All I know to do is to keep everything as close to home as possible. I changed to a closer church. I cut the commute by three miles. I am taking work close to home. I try to go out less and make sure I combine errands into one trip if the places are close to each other. If somethings on the way to a place I am going, I save the errand until then.
Gas to hit 7 dollars per gallon
by 1914BS 125 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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liquidsky
We'll if if It gets to $7.00 a gallon, I'll just start riding my bike to work. Kinda sucks riding a bike in Washington. It's June and we're having windstorm and sideways rain.
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shamus100
Unfortunately the only solution is for billions of people to die. Expect die off real soon...
It's true - there are too many - way too many people on this earth to feed. I try to think positively when it comes to these things, especially with regard to the old dub way of thinking - but your scenario is a real possiblity. As for food going up 46%, I doubt it will be that drastic. People are already barley making ends meet in third world countries and are crying over food prices now.
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1914BS
Sorry to scare the hell out of everyone but better to be scared in advance. Please remember that the LORD will act in behalf of humanity. Every knee shall bend to the LORD
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sammielee24
It's not just North America...
Oil prices: Europe threatened with summer of discontent over rising cost of fuel
· Spanish and French truckers block border
· Coordinated action raises fears of food shortages- Angelique Chrisafis in Paris and Graham Keeley in Barcelona
- The Guardian,
- Tuesday June 10 2008
- Article history
Concerns were growing last night over a summer of coordinated European fuel protests after tens of thousands of Spanish truckers blocked roads and the French border, sparking similar action in Portugal and France, while unions across Europe prepared fresh action over the rising price of petrol and diesel.
Spanish hauliers began an indefinite strike, demanding a government aid package to offset the effect of record oil prices. Lorry drivers blocked motorways at the border with France and caused 12-mile tailbacks around Madrid and Barcelona. Long queues formed at Spanish and Portuguese supermarkets after truckers said shops could run out of fresh food in days. Even before the strike began thousands of people formed long lines outside petrol stations and supermarkets.
Supermarket chains Eroski and Carre-four said they had stocked up on food ahead of the strike, but some markets closed yesterday. While lorry drivers picketed distribution centres, the Spanish government said there would be no electricity or petrol shortages. But as many as 15% of Madrid petrol stations were dry by last night, according to a retailers' association.
Main routes to France through Catalonia and the Basque country were blocked, with reports that lorries crossing picket lines were stoned and their windscreens smashed.
French lorry drivers joined the protest to seal off their side of the border. French pickets allowed cars through but around 600 lorries were blocked. Up to 200 French hauliers gridlocked Bordeaux with a go-slow convey that caused nearly 20 miles of tailbacks in and around the city. Outside Lille farmers on tractors staged protests, and around 500 farmers converged on Toulouse for a demonstration.
In Portugal lorry drivers also launched an open-ended strike, and one group threatened to block main roads running south to the Algarve to prevent goods reaching the tourist region. Trucks that broke picket lines had their windscreens smashed.
Jérôme Cordier of Unostra, the French union of small and medium haulage companies, said yesterday's protests marked a new phase to coordinate strikes across Europe for maximum impact, a development that could threaten widespread disruption during the holiday season. "We're taking this up a gear and focusing on the European dimension," he said. France will be hit by open-ended actions next Monday, when three haulage unions join forces for the first time. In Italy lorry drivers are preparing for an all-out strike between June 30 and July 4.
In Britain around 300 lorries are expected to converge on central London on July 2 for TransAction's campaign for European parity on fuel duty and road fuel prices, and the Road Haulage Association could hold its planned mass rally at the same time. Unions for small haulage firms from seven EU states, including France, the Netherlands, Hungary and Slovenia, will meet in Brussels this week to coordinate action, hoping to force EU governments to level out taxes and prices.
