I'll survive.

If not, I'll go all "Road Warrior" on your asses and do what it takes for a tank 'o juice.

"A fellah, a QUICK fellah, might have a weapon under there. I'd have to pin his head to the panel..."

 

[Justin_Credible]

The crown jewel of the potential Black Swans in the Middle East is beginning to show it's wings. If war comes to Israel, as it usually eventually does, all bets are off on gas prices and other things.

ElBaradei: We'll fight back if Israel attacks Gaza
In interview with Arab newspaper, former IAEA chief says if elected as Egypt's next president he will open Rafah crossing in case of an Israeli attack
Ynet


Don't see a lot of good outcomes for what's going on over there right now. War has come to the region in earnest.

I heard on news today that the only way gas is going to go down is if the economy gets worse. If economy keeps on the steady uphill climb it is on, then gas will rise with it.


Already too fucking much money to fill my tank man.
Killing me over here.

 

[igrowone]

change only happens when the pain gets high enough to make it happen
and right now, with the latest nuclear happenings in Japan, the most likely contender is natural gas
i could see retro fittings of existing vehicles picking up with the mismatch between natural gas and oil fuels