Don't just call me a pessimist, try and read between the lines

[DoctaD]

Ok, what are we seeing here? I don't mean this very minute, although to an extent, I do.

Natural disasters, man-made disasters, wars for any little reason... the world is ending guys. Sure, we may be five years away from curing cancer but that's not going to do much when we're all killed by looting mobs who are pissed because their electricity went out during the game.

With the state of the planet at present, we're gonna be lucky to get another century out of it. Is this really the state of affairs we want to be bringing another generation into??

I remember back 4 years ago now, getting a phone call one day where I was told to turn on the TV immediately. A plane had crashed into a sky scraper!! As I watched live, another followed and in total shock, i witnessed thousands of lives end in a horrific manner...

...and we all know what happened after that. Or do we? I'm not honestly sure. I remember watching the news, Bush was going to get bin Laden at all costs! Then it's a war on terror, and Saddam has nukes so lets carpet bomb somewhere! The whole time I'm sitting in front of Sky News thinking "What the fuck?!"

A tsunami kills hundreds of thousands of people... is a higher power somewhere getting pissed off?
"Yeah, feel my wrath, Earth. You want to kill each other, wait and see what I can do!"
But then a little realisation
"Shit, the asians weren't really causing any trouble. I missed!"

Obviously people aren't going to think their God, or whatever idea they have of a mystical or spiritual creator or whatever, is going to hurt them, to kill them! No way, in church we learn to love and fear God like a parent, not like a kidnapper.

Yet still, people blow themselves up... Spain, London, all over Iraq and Iran and places like that. What are you doing? Blowing up innocent people? It's America thats causing shit, not us Europeans!

So God's sitting up there, watching in disgust as his creations feed on the hate and corruption which has been force fed. Race, religion, age, sex... how many of us can truely say that they are free from any kind of bigotry? Well he's watching this and thinking "Enough! This time, my aim will be a little better" and America gets struck with the latest natural disaster. It doesn't take long, though, for the people to turn it right around. It was a natural disaster, but the pain and suffering and damage and theft caused by the yanks in New Orleans has overtaken the damage done by the storm ten fold.

Maybe this is just a sample of things to come. Maybe we have treated this planet we're on like shit for too long, and now we're going to pay.

My prediction, the world will be over by 2100... and I have absolutely no regrets in the fact that I won't be here to see it.
-DD

[Adrian_Faythe]

I agree wholeheartedly, and I speak from the vantage point of an American citizen. History's repeating itself, again and again. This is similar, to an uncanny degree, to what happened with Rome. The imperialistic attitude, the widening gap between rich and poor, and the oppressed masses rising up to overthrow the totalitarian state. While some of you (or perhaps none...) may argue "BUT WTF THERES A DEMOCRACY HERE LOL!!!1" a democracy with a leader that states "There ought to be limits to freedom" is hardly a democracy at all. Stories too numerous to mention are flooded about the internet (and whether they're true or not, you decide).

And you'll all call me crazy, but as for this "gas crisis," here's my theory. They'll drive prices up to around $3.50 or so per gallon, then claim that they're out of gas. Only for a day or two, just to scare people shitless. Then they re-introduce gas into their lines at $5.00 per gallon or something equally outrageous. Citizens think, "Holy shit, gas is back!" and buy the fuck out of it. Eventually, they'll drop prices back to $3.50, and they'll think "Oh, $1.50 cheaper! Sweet, this is much better!" And nobody is upset, except for me, who's raving and swinging a stick at this point....

There's more, but I'm just too pissed to think straight at the moment.

[madscientist]

They'll drive prices up to around $3.50 or so per gallon, then claim that they're out of gas. Only for a day or two, just to scare people shitless. Then they re-introduce gas into their lines at $5.00 per gallon or something equally outrageous. Citizens think, "Holy shit, gas is back!" and buy the fuck out of it. Eventually, they'll drop prices back to $3.50, and they'll think "Oh, $1.50 cheaper! Sweet, this is much better!" And nobody is upset, except for me, who's raving and swinging a stick at this point....

That's exactly how everything is done. Look at the PATRIOT Act, for example. Now that portions of it are being repealed, everyone's excited and happy, even though we're still worse off than we were before.

