Holy Crap Batman!!!!!

>>>Apparently US service personnel in Cambridgeshire have been advised not to venture inside the M25. In the light of the above discussion, it may be a response to escalating oil prices and the ludicrous cost of transport here in the UK.<<< If only! US service personnel abroad are the most 'looked after' people on the planet insofaras they are protected from the local economy (so long as they buy 'on base'). About a year ago I was 'on base' and an American friend of mine was showing off his new pick-up. The wheels were chest height and its six litre engine throbbed in a way that only appeals to men. I asked how much it had cost him and how could he afford to fill it up: "Simple, Bub. Paid for it in dollars back home, flown over here FOC and I buy my fuel on-base. No way could I run this thing over here otherwise!" Yes, Americans 'over here' pay stateside prices for their fuel and everything else. As an aside, they have 'guest beers' on the base. Yes, Newcastle Brown Ale is charged at premium rate "doo to importation dooty" despite the fact we all know it hasn't travelled more than 200 miles. Although, judging by the taste, it wouldn't surprise me in the least if it has been flown back and forth across the Atlantic. It's still cheaper than buying it in a pub. Go figure (as they say in erm, the USA).

Oh yeah....you're dead on there buckaroo...I remember buying about 47,000 dollars worth of hi-fi stereo gear back in the early 70's from the base exchange. I think I paid something like 37 cents or 38 maybe. We smuggled the cheap booze back to the states by stuffiing it in the speakers before we shipped back.

All you need to do to globally ratify the making of an extra buck from an already existing and very lucrative market, is bomb or poison your own countrymen or allies, then blame those very technologically advanced Rag Heads who still eat goat cheese and dates beneath canvas ceilings. Damn lucky all those South Africans are either starving or dying from Aids or we'd blame them, I suppose ... *Bling Bling* Seems to me that War really does advance ... errrrr... human invention. Mind you, humanity is much alike liberty ... just a catch phase full of intentional chains which necessitates others into something for nothing when there's nothing better to do than die alone anyway. I mean, have you ever seen a smoking gun ... they don't unless fired once too often in rapid succession ... yawnnnn! * Succession ... ani't it funny how all words and roads seem to lead to Rome* *>Jaws theme <*

dunno, but its more than £5 ($10) a gallon i think? We work in litres. 88p a litre here. So stop moaning.

I've been reading 'The End of Oil' and getting pretty depressed. World oil production is going to peak anywhere between 2010 and 2030 and after then we are going to have serious problems. America's answer to this is largely to ignore that it is happening and to invade countries who do have the remaining oil, as we know. The average MPG of cars in America is 21 and forty percent of new vehicles sold are SUVs which is set to rise to 60 per cent over the next few years. (Thanks to Reagan removing the incentive for car manufacturers to improve fuel economy.) Most American surveyed believed their power came from hydro-electric power stations. For people in this country you can switch to Ecotricity - wind power - here. It doesn't cost any more than your local supplier. You can also shop in shops like the co-op who have a green energy policy. The CIS tower in Manchester has just been, or is been, covered in solar cells. It will be enough to make 8 million cups of tea. I should be alright then. I recommend reading the book. It covers all viewpoints, from very pessimistic to optimistic. Solar cells covering 1 % of the planet would be enough to provide enough electricity for the whole planet. Obviously that 1 % is not in Cleethorpes so if you live there...

also, liana is prone to great exaggeration. it's about $6.50-7.00 a gallon. still 3 times the US rate.

Apparently US service personnel in Cambridgeshire have been advised not to venture inside the M25. In the light of the above discussion, it may be a response to escalating oil prices and the ludicrous cost of transport here in the UK. And there's me thinking it was more a case of dragging your gullible allies into a war based on lies and personal aggrandisement, then sitting back and letting them do the dying in their own countries.

Over here we get gas free by eating lots of Heinz Beanz. Petrol is about 95p a litre

Yeah, I tried putting gas in my car and it just floated away into the air. The petrol is better because it's a liquid and can be poured.

Get a push bike!

What's more we seriously need to put a large tax on aviation fuel. That will put an end to the 'cheap' flights we all love at the moment but it may save the planet. The low price gasoline that Americans have enjoyed for so long cannot continue. Public transport is our only answer - and tax on fuel should go directly into improving our public transport network. It's time to declare war on the car - and to stop flying our food halfway round the world. Sorry, but it's got to happen.

The Rail Services in this country are on the whole quite good but they are so expensive! It costs me the same to get the train to see my brother in Preston for the w/e as it cost to fly to Rome. An air-fuel tax should go straight into reducing the cost of rail travel. But it won't. Tax always seems to disappear into a black hole!

Oh yes the petrol vs our gas LOL Forgive me when I forget your terms... But I remember all the correct vulgar terms LOL Liana I will moan all I want to its one of those things I do well...LOL No I dont often complain but damn we are speaking the difference of a day! I remember last year we were paying a buck ninety-seven...wow now thats heaven LOL

Aviation fuel is a trivial item. The real problem is with automobiles, heating, and power generation.

