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pro_junior
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2012-03-30
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gas...
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gas...

"a man in a purple suit and hat"

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Comments for: gas...
pulse Report This Comment
Date: March 30, 2012 09:12AM

I love how Americans complain about the price of fuel. It's been $8-12 a gallon in Europe for the past 20 years, is approx $6 a gallon in Australia and has been for 10 years, etc.

The time of dirt cheap energy is over, embrace our new oil toting overlords.
woberto Report This Comment
Date: March 30, 2012 10:35AM

It's a market and it obeys simple economic rules.
A can of coke is 1/5th the price in Indonesia compared to Australia because that's what they can get for it.
Same as Mexico v USA. Same product made in most likely the same place but a different market to sell it in.
Capitalism FAIL.
pulse Report This Comment
Date: March 30, 2012 10:45AM

Yep, or the fact that a Holden Commodore can be manufactured in Australia, they can whack a Pontiac badge on it and export it to the US or the middle east and sell it for 50% of the sticker price for 1/100th the amount of sales as they sell it for volume in Australia 2 blocks from where it was made.

The world is full of such stories. It sucks, but what can you do about it? Aside from, you know.. burning them all.
jgoins Report This Comment
Date: March 30, 2012 10:51AM

Just because you can get a certain price for something doesn't mean you should sell it for that. It's okay for coke because we can choose not to buy it but gasoline we have to buy because for most people there is no alternative. A majority of people can't just trade in their vehicle and buy a cheaper running one so we are stuck trying to cut corners somewhere else to pay for our fuel costs just to survive.
woberto Report This Comment
Date: March 30, 2012 11:04AM

Boo hoo pulse , you get free Holdens anyway.
(*butt*)
Mrkim Report This Comment
Date: March 30, 2012 11:10AM

Since I'm not that well versed enough in the policies and such that have lead to such outrageous gas prices in Euroland or Oz, I do have to wonder who here has been played ... though I don't have to think all that hard to reach a conclusion.

If you ask why we American complain about the more than doubling in the prices we find when we hit the go-juice dispensaries in just the past cuppla years it's because too many of us know the "why", and it riles us more than just a tad.

When an administratons intent to discourage oil based fuels is at the top of their stated agenda, in favor of even more outrageously priced energy production methods that require huge govt subsidy monies (read: TAX dollar funded) to even be able to come close to being competitively priced (and still fall waaay short of that goal!), the outcome we're seein at the pumps today is the result of that action, and we don't like it.

Maybe folks in the rest of the world are more gullible and think it's Ok to be so duped into having such ridiculous gas prices foisted upon them, and I guess that's Ok so long as you cats agree to it, but, don't try to coddle us into thinking similarly by saying we're whining about attempting to be similarly duped.

Seems all too obvious from here whom indeed has been duped into accepting the overlords policies for far too long already, just dudn seem like it's us tongue
sticking out smiley

smoking
smiley



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 30/03/2012 11:15AM by Mrkim.
fossil_digger Report This Comment
Date: March 30, 2012 01:35PM

check out some time the Texas Railroad Commission and their regulations on how much you can pump and how many new wells may be drilled, and tell me there's a problem with supply. there is no problem with supply, only problems with the bullshit regulations keeping supply down.
pulse Report This Comment
Date: March 30, 2012 01:51PM

I'm not a bleeding heart greenie, far from it in fact, but I actually DO believe we need to curb our fossil energy usage on a global scale. It's simple supply - a non-renewable resource MUST have an end point, or at least a point where it's simply too expensive to use. Nobody needs a 5L V8 engine in their car, most people really can get away with a small runaround, and I'm well aware that bigger cars make driving longer distances more comfortable but it's still far from a necessity.

On a global scale, we're simply using too much. Cheap energy has been the call of the last 100 years, and we're beginning to pay for it now.

Part of the reason fuel prices have jumped in the past couple of weeks is because of the actions described here: online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303863404577283532862521716.html

In a nutshell, SWIFT, the global inter-bank commerce agency, has de-listed all Iranian banks after a EU/US joint directive. This means they are unable to easily conduct foreign cash transactions with other banks. It also means foreign countries are unable to buy Iran's oil. Which means that Iran is selling less oil, and there's pressure on the other suppliers to make up the short fall. Supply, demand. Supply can't match global requirements right now, prices rise, people complain, it becomes the new normal.