[Adrian_Faythe]

I give them points for ripping off Hitchcock's technique.

[KaRMa]

Prices have already gone above 6 dollars per gallon in places in GA. Here in CA ive seen the gas top 3 dollars.

[DoctaD]

Isn't there a temporary bump in prices for the Labour Day weekend every year?
-DD

[madscientist]

The spike in gas prices is almost entirely due to price gouging.

[Adrian_Faythe]

Yeah. Regardless of the cause, it's bullshit. I really need something else to drive...Explorers are definitely not known for their finesse in excellent gas mileage....

[THErAPIST]

modify it to run on natural gas. you may think that it's expenmsive, but in the short run it'd save you money. in the long run it'll save you more. I really am looking into exactly what I'd have to do to modify my car to run on both gas and natural gas depending on which one of the two I want to use at the moment.

[duiker]

Ok, what are we seeing here? I don't mean this very minute, although to an extent, I do...



...-DD

Cause and Effect.




modify it to run on natural gas. you may think that it's expenmsive, but in the short run it'd save you money. in the long run it'll save you more. I really am looking into exactly what I'd have to do to modify my car to run on both gas and natural gas depending on which one of the two I want to use at the moment.

Some people around here run their diesel's on old chip-shop oil. It's illegal and I'm not sure how it works, but they say that when they drive past, it smells like hot chips.

[DoctaD]

Diesel engines can be run on a variety of fuels, however you will be heavily fined when caught, your exhaust fumes will smell disgusting and your car probably won't run terribly well.

I know a guy who got his Mercedes converted to run on natural gas and he said it was the best investment he had ever made.
-DD

[madscientist]

Yeah, until he gets in a serious wreck and the tank gets crushed... ka-fucking-boom.

[THErAPIST]

diesel engines can run on vegetqable oil both used and new. It's legal too (here anyway). it's actually better for your engine, more environentally friendly, and as long as you can be assed to filter your oil before you use it, then you can get it for free from fast food places. There's a commercial diesel called d20 that's 20%vegetable oil and 80% diesel.

Natural gas is alright but it's dangerous if you get into a wreck. Cheap as all hell though. I'd do it. When I get into a wreck that's bad enough to destroy a 2 inch thick steel container, then I'd likely wish that I were dead anyway.

[madscientist]

How much $ per mile?

[THErAPIST]

Yu don' get quite as much mileage per tank fill of natural gas as you would with gasoline, but it costs a fifth of the price or less. The same goes for propane.

[Stone]

Petrol is on average 5.45euro a gallon here, that's 6.77USD per gallon. Quit giving out about ye having expensive gas, it's become too expensive to drive here already...

[phoenix]

I just bought a bike coz it's too expensive to be paying $1.37 a litre. I buy premium however it's better for my engine long run if I get the good stufff. I bet u kids are worgtting screwed....

i'm drunk. really really drunk. also we just caught a mouse.

[madscientist]

The problem in the US is it's not laid out like Europe, where public transportation is easy to be had, and everything's close together... there's many places where you literally can't exist without a car. I have to trek over four miles up a huge hill on my bike to get to the nearest hardware store, for example... and in the winter, I can forget going anywhere.

[DoctaD]

Yeah, it's definitely easier to get from A to B at home than where I am here in Canada. Things are a lot more spaced out here, and theres a lot less public transport about... apart from yellow school busses, of course. They're everywhere!
-DD

[ComfortablyNumb]

. I buy premium however it's better for my engine long run if I get the good stufff. I bet u kids are worgtting screwed....



Only if your car has a higher compression engine, otherwise you're just paying 20 cents more a gallon for nothing.

[THErAPIST]

stone did your gas prices jump much lately or have they been high for years? it's not so bad here, but in other thstes it's 6$ so ya know. AlsoI 'm not gonna complain cause I'm either going to buy it or come up with a solution no matter how expensive it is. fuck complaining, it does nothing to help. Gas prices and such does start some good conversation though.

im fortunate enough to be able to walk to school since it's only 2 miles from my house, but without a car, fuck getting to work. that's 10 miles and theres no public transportation that goes by there at the right time. I'd have to either leave 4 hours early, or like 3 hours late.

