XHendrix24
Refugee
MrsSpringsteen said:Of All Gas Consumers, Bush May Be Biggest
Honestly, do people have to try to tie George Bush with everything evil in the world today?
Seriously, though.
MrsSpringsteen said:Of All Gas Consumers, Bush May Be Biggest
XHendrix24 said:
Honestly, do people have to try to tie George Bush with everything evil in the world today?
Seriously, though.
starvinmarvin said:Nobody needs an SUV. Unless you live on a dirt road in the middle of the bush, an SUV serves no practical purpose. An SUV is a form of conspicuous consumption, that's all.
starvinmarvin said:Nice try. I live in Canada. I grew up in a small town where there is snow on the ground from November to March, and where the temperatures have been know to go as low as 40 degrees celcius. My family used a car for transportation, and never had a problem getting around. All you need are good snow tires. Thankfully I now live in Vancouver, where we usually only get one or maybe two significant snowfalls per winter. Still, many people have SUV's, even though they don't really need them to get around because there's no snow, and few people ever go into the back country. It's a joke. It's just a status symbol, and nothing more.
randhail said:
Right, exactly, there is no other point of me owning an SUV other than being cool. An SUV allows me to carry my bike, skis, and whatever other large items I need to move. I suppose large families have no need for an SUV either or people using them for towing purposes. I will concede that many people drive them to be cool...hence the number of Luxury SUVs out there but many people use them for what they are designed for.
Originally posted by randhail So should everyone in New England and Western Mountains stay at home whenever there is snow in the air or on the ground? SUVs are great for winter driving, there is need for them.
Originally posted by anne_j Now I live in a town of about 105.000 people and I have sold my car, never used it as you can ride your bike just about everywhere, and there are both buses to get around in the city and bus and train and an airport for intercity commute. I just wish more people would realise that we should value our public transport system more and actually use it to get around. When you tell me about the american public transport I feel blessed that we have one and we should really be happy about it and use it.
zonelistener said:
But it still doesn't justify a Hummer or an Escalade, does it?
BonoVoxSupastar said:
Nothing, I mean nothing justifies that!!!
That's basically like wearing a diamond ring that emits toxic fumes.
Originally posted by randhail does anyone need a luxury car? No, it's all about style points. The exotic sports cars are even worse than SUVs on mileage but some people just have an ax to grind with them.
Originally posted by randhail Nothing really justifies a buying big ass diamond ring either, right? Whether it be SUVs, houses, or rings, we love big ass things.
zonelistener said:
So, style points are a good thing? I am confused by your comment.
Your are missing the point. A large house will most likely increase in value. A diamond will retain its value.
An Escalade will decrease in value as soon as you drive it off of the lot, and then will add to the worlds over-consumption of a limited batural resource that continues to rise in price because supply cannot keep up with the demand - thus hurting everyone.
Yup. Nothing beats style points though.
randhail said:Large homes and diamonds can be just as bad as cars. Lots of blood has been shed over diamonds in Africa. The culture of excess exists in nearly every aspect of America.
sue4u2 said:So I checked into carpooling and the one person who lives near me is already on probation for not showing up for work and or being late.
randhail said:
An SUV allows me to carry my bike, skis, and whatever other large items I need to move.
bammo2 said:
as do roof racks and trailers
Ft. Worth Frog said:While I think public transportation would be great, I think the size of many cities is a bit daunting. Laws could be enacted to limit sprawl, but in a lot of places, there is already a ton of sprawl. Fort Worth is not exactly made at nice walking distances. There would have to be stops every 500 feet or so (especially in the summer...who wants to walk around outside in August?).
TheQuiet1 said:
I think the USA is a classic case of a problem being ignored till it spiralled out of control. I mean look at LA and look at all the ton of problems letting it sprawl so far has caused it. (Sorry to keep using LA but I studied it last year so it's about the only US city I know anything about).
I'd like to say you could do this or that but I think you've dug yourselves into a hole and are going to find it very hard to get out of it. Perhaps researching alternative fuel resources rather than spending billions on space exploration would be the better option? Perhaps in time US cities will follow the British pattern and gentrification will occur which should help at least reduce the sprawl. Would building a subway be feasible with cities that have grown so large and developed? I dunno. All I'll say is good luck! : patronisingpeopleagainsorry :
Also, everyone talking about winters where the temperature dips to below 20 degrees C. Are you sure you don't all mean minus 20 degrees C/40 degrees C because a temperature below 20C is still pretty warm in my book. I'd have thought/I always did think countries as far north as Canada and Sweden and away from warm sea air currents would get really, really cold in winter.