Interestingly though, as I said our petrol prices have been above $1 a litre ($4 a gallon) for as long as I've been driving. In 2001, they were around $1.10 per litre, but the $AUD was worth $0.5 USD. Therefore, we were paying around $2.20 USD per litre for fuel, or ~$9 per gallon. These days, $1 AUD is worth anywhere from $0.95 - 1.10 USD, yet our fuel is $1.50 per litre right now. On an international scale it's gone down, yet to the pocket it's gone up.

The fuel excise on petrol in Australia is $0.38 per litre. GST is also charged on top at 10%. This means, out of $1.50 per litre, 15c is GST and 38c is tax, or 35.3% of the total cost goes to the government.

That leaves a hell of a lot going to foreign oil companies, and frankly I don't blame governments for trying to cut that. The trade deficits due to energy around the world are massive, and I really do think need to be reigned in.
quasi Report This Comment
Date: March 30, 2012 02:23PM

I agree with pulse. I love a fast car or strong truck as much as anyone but we've become spoiled and wasteful with a finite resource and need to move on more carefully and thoughtfully. A hundred years ago, when the city streets became polluted with tons upon tons of horseshit, we moved on to the the automobile as a cheap and clean alternative. Now it's time to realize that party will one day be over, it's not as cheap and clean as we thought, and we need to figure out where to go now.
fossil_digger Report This Comment
Date: March 30, 2012 03:06PM

solar is the only answer. electric is a joke
BlahX3 Report This Comment
Date: March 30, 2012 03:30PM

I agree. People making money off current energy systems aren't going to stop until they've milked it for all it's worth. Electric cars were being developed 100 years ago and we should be well beyond that phase by now.
GAK67 Report This Comment
Date: March 30, 2012 09:05PM

You're sounding desperate Mrkim - "it's all Obama's fault" seems to be your catchcry. There are many factors that influence the price of fuel at the pump and while I am sure your assertion of government interference has had an influence I am also sure it is a small portion of the doubling of the price that you claim.
BlahX3 Report This Comment
Date: March 30, 2012 10:51PM

This shit goes a lot further back in time than that.
fossil_digger Report This Comment
Date: March 31, 2012 12:51AM

if O'dipshit is serious about hurting the oil companies, he'd be drilling his ass off every chance he can get. flood the market and guess what happens. he doesn't want to because his wall street brethren are making a fortune controlling the market....pretty damn simple guys. (*facepalm*)
pulse Report This Comment
Date: March 31, 2012 01:23AM

And you seriously think any other president or government wouldn't do the same? smiling
smiley
BlahX3 Report This Comment
Date: March 31, 2012 01:41AM

1973. Nixon. Gas rationing. It goes WAY back before that, that's just the first one to pop in my mind. They are ALL guilty. They are ALL out of order! It astounds me that so many people think this is because of the left wing and that is because of the right wing. It's all the same bird of prey. Get a clue. They are all out to make money and have power. It has ALWAYS been this way. We Americans and other democracies like to think grand thoughts about our system founders intentions but it is always still the same bottom line. George Carlin was right. Elections are public opinion manipulation processes. Ameliorate the masses.
Mrkim Report This Comment
Date: March 31, 2012 02:04AM

Hey GAK, for someone 1/2 a world away it never ceases to amaze me how you continually portray yourself to be more in the know about US politics and society than we folks who live here (*facepalm*)

If you'll polish up on some of those seemingly rusty reading and comprehension skills then reread my previous statements you'd realise what I said was the current ADMINISTRATIONs policies and actions.

Though Obozo is def a part of it all, so is the EPA, Dept. of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, Obozos "Energy Czar" Steven Chu and a much longer list of bit players that all have worked diligently to stymie any new efforts to utilize oil reserves we have available in the continental US and in our offshore waters.

You cats can all try your best to claim these policies aren't impacting gas prices but the reality is quite simple, if you allow more drilling, hence produce more oil domestically, which also means some damned good payin jobs HERE instead of in the ME, generate more tax revenue (something all govts like to receive and squander) and then not having to purchase as much oil from people who basically are not friendly to us anyway, so yeah, all in all policies that prevent drilling here seem to have multifaceted impacts here, and more than just the price at the pump, though that too is undeniable.