[DoctaD]

When I started driving, less than two years ago, petrol cost me 79.9 per litre and it's gonna hit 100.00 per litre soon, if it hasnt already. The rise in price would make little difference to me anyway, though, as my tank could only hold a gallon or two.
-DD

[madscientist]

I don't know how the public transportation system is in Canada, but here, the only "public" transportation that exists is catching a ride from a friend.

Americans get fucked hard by high gas prices - much more than any other part of the world that I know of.

[DoctaD]

Americans deserve to pay more for everything... For example, what is the need for everyday cars with huge engines? If it wasn't for America, there would be a lot less poverty in the world.
-DD

[Stone]

A couple of months back it was 88c (euro) a litre, now it's roughly 1.25euro and rising fast (only broke the euro barrier last week!)

[Stone]

A couple of months back it was 88c (euro) a litre, now it's roughly 1.25euro and rising fast (only broke the euro barrier last week!) It's always been more expensive here than the US, but now it's just gone crazy... Although I have to say, it is more expensive in Britain where they have broken the ?1pl mark, that's 1.50euro...

[madscientist]

I don't know anyone with a car with a big engine. It's mostly the rich suburbanites and crazy hicks that have that shit. :P

[THErAPIST]

deserve to pay more for everything? Some things sure, but not everything!! every day cars with huge engines? most of the cars ont he road here are foreign. things like volvo and audi and bmw arent nearly as popular a good portion of the time and those suck up more gas than some of the stuff we have.

The majority of the time only the people with money to burn get the gas guzzling shit. people with big ass trucks, or people who just have to have huge things like suburbans and stuff to make them either feel cool or so that they can "fit in".

I've got a 2k1 chevy malibu. 14.1 gal gas tank, and 20 miles to per gal or so IIRC. Most of the people I know have smaller cars that are foreign and get better gas mileage.

Poverty is higher in the world because of us? Explain that one... Without turning this into a political thing, I blame any poverty based on American consumption and such at current time on stupid shit that we shouldn't even have a hand in. That or we should have quit our part of it some time ago.

Do let it be known that we are one of the leading researching countries when it comes to alternatives for gasoline and alternative sources of energy and stuff. I do believe it's retarded for someone who drives a huge ass ford F350 to complain about gas prices though when they dont even have to use said vehicle for work or anything more than casual transportation. Did anyone else here know that in the US if you drive a hybrid car or an eco car of any kind you get a few thousand dollars in return at the end of year when tax returns come around? Propane, natural gas, gas/electric, I think maybe even vegetable oil but im not sure on that one..

[KaRMa]

Here in CA to promote the use of hybrid cars (gas / electric) they've made it legal for the hybrids to drive in the carpool lane (2+ people only normally).

[Adrian_Faythe]

And over here, the waiting list to buy a new Prius is about nine months. Apparently, there's some sort of rule stating that each Toyota dealer can only sell "x" number of Priuses before they're not permitted to sell any more.

Crazy though it sounds, I've heard the same thing from several people, including a Toyota mechanic, so...yeah. Used ones can still be found, but it's a real bitch. I'm glad we got ours when we did.

[DoctaD]

In the UK it's rare to see a car with over a 2 litre engine, and when ya do it's usually a farm vehicle or a pointless fancy jeep or something. Pretty much everyone I know has a car between 1 and 2 litres.

Americans are stereotypically greedy and Ive read at a number of places that ~40% of the world resources are used by yanks. Now, obviously bombing the fuck outta other countries has something to do with it, but theres little point in going into that as I realise a lot of these countries have themselves to blam to a certain extent. Ive been anti-American for a while, though I may not have just reasoning, it's gonna be in the back of my mind forever.

[r007ph07oN]

maybe you guys will find this interesting.


http://oiltruth.com/SecondPage.html#anchor_86

[THErAPIST]

Anti-American is fine, as long as you don't for some odd reason hate me becuse I live here heh

nice link r007. made for some good reading

[DoctaD]

Nah, I have nothing against random Americans... and definitely not American Rortians!
:joint:

[Stone]

I found a text file on how to convert a car to run on plain ol' tap water. By splitting the Hydrogen and Oxygen and using said gases in the internal combustion engine. I just want to make sure it's not copyrighted or anything before putting it up.