Amid expert warnings that the price of oil will remain high for years to come, soaring to perhaps $200 a barrel, a summit of the EU's 27 heads of government next week will reject short-term solutions such as the cap on VAT on fuel proposed by the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy. But, with surging food and fuel prices dominating their agenda, they will encourage national governments to adopt measures to cushion their impact on the poor and most vulnerable - for a limited period.
A chorus of ministers, diplomats and officials said fiscal measures would send the wrong signals to people that they could carry on consuming as before - and to oil producers that it did not matter how high prices went. "Any subsidies or tax-cuts would simply divert even more money to oil-exporting countries," Joaquín Almunia, the EU economic and monetary affairs commissioner, said.
The Spanish government said it would announce measures tomorrow to ease the strain of fuel price rises, in the hope of reaching a deal with lorry drivers by midweek. The measures included allowing hauliers to make financially favourable changes to their contracts during times of economic hardship. The government would also give €55m (about £43.6m) in aid to drivers who wanted to retire early.
The strikes come after three weeks of fuel protests that have blockaded fishing ports. Some Spanish and Italian fishermen remained in port yesterday, while in France Mediterranean ports reopened as fishermen suspended their strike until a meeting of ministers in Brussels on June 23.
Additional reporting by David Gow, Brussels; David Pallister, London; Tom Kington, Rome.
Around the world
Protests at rising fuel prices are not confined to Europe. A succession of developing countries have provoked public outcry by ordering fuel price increases. Yesterday Indian police forcibly dispersed hundreds of protesters in Kashmir who were angry at a 10% rise introduced last week. Protests appeared likely to spread to neighbouring Nepal after its government yesterday announced a 25% rise in fuel prices. Truckers in South Korea have vowed strike action over the high cost of diesel. Taiwan, Sri Lanka and Indonesia have all raised pump prices. Malaysia's decision last week to increase prices generated such public fury that the government moved yesterday to trim ministers' allowances to appease the public.
About this article
Close This article appeared in the Guardian on Tuesday June 10 2008 on p13 of the International section. It was last updated at 00:16 on June 10 2008.
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FlyingHighNow
ARE YOU INSANE!!!! Who is going to pay for all this "Free" Shit????!!!!
Oh Sinis, stop and think, how much tax do people in Sweden pay for all their benefits? 50%? Stop and think about how much of our incomes we pay in taxes and don't get hardly any benefits. We pay federal, state, city, county, license plate tax,sales tax, tax on alcohol (if we drink), tax on tobacco (if we smoke), road taxes, gasoline taxes, electricity taxes and on and on. Add it up. What perecentage of our incomes do we Americans pay in taxes? We pay taxes on our telephones and cell phones. We pay taxes on almost everything.
Who the hell do you think is paying for this trillion dollar plus Iraq war? Why, the American tax payer. We could have used that money to start to pay for all that "free shit" you mentioned. And Americans would be healthier and happier and have buses and trains to take to work and to the grocery store. Our taxes pay for police protection and fire stations. Our taxes are enough to pay for all that free shit. We just need our greedy, inept law makers and prez to manage our tax money more efficiently. Do you think prez and congress have healthcare? You bet your sweet bippy they do. Who pays their salaries, Sinis? I'll bet you that if you went into president Bush's bathroom, he isn't using thrifty Scott tissue. He's probably using double sheet Charmin with the presidential seal impressed one every sheet.
Are you insane? What country should be so foolish as to not make sure every single citizen is fit and healthy, with housing and nutritious food? Educated with quality and affordabl childcare and schools? You got a country full of sickly, malnourished, economically stressed people and you got same country that has become easy pickens. And on top of that, that country's armed forces are worn out and used up from a pointless, needless war. Are you insane? Stop and think about what you are really saying.
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FlyingHighNow
Unfortunately the only solution is for billions of people to die. Expect die off real soon...
Gee, why does that sound like a quote from a Watchtower Magazine? Still, we may end up with revolution and a Mad Max world.