I know full well the equation that relates to what gas costs at the pump is far more involved than just the above, those details are not lost on me I assure you.

And in response to Pulses last reply, yes indeed there have been people occupying the White House who were much friendlier to the US economy, and have acted differently. The imposter we have currently occupying the WH has done more to damage the US economy than any other in my lifetime and ... his policies will continue to impact the economy for some time to come even "if" the electorate wakes the fuck up and gets rid of this fraud (throwup)

smoking
smiley
BlahX3 Report This Comment
Date: March 31, 2012 02:27AM

Stock market is up too.
GAK67 Report This Comment
Date: March 31, 2012 06:05AM

Mrkim - it doesn't take a thorough knowledge of the intricacies of US politics to know that your previous comment was an over reaction. My argument that you seem to be blaming Obama for everything was only strengthened by your last post.

So encourage drilling for oil domestically is your solution. In other words you are wanting to pass the problem onto future generations by depleting a finite resource now. Good option - not. How would that bring down the price at the pump anyhow? If I was a producer of oil in the US I would be trying to maximize my profit, so why would I sell domestically at a reduced price when I could export for a higher price? It's not like there is a shortage of demand in places like Asia. Then there's the money that is wasted on finding the oil - drilling is an exploratory venture and it doesn't always work out, and as we know finance is so readily available during a global financial crisis. Or are you suggesting the government fund it and push the country further into debt?

As pulse said in his first post, welcome to the real world.
Mrkim Report This Comment
Date: March 31, 2012 06:10AM

Yep, so are food prices (about 30% here in the last 2-3yrs), the national debt is up an astounding $5,000,000,000,000 in just 3yrs, reported unemployment figures are still above what we were told it would be at this point (not to mention those stats are soooo misleading in telling the real employment story), the number of government entitlement/welfare/foodstamp recipients is up by the millions in the past 2-3 yrs, housing prices in most parts of the country are seeing 20-30% decreases in value (also in just the past 2-3yrs), interest rates are low, but just try getting a loan for anything besides a car and BTW 10-30% down is the new norm for home loans, gas is up over 100% in the same 2-3yrs .... Is it really so hard to see a pattern arising in all this?

Oh and BTW, the US is set to establish a new benchmark within the next week or so as corporate tax rates are set to become the highest in the world, what a GREAT accomplishment!

Anyone thinking any of this looks like progress quite obviously is using rose colored glasses so thick even lookin directly into the sun must look like a pinkish glow.

You might wanna keep those shades good and handy GAK, seems you damned sure can't see what is reality in these United States from where you are anyway clown

One last comment GAK, if my statements are the over reaction you claim them to be please feel free to post all the data you can find that refutes what I've said above .... best of luck in that endeavor choom drinking smiley

smoking
smiley



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 31/03/2012 06:26AM by Mrkim.
GAK67 Report This Comment
Date: March 31, 2012 11:08AM

You don't get it do you Mrkim? Please point out where I have doubted your facts? What I find farcical in your posts is the "It's all Obama's fault" mantra you're spewing out. Where are the facts that show that he (or the current administration - don't want you getting all pedantic again) are solely responsible. I don't mean patterns or conjecture. I mean concrete proof.

Obama isn't in control of Greece, Spain or Italy and those countries are completely bankrupt. Iceland has also gone through the same thing. It's a GLOBAL financial crisis. There is no reason that the USA would be immune, especially given the state the economy was in when Bush handed it over.

Now, just so you understand, I am not saying Obama is without fault in his policies and decisions, or that things haven't gotten worse since Bush, just that you'd be in the crap to a greater or lesser extent regardless of who won the last election.