Watch This Space

[SilentOctober]

Shit is crazy worldwide, and I do feel like its gaining momentum. Personally I'm almost glad.
Raise the gas prices, fuck, invent more gas powered machines, use more oil, and do a whole helluva lot more of whatever the fuck gets us hurricanes and tsunamis.
Its weird, when I was only a couple years younger seems liek I was hell bent on saving the world, now I'm livin 10 times better than I ever have, and I can't wait to see it fuck itself.
I love my friends, and I love my family, I'll do what I can to see them happy, but my days and the days of everyone I care about have a short number on them anyway, and I'm not leaving any genetic material behind to make my mistakes in a world of ethics, god, and gas.
Flush it all away.

[THErAPIST]

I don't believe gasoline and oil use produces hurricanes and shit. I think that's just a sad arguement that people have the majority of the time just so that they have something to argue about. And about shit going crazy world wide... fuck it. The way I see it, I'm gonna do what I've got to to stay around and in respectible condition..

War.. Fuck it, it's always gonna be there. I'm just the one who'se not dumb enough to get pulled into it till it's at my front door. At that point I'll make a name for myself and it will be known that I'm not fucking around with people. It'll be known all over the place that I should have no part of any conflict brought on by people's inane idiology and broken sense of right and wrong. I'll watch the world's events from a far and have no part in the unless they come looking for me.

Gas, fuck that shit too. I'm far too stubborn to limit myself to such a simple commodity. there are WAY too many alternatives for oil related things for me to get worked up over it. Yesh, prices go up... I can pay more. When it gets to the point that I can no longer afford to go to work, I'll use something else. If need be I'll get creative. I can modify a gyrocopter to run with petals and then an electric motor long enough to get me to wherever I've gotta be within reasonable limits. shit there are people running cars on dead animals now.

God, there are so many now that I can't be slowed down to think about it. religion is a pile of shit now that there are 9459874 different specific religions that lead to one guy named Christ. we wont even get started on Buddah and Alah.

And you're god damned right im going to leave my seed behind... I'm almost scared to see what kind of fucked up offspring I produce, but there will be a few. I may be an american in a country lead by an idiot and sitting side by side with lots of sheepish idiots who can't think... But I'll be fucked in the forehead with a red hot iron spit if I'm as limited as the majority of humans (and americans). I think there should be more crazy mes running around heh.

I must say though that there may be something wrong in my head. I didnt feel pitty for anyone fucked by katrina. I felt a bit sorry for what happened to them and what they weredealing with, but they got no pitty from me. The instant the first person took a tv that they couldnt even power, everyone over there lost a large amount of respect. That may seem a bit harsh, but i have no room in my head for thoughts about how people are going to survive something that they could have fixed in advance.The earth has a way of solving it's own problem. the human race is just one problem that isn't easily fixed. In time I believe all problems from the current time will be solved and then all this arguement we have will be nothing but trivial babbling. In the end it's the earth, the thing that everyone is taking advantage of and fighting over, that will live on.

[rant over]

[Houndish]

Nice rant... but Stan why you so mad? Try to understand that I do want you as a fan.

As far as gas goes... here in NE they seem to fuck us coming and going... nothing like buying gas for 3.09 a gallon at 9 am only to come back and found its now 2.99 at 2 pm... personally id like to explore whatever avenues involve the US taking over the worlds harvesting and production of fossil fuels... or whatever brings gas back to 1.09 a gallon...

What else... god meh, thatll get tackled in another post. As far as the world coming to an end, that may be a slight exaggeration, or it may not... who fucking knows... if i were a betting man (and i am) id say we don't have to worry about collosal system failure anytime soon (unless WE get nuked). We've grown too comfortable... and im not saying thats a bad thing, i like being able to go out at 1 am and grab a spicy chicken sandwich meal... ya know? I like having enough disposable income to buy things like pot and... pot... and spicy chickens. I work hard for these perks and sure I dislike work, but you know, as soon as I realized that I wasn't going to change the motivated peoples work ethic, I became motivated...