I had a wee theory that oil in fact might not ever run out as in matter of fact there is oil under just about every bit of land on the earth, it is also possible that in fact when rain is seeping in to the ground it could be going through a distilling process which at the end of the journey refills underneath the earth, in to oil, although it might be quite a time consuming process. It might be a bit premature and not neccessarily true to state that the planet is in fact going to run out of oil and rumours of such could be well to do with the market price ect. Just a thought

My 24 stone Americanised brother when over hear some 2 years ago, looked agog and aghast (Yep at the same time) when I suggested he walked the 1 mile to the local Tesco. He virtually fainted when I told him that I walked (When sober) a minimum of 4 miles a day. As we say in this neck of the woods auntie, 'get on yer bike.'

Just thinking about this…I have the opinion that things are only going to get worse. The world has consumed about half of the known oil in the past 100 or so years, it will take another 30 to use up the rest (some say.) The Green River basin in Colorado and Wyoming is estimated to contain more natural gas and shale oil than the US has consumed in its history. The US is the second largest producer of oil in the world and the largest consumer of oil in the world. Our coal deposits are vaster than any nation. There's a plausible argument that at the current world consumption rates, the United States will in 20-30 years will be largely in control of most of the fossil fuel in the world. The amount of political turmoil and economic upheaval in the world over fossil energy will continue to rise and the lines are being drawn right now for the massive energy crisis and the battles that are going to occur in the future. Within the next 75 years, there will be a major world war over energy. It will be disguised under a veil of nationalism and religion. Those that have it will be defending against those that want to take it. It's already happening. Right now the takers are the industrialized countries. We'll take the worlds oil, sit on our own until we're the only ones with any left, then the struggle will be on our soil. Just a thought.

hmmm very good thought RadioDenver...I guess I should stop moaning. The worst is probably yet to come.

The known amount of oil in the world has increased year on year since we began looking for it (we find it faster than we use it), some predict this will end in the next ten to twenty years (the curve is slowly levelling out). Official opec figures is 80 years worth of oil left . Remember that is the known amount, and that is still rising, so (even taking into account it is in their interest to overstimate) estimate well over another 100 years. As radio says, there is no desperate shortage of oil in the world (particuarly alaska, siberia, and africa) although lot of it is in the form of oil shale and other less than ideal forms, which increases the cost of extracting it enourmously (up to the point where it takes more than a barrel of oil to extract a barrel of oil). It is not going to run out in any of our lifetimes, but it will keep getting more and more expensive, to the point where certain cultures *looks in general direction of america* may have to change their way of life. I don't even own a car. So it wouldn't bother me that much *smiles smugly* but I do enjoy those cheap flights.

Dan: It is not going to run out in any of our lifetimes, but it will keep getting more and more expensive, to the point where certain cultures *looks in general direction of america* may have to change their way of life. "You looking at me?" Ely, now who am I quoting there? WINK!

I think the major reason for the higher cost in Europe/GB vs the US is due to taxes. What's the UK tax on fuel? 80% of the cost or something like that, whilst the US is probably 35% of the cost. That's why we enjoy cheaper fuel, so it's a luxury of our own making so to speak. This of course encourages greater consumption rates. There would be hell to pay if we started taxing the fuel at european rates. It's a matter of principle, we don't want to be like europe. I know people that own 4 or 5 vehicles, all of which get no better than 20 miles per gallon of gasoliine. It would be interesting to calculate the worlds percentage of fuel reserves just stored in the tanks of idle automobiles. Lets see...assume 10 gallons per vehicle, some 185 millions vehicles, 1.8 billion gallons of gasoline, just sitting in driveways, in the US alone. Not includiing what's in storage tanks, probaly another 2 billion gallons. We aren't consuming it, we're hoarding it!

From my brief experience in america, living without driving everywhere would actually be very difficult, they don't have pavements (or for that matter, sidewalks).

We have pavements (sidewalks) all over. They aren't designed to get you from one place to another though. They are designed to get you to your neighbors house and to the playground. I could not work without driving. I live 11 miles from my job and there is no public transportation in that direction (that's very close), my girlfriend works 45 miles from her home. I know many people that live more than 50 miles from their jobs and have to drive it every day. Funny though, there is a fellow I work with that rides a bicycle everywhere, doesn't even own a car and has been doing it for 20 years. Out here, something is considered close if it is within 100 miles.

a wag once said: the english think a hundred miles is a long way, americans think a hundred years is a long time.

Ditto everything RadioDenver said... Dan where exactly were you in the states and they didn't have pavement or sidewalks?

well Rhodie, just to slope off topic here and bore everyone's pants right the hell off and into next door's garden. It's NOT Taxi driver because the quote is "you TALKIN' to me" I think.

Taxi Driver. DeNiro is standing in the mirror with his mohawk haircut, flipping pistols from his shirt sleeve, talking to himself.. "You talking to me?" "I'm the only one here." No if's, and's or butttttttt's about it.

I think you forgot "I don't see anybody else around here so you mnust be talking to me" or words to that effect. film bores we're worse than trekkies especially when. like me, we know diddley poop really.

Travis Bickell

Ely I knew it was but had a brain freeze of some sort and typed what was not actually in my head...BLIMEY! I'm very good at this but I have been licking wounds today...I will be masterful tomorrow!