Sadly I know that if Obama loses the next election and the economy continues to decline you'll still blame him for how things were when he handed it over to the new guy, and yet you don't acknowledge that Obama was handed a pile that was already beginning to stink.
jgoins Report This Comment
Date: March 31, 2012 11:44AM

Anyone ever consider it might just be the oil companies need to increase it bottom line which is the major cause of higher gas prices?
Mrkim Report This Comment
Date: March 31, 2012 01:46PM

Sorry GAK but I have neither the time nor inclination to pen the book of info that would be required to illuminate/educate you more clearly on how the imposter, illegal immigrant we have occupying the WH has taken an already dire set of financial and social circumstances here and made them indeed even worse. But ... if you really are interested in more info just read back through about the past 2 yrs of my posts where most of what you request has already made its way onto the pages here.

It's neither my purpose nor responsibility to supply you with a detailed primer on every detail that's lead to where we are today. It IS my intention however to continue to point out that YOU have such a diminished understanding of the intricasies of our political system and society in general that you are hardly in the position to intelligently comment on it.

Why you continue to press such delusional, mundee mornin armchair quarterbackish views and claim to hold some overarching capacity to have such an understanding truly amazes me (*facepalm*)

smoking
smiley
pro_junior Report This Comment
Date: March 31, 2012 03:47PM

tl/dr; gas is expensive and there aren't many other viable options...people are angry or passive about it depending on the country they live in.
BlahX3 Report This Comment
Date: March 31, 2012 03:55PM

And/or personality.
GAK67 Report This Comment
Date: March 31, 2012 05:47PM

Thanks Mrkim. You have confirmed what I already knew. I have read most of your posts over the last 2 years and there is nothing there that proves Obama, or the current administration, is solely responsible for the position the US economy is currently in. It is all conjecture, circumstantial, or at best only shows contributory evidence. Sure somebody else may have done a better job, but regardless of who was in the oval office the economy would still be in bad shape, but I know you would never agree with that because then you would have nobody to blame. And you have the gall to call me delusional. I do wonder where your hatred will be directed when Obama leaves office, whether that be this year or in 4 years time.

BTW, if you're so convinced he's an illegal immigrant/imposter file a suit in court and bring the evidence to light, or is that just a "delusional, mundee mornin armchair quarterbackish" view?
BlahX3 Report This Comment
Date: March 31, 2012 06:36PM

Choose your battles. Looks like futile ground to me.
Mrkim Report This Comment
Date: March 31, 2012 09:11PM

GAK, if you are so inclined to believe what you perceive then yes indeed, you are the one who's deluded.

There's little if and doubt in my mind that Obozo is an illegal president as his birthright alone (1 citizen parent and one British citizen parent), regardless of his birth certificate having been forged still excludes his right to hold the office of president.

I have supported every effort to get this issue before the courts yet the DOJ teamed with Obozos legal team has managed to insure the issue will never see the light of day so the truth can eventually be revealed.

Seems quite odd indeed that Russian newspapers are even reporting Obozos birth certificate is a fraud and have given radio time to discuss the matter with Sheriff Arpaio yet the press here in the US has clamped the lid down tight on this issue and has basically refused to report on it .... nah, couldn possibly be anything to such claims with foul fishy smellin crap like that afloat huh eye
rolling smiley

cool
smiley
fossil_digger Report This Comment
Date: March 31, 2012 10:11PM

check out Sheriff Joe Arpaio's latest proof of how the birth certificate is a forgery and how long it's going to take him to arrest the person who made the "document". it's coming real damn soon. Dancing Green Banana!
GAK67 Report This Comment
Date: April 01, 2012 09:49AM

So one country's media has raised the issue, and a country that has a recent history of animosity toward your own. I'm glad you're in a completely different jurisdiction to me as I'd hate to have you on a jury here if you believe such flimsy evidence.
Mrkim Report This Comment
Date: April 01, 2012 11:02AM

Thanks for solidly confirming once more that liberalism is def a mental disorder rock
on

smoking
smiley
jgoins Report This Comment
Date: April 01, 2012 11:27AM

If I am not mistaken Mr Kim blamed the president, congress and basically everyone in power for the fix we are in. He just believes like a lot of us that Odamna holds more responsibility because "the buck stops here".
BlahX3 Report This Comment
Date: April 01, 2012 08:03PM

Attempting to rationalize with closed minds is what I like to call a waste of time.
jgoins Report This Comment
Date: April 02, 2012 11:31AM