[madscientist]

personally id like to explore whatever avenues involve the US taking over the worlds harvesting and production of fossil fuels... or whatever brings gas back to 1.09 a gallon...

A big part of the reason for the increasing gas prices is *because* of better access to oil in the Middle East - they are simply strengthing the monopoly American oil companies have, and we all know what monopolies do...

[duiker]

http://www.myfilehut.com/userfiles/duiker/bad%20moon%20rising.mp3

[THErAPIST]

Oh wow... HAHAHAHA! yes that song does sum things up quite nicely doesnt it? :p

[SilentOctober]

I don't feel bad at all about katrina. Didn't they have three days warnign or some shit? Even if they didn't I didn't know any of those people. None of them would care if I died or if any of you died. I've not even any empathy, just gonna have to trust my people to be smarter than all of that...

I like bush. Its a perfect world, he can't fuck that up, just fuck up society and I've been screamin abotu that since I was still smokin cigerettes in the bathroom in middleschool. He's an idiot, he won't accomplish anything noble or worthwhile, but he's doin a good job of fuckin shit up. He'll leave a legacy that most likely none of ours will match up to, but personally I'm not looking for legacy, just a little bit of fun. And if the world is going haywire, we'll be dead before shits too insufferable...

as far as kids go, I'm bein milked to feed society, to survive cause I'm not smart enough to find a better way (my fault) but when I'm done livin and I've taken everythign I can, I'm leaving nothing behind to help the world, i dont even want my body to feed the earth or the maggots, no offspring running around curing cancer or killing people, no effect on even my immediate and most prolonged enviroment, figure...let it rott, get mine, and let it rott.

[Houndish]

Nothings ever as bad as it seems. In 200 years this'll be a fuckin drop in the bucket...

[deviousgenius]

These problems ("fuel crisis" - [who do they think they're kiddin? of course we know that resources are diminishing but it would be foolish to suggest they were running out so soon that supplies had to be limited] -and therefore a rise in prices which many people can't afford) are ideally a result of the corrupt politicians in charge of major world powers but especially america. Many people cannot see this because they are fed false information from the media, who are also fed false information from governments and other corrupt organisations. So we can never really know exactly whats going on and corrupt politicians/governments can hide their true intentions.

The fact is there isn't much we can do about it because we as a human race have handed too much power over to a group of people, who although are alright at first, soon become greedy when money and power is involved. Call it democracy but how is it any much better than Dictatorship or communism? The leaders still get greedy no matter what...and democracy does not allow us to vote over every law thats made. We only vote based on the lies we are told at election and based on the previous performances of these parties. So in some way we as a race are to blame for these problems.

BUT that aside....

Have you ever wondered why America refuses to sign up to treaties that fight for a reduction in the use of fossil fuels and global warming etc? Because the attraction of the money that would be made by invading iraq, controlling major oil supplies then reducing overall rate of supply, claiming there is a fuel crisis and then over pricing is too great to resist. Either that, or they were able to predict that hurricanes would hit the highest producing region of oil in america several months or years in advance

The government are the only ones who win...they make more money which means a bigger army, weapons etc and then they can control more of Iraq's and other countries' oil and other resources using the excuse that the particular country is producing nuclear weapons or that "genocide" is taking place. It is only a matter of time before another major oil producer is attacked. The problem is made infinitely worse by other stupid nations helping america invade countries like Iraq which just gives America support and makes it look like they are doing the right thing. Hopefully, other countries will realise before it is too late and their own economies suffer as a result of america's actions.

So I believe that, even if there were no natural disasters, humans would still end the world by the next 100 years...a scary thought but inevitable as people fight for power. The ironic thing is that what is the point fighting for power when you won't live past around 100 and even if you live past then it is unlikely that you will still be in power. The most sensible thing to do is to ensure everyone has a good life while alive and that future generations can benefit from the same. It is the greed and corruption from generations close to us and our generation as well that have caused world unrest, corruption and poverty to increase at such a rate and make the end of the world increasingly inevitable.