MrsSpringsteen said:FORT PAYNE, Alabama (AP) -- A gas station owner was run over and killed when he tried to stop a driver from leaving without paying for $52 worth of gasoline, police said.
The driver had not been apprehended Sunday, and police Chief David Walker said the case was being investigated as a robbery-homicide.
Witnesses told police that Husain Caddi, owner of Fort Payne Texaco, "grabbed onto the vehicle" Friday when the driver began to drive off.
Caddi was dragged across the parking lot and onto a highway, where he fell to the pavement and was run over by the late model sport utility vehicle's rear wheel, Walker said.
"Other vehicles were leaving the station's lot and there was a great deal of traffic on the roadway near the station at the time," Walker said.
Caddi, 54, later died at a hospital, Walker said.
Police said the driver was in his 20s or 30s.
Gas prices have surged to a nationwide average of $2.55 a gallon.
Ider man held in gas station owner's death
Friday, August 26, 2005
By DAVID BREWER
Times Staff Writer davidb@htimes.com
Fort Payne police say Alvin Dwight Benefield surrendered
FORT PAYNE - The man police say ran over and killed a Fort Payne gas station owner as he tried to stop the driver from taking off without paying for $52 in gas last week turned himself in to police Thursday morning.
Police Chief David Walker said Alvin Dwight Benefield, 25, of Ider was charged with manslaughter in the death of Husain Caddi, 54, owner and operator of the Fort Payne Texaco at 2645 Greenhill Blvd. near Interstate 59.
On Aug. 19, Walker said, witnesses saw the victim grab the side of the vehicle and get dragged across the parking lot. He said Caddi fell from the vehicle and was run over just after it left the parking lot and headed north on U.S. 11. Caddi was taken to Baptist Medical Center-DeKalb where he died from his injuries.
Walker said police had checked hundreds of vehicle registration numbers on a gold, brown or tan sports utility vehicle that witnesses said might be a Jeep Liberty or Ford Explorer. They were preparing to check hundreds more when Benefield turned himself in, Walker said.
The vehicle Benefield was driving when he allegedly ran over Caddi was a 2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee, he said.
Walker said investigators got a statement from Benefield before placing him in the Fort Payne City Jail. He was expected to be transferred to the DeKalb County Jail, also in Fort Payne. His bond had not yet been set Thursday afternoon.
Police also charged Benefield with third-degree theft for taking the gasoline.
The victim's son, Amri Caddi, 25, of Fort Payne said he and other relatives are relieved. Speaking by cell phone, Caddi said he was on his way Thursday afternoon to Atlanta to catch a flight to Indonesia to bury his father in his native country.
Caddi said he forgives the man who killed his father and that being bitter about it will not bring his father back.
A freshman at Gadsden State studying marketing and business management, Caddi said he was at school when he learned about his father's death.
He said he will return in two to three weeks to help run his father's station.
"I have to keep it going, " he said. "My father's spirit is in that store."
TheQuiet1 said:
Also, everyone talking about winters where the temperature dips to below 20 degrees C. Are you sure you don't all mean minus 20 degrees C/40 degrees C because a temperature below 20C is still pretty warm in my book. I'd have thought/I always did think countries as far north as Canada and Sweden and away from warm sea air currents would get really, really cold in winter.
anne_j said:
and the only reason it's liveable here is because of the warm Gulf Current.
TheQuiet1 said:
This all ties in v.nicely with this whole topic actually. A lot of people think that Global Warming will mean hotter temperatures but for some countries the reverse could be true.
The UK (which is quite a mild climate) is actually on the same latitude as Moscow and Hudson Bay (??) in Canada. So basically it should be v.v.cold but it's the warm air from the gulf stream that keeps it warm. However, as Global Warming (Caused by C02 emissions......) melts the ice caps the resultant water could push the Gulf Stream further away so the heat might not reach us any more. Thus far, far colder winters.
^If any of the above info is wrong, blame my geography teacher or me for not listening properly, whichever.
But I had no idea that the Gulf Stream could affect countries such as Sweden (we didn't study it in any detail, it was just we were doing about the past British climate changes millions of years ago and it was mentioned for how Global Warming could affect us in the future......I think). I didn't realise it went over that far. Learn something new every day.
"The oil sands give Canada one of the single greatest advantages of any state in the Western world," says Paul Chastko, a University of Calgary historian who recently published a book called Developing Alberta's Oil Sands. "It gives Canada the ability to supply all of North America for the next 50 years without touching a drop of imported oil." It is, in short, an economic engine and political lever that any nation would desperately love to have.