When you know something is true without a doubt is that a closed mind? If you know without a doubt that you cannot jump off a 1000 foot cliff without assistance and survive do you jump anyway to show you have an open mind?
fossil_digger Report This Comment
Date: April 02, 2012 12:48PM

the definition of Demo-chimp theocracy right there. ^^^
BlahX3 Report This Comment
Date: April 02, 2012 02:01PM

There is verifiable and logical evidence that if you were to jump off 1000' cliff like that you'd get hurt.
fossil_digger Report This Comment
Date: April 02, 2012 03:12PM

not likely with a parachute or wing suit, or the guarantee you couldn't fail no matter the risk
BlahX3 Report This Comment
Date: April 02, 2012 04:21PM

That is not the situation that was hypothesized; it was specified "without assistance."
pro_junior Report This Comment
Date: April 02, 2012 05:12PM

comprehensive reading...what a bitch it is spinning smiley sticking its tongue out
BlahX3 Report This Comment
Date: April 02, 2012 05:32PM

Evidently so.
fossil_digger Report This Comment
Date: April 02, 2012 10:16PM

do you guys read all JG's posts? (*facepalm*)
GAK67 Report This Comment
Date: April 02, 2012 10:38PM

Jumping off the cliff isn't the issue - it's surviving it that is the hard part.
fossil_digger Report This Comment
Date: April 02, 2012 11:11PM

not if you are a bird
GAK67 Report This Comment
Date: April 03, 2012 12:50AM

Although it could be argued that birds don't 'jump' off cliffs, and if they do they are not proficient flyers so survival is still an issue.
BlahX3 Report This Comment
Date: April 03, 2012 01:44AM

Here Fossil, put this on...



Now go test your theory.
fossil_digger Report This Comment
Date: April 03, 2012 01:50AM

sometimes they do jump and soar down and away. sometimes they spread their wings and let the wind pick them up. (*butt*)
jgoins Report This Comment
Date: April 03, 2012 09:19AM

How many humans are eagles?
fossil_digger Report This Comment
Date: April 03, 2012 01:00PM

i'm a Mockingbird. Dancing Green Banana!
jgoins Report This Comment
Date: April 04, 2012 11:18AM

I'm an old buzzard.
GAK67 Report This Comment
Date: April 04, 2012 09:08PM

I'm a Kiwi.
woberto Report This Comment
Date: April 04, 2012 09:45PM

I'm an archaeopteryx.
fossil_digger Report This Comment
Date: April 04, 2012 10:38PM

if you are a Kiwi, you're gonna go splat. monty
smiles
GAK67 Report This Comment
Date: April 05, 2012 01:57AM

Kiwi's are smart enough to not jump off cliffs unaided.
woberto Report This Comment
Date: April 05, 2012 02:14AM

Kiwis are delicious!
fossil_digger Report This Comment
Date: April 05, 2012 02:31AM

i can't stand all the seeds and the fuzzy outside. (throwup)
GAK67 Report This Comment
Date: April 05, 2012 04:56AM

Real kiwi (Maori words don't pluralise with an 's') apparently were delicious, which is why they are endangered. I've never tried one though.

I don't like what you guys know as a kiwi (what we call a kiwifruit).
Jeremy Report This Comment
Date: April 05, 2012 06:01AM

"The mutha ucka runs a racist uckin' grocery. The mutha ucka won't sell an apple to a Kiwi. The shi- fight's gonna get vicious and malicious. Cut the cra-. I need my red delicious."
jgoins Report This Comment
Date: April 05, 2012 10:51AM

If you are going to use the language then don't leave off letters you can say fuck, shit and crap.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/04/2012 10:51AM by jgoins.
woberto Report This Comment
Date: April 05, 2012 11:41AM

That would be lyrics from Flight Of The Conchords, a great NZ export.
pro_junior Report This Comment
Date: April 05, 2012 03:18PM

When I'm down to my socks it's time for business
That's why they're called business socks, oooh
fossil_digger Report This Comment
Date: April 05, 2012 05:00PM

little miss muffet sat on a tuffet eating her curds and (don't know spelling)
along came a spider and sat down beside her
and said "WHAT'S IN THE BOWL BITCH?!"

OH!
jgoins Report This Comment
Date: April 06, 2012 10:21AM

Whey