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RubaDub
Not to pee on the parade ... but the complaining about the gas prices just gets under my skin.
So many of the people that complain about gas are the idiots that bought gas guzzlers to commute to work. Here in Florida, public transportation is spotty at best so most people need a car to get to work.
However, going out and buying a big SUV for a daily commute is ridiculous. My neighbor has been complaining for more than year about the price of gas but bought a Hummer H2 about 2 years ago that gets about 9 miles to a gallon. With his 60 miles roundtrip commute to work, he is using nearly 11 gallons per day. At about $4.25 per gallon now, that is nearly $50 per day, $250 per week and over $1,000 per month.
Yes, I have an SUV also. A 2002 model that has less than 20,000 miles on it. It used mainly for hauling our boat to the ocean. Other than an occasional drive to work, it pretty much sits in the yard.
I drive a Jetta Diesel that gets at least 45 mpg and my wife's Nissan gets over 30 mpg.
If people are that stupid to go out and buy gas guzzlers for basic transportation, I don't feel sorry for them.
Rub a Dub
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FlyingHighNow
Well, golly Rub, what about those of us who own used, paid for cars that get 23-29 mpg, but obviously don't do well enough salary wise to own a boat to take to the ocean or an SUV to keep parked until the notion hits us to head for the waves? It's a fact that these high fuel prices will make it very hard for some us to afford food, clothing and other necessities. Some of us are making sacrifices such as raising grandchildren alone. Sit smug in your easy chair or the next time you've got your right arm stretched out, lazily over the passenger seat top, on the way to the ocean with your boat in your SUV with only 20,000 miles on it. Sit smug. Some of us are breaking our backs caring for others on a shoestring. Drop your head back in laughter and hope your day never arrives.
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sinis
ARE YOU INSANE!!!! Who is going to pay for all this "Free" Shit????!!!!
Oh Sinis, stop and think, how much tax do people in Sweden pay for all their benefits? 50%? Stop and think about how much of our incomes we pay in taxes and don't get hardly any benefits. We pay federal, state, city, county, license plate tax,sales tax, tax on alcohol (if we drink), tax on tobacco (if we smoke), road taxes, gasoline taxes, electricity taxes and on and on. Add it up. What perecentage of our incomes do we Americans pay in taxes? We pay taxes on our telephones and cell phones. We pay taxes on almost everything.
Who the hell do you think is paying for this trillion dollar plus Iraq war? Why, the American tax payer. We could have used that money to start to pay for all that "free shit" you mentioned. And Americans would be healthier and happier and have buses and trains to take to work and to the grocery store. Our taxes pay for police protection and fire stations. Our taxes are enough to pay for all that free shit. We just need our greedy, inept law makers and prez to manage our tax money more efficiently. Do you think prez and congress have healthcare? You bet your sweet bippy they do. Who pays their salaries, Sinis? I'll bet you that if you went into president Bush's bathroom, he isn't using thrifty Scott tissue. He's probably using double sheet Charmin with the presidential seal impressed one every sheet.
Are you insane? What country should be so foolish as to not make sure every single citizen is fit and healthy, with housing and nutritious food? Educated with quality and affordabl childcare and schools? You got a country full of sickly, malnourished, economically stressed people and you got same country that has become easy pickens. And on top of that, that country's armed forces are worn out and used up from a pointless, needless war. Are you insane? Stop and think about what you are really saying.
Yea, like the excellent free health care in Canada - not!!! It sucks, as too many of my friends from Canada have indicated. The Swiss get taxed high. Why should the country be resonsible for your health - that should be an individual motivation. I have stopped and thought about what I am saying. WELFARE is DESTROYING THIS COUNTRY!!!!!!!!!!!! Before the New Deal people actually were responsible for themselves and relied on THEMSELVES, family, the church, etc. I don't want the government digging any deeper in my pockets. Life sucks for some, but they have the ability to change it - its called capitalism, not socialism, or communism...