I have a rough idea of a solution to these problems. Of course, it doesn't take into consideration every single factor but it takes into accoount the major factors. If i have missed anything or don't agree, please say something.

1. Abolish "democracy" as such, and give more (NOT ALL) power to the people(*) by allowing them (as a nation) to participate in the decisions of the nation. After all it is OUR nation and not the nation of a few people.

2. Increase public transport (environmentally friendly) definitely in America (im sure this would cut a lot of unemployment and poverty in a country so large due to the need of drivers and other staff) and places like china where the consumation of fossil fuels, natural resources is rapidly increasing

3. Follow the previous action by a huge increase in fuel prices (much more than they are even now in their increased state) and tax introduced on cars that are large contributers to pollution in the attempt that this will stop them using these methods or fuels to travel

4. This would lead to many people seeking alternative and more environmentally friendly options of using cars and forcing companies to research into alternative methods of transport that are viable under the new laws. Other people turn to public transport as it is readily available and is a CHEAPER option to travelling

5. Worlds largest consumers of natural resources and therefore the worlds biggest polluter are forced to reduce their pollution as a result of these actions - and simply by forcing people to alternative methods. (DRASTIC TIMES CALL FOR "DRASTIC" MEASURES)

6. The "fuel crisis" ends (or at least the government can no longer lie to us about this) and an emphasis can be put on using other sources of energy and fuel and people avoid paying extortionate fuel prices for diminishing fuel and other energy sources

7. Lazy, fat americans (and i say this in a non-stereotypical way OR no offence to americans) get off their arses as they are forced to take public transport or spend more time walking to places as opposed to driving everywhere which saves money overall on healthcare treatments and costs for obesity and weight related illnesses and more money can be spent tackling illnesses which can't actually be prevented

8. Profit made from public transport (which will happen eventually) can be used for further research into other transport alternatives or can be used to help developing and third world countries solve their more serious problems (REMEMBER we're all in this together to make the world a better place)

9. Lower demand for oil gives America and other "shoulder-to-shoulder" countries less of a reason to be in Iraq as they are no longer making as much money controlling oil reserves, and besides that reason, they aren't really doing any good in Iraq (recent news stories of the prison invasion by the british army and the many lives lost as a result of this war prove this)

10. Troops withdrawn, terrorists no longer have a reason to attack western countries as "the infidel" have pulled out of their countries and there is no need for a holy war anymore

11. More world peace obtained as a result, The world is a safer place. Pollution significantly lower, the life expectancy of our world increases (or stops decreasing so rapidly) People stop being completely controlled by their so called democracy governments and things such as this have no possibility of escalating out of hands like it has.

(*) power to the people can be obtained in many ways. Obviously this does not mean there is no control e.g. things like crime but it means that governments cannot make such big decisions without the consent of the people. After all, the country should be controlled by the people shouldn't it?

WATCH THE NEWS NOW AND YOU WILL SEE THAT A LOT OF IT IS BASED ON THE HURRICANES HEADING TO AMERICA. IT IS HITTING THE BIGGEST PRODUCER OF OIL AND REFINER OF OILS IN THE USA. SO OIL SUPPLIES WILL BE AFFECTING....REQUIRING MORE IMPORTED OIL! HINT HINT

[Stone]

I found a text file on how to convert a car to run on plain ol' tap water. By splitting the Hydrogen and Oxygen and using said gases in the internal combustion engine. I just want to make sure it's not copyrighted or anything before putting it up.

How to convert your car to run on watr (http://www.rorta.net/textfiles/how.to.convert.your.car.to.run.on.water.pdf)
Anybody here want to give this a try?

[THErAPIST]

I showed my teacher that file at school. he thinks it appears to be nothing more than a water heater. I myself say that that's what it appears to be, but if I had the time and money I'd try it anyway. what can it hurt ya know? also, that text file calls for the use of a carburator. i dunno about other places, but the large majority of automobiles in the us use fuel injection and not carburators now because they're more efficient.

I've still read it a couple times though :p. interesting reading

[duiker]

Although those plans may not work, I know it's possible. There's a local bloke round here somewhere that knew how to make vehicles run on water, simply.