Comments on: Pray-in for gas prices http://pandagon.blogsome.com/2008/04/27/pray-in-for-gas-prices/ Just another WordPress weblog Mon, 09 Nov 2009 12:38:39 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=1.5.1-alpha by: clew http://pandagon.blogsome.com/2008/04/27/pray-in-for-gas-prices/#comment-513292 Sat, 03 May 2008 22:01:39 +0100 http://pandagon.blogsome.com/2008/04/27/pray-in-for-gas-prices/#comment-513292 RobW: And yet, once all that water has been pumped there, Vegas is probably capable of growing a surprising amount of food as the water drains away. There were carrot farms in the Mojave in the 1950s until the scant groundwater was consumed. Food production isn't likely to balance the energy costs of getting water there, but it could moderate it a lot. RobW:

And yet, once all that water has been pumped there, Vegas is
probably capable of growing a surprising amount of food as the
water drains away. There were carrot farms in the Mojave in the
1950s until the scant groundwater was consumed.

Food production isn’t likely to balance the energy costs of getting
water there, but it could moderate it a lot.

]]> by: squashed http://pandagon.blogsome.com/2008/04/27/pray-in-for-gas-prices/#comment-512348 Tue, 29 Apr 2008 16:41:35 +0100 http://pandagon.blogsome.com/2008/04/27/pray-in-for-gas-prices/#comment-512348 FT: Oil could go to $200 a barrel: Opec’s president on Monday warned oil prices could hit $200 a barrel and there would be little the cartel could do to help. The comments made by Chakib Khelil, Algeria’s energy minister, came as oil prices hit a historic peak close to $120 a barrel, putting further pressure on global economies. His remarks suggest Algeria wants Opec to continue to resist calls by US and European leaders for the cartel to pump more oil to help ease prices. But Mr Khelil blamed record oil prices on the weak dollar and global political insecurity. [...] Some US senators have pinned the blame for high oil prices directly on Opec and Saudi Arabia, its largest and most powerful member. In a letter to President George W. Bush last week, they said Riyadh had cut its oil production by about 2m barrels a day over the past three years, even though oil prices had continued to rise. http://www.warandpiece.com/blogdirs/007325.html FT: Oil could go to $200 a barrel:

Opec’s president on Monday warned oil prices could hit $200 a barrel and there would be little the cartel could do to help.

The comments made by Chakib Khelil, Algeria’s energy minister, came as oil prices hit a historic peak close to $120 a barrel, putting further pressure on global economies.

His remarks suggest Algeria wants Opec to continue to resist calls by US and European leaders for the cartel to pump more oil to help ease prices. But Mr Khelil blamed record oil prices on the weak dollar and global political insecurity. […]

Some US senators have pinned the blame for high oil prices directly on Opec and Saudi Arabia, its largest and most powerful member.

In a letter to President George W. Bush last week, they said Riyadh had cut its oil production by about 2m barrels a day over the past three years, even though oil prices had continued to rise.

http://www.warandpiece.com/blogdirs/007325.html

]]> by: RobW http://pandagon.blogsome.com/2008/04/27/pray-in-for-gas-prices/#comment-512327 Tue, 29 Apr 2008 15:35:40 +0100 http://pandagon.blogsome.com/2008/04/27/pray-in-for-gas-prices/#comment-512327 I'm pretty sure the amount of locally produced food consumed in my city is zero. I'm trying and failing to imagine 2 million Las Vegans living on sagebrush, rattlesnake, and sand. Oh well, at least they're all in season year-round. I’m pretty sure the amount of locally produced food consumed in my city is zero. I’m trying and failing to imagine 2 million Las Vegans living on sagebrush, rattlesnake, and sand. Oh well, at least they’re all in season year-round.

]]> by: Grammar RWA http://pandagon.blogsome.com/2008/04/27/pray-in-for-gas-prices/#comment-512263 Tue, 29 Apr 2008 12:19:10 +0100 http://pandagon.blogsome.com/2008/04/27/pray-in-for-gas-prices/#comment-512263 Paying for gas is pretty damn mundane too. Many (most?) people still have to do it, though. God is an Imaginary Friend, and sometimes we have to ask our friends for a few bucks until the next paycheck. I am really surprised that theists would mock each other for their taste in prayers. I guess I shouldn't be surprised, given <a href="http://scienceblogs.com/evolvingthoughts/2008/04/the_different_epistemologies_o.php" rel="nofollow">the inherently sectarian and competitive nature of religion.</a> All the faux ecumenicism drops away when it's time to point and laugh, doesn't it? This certainly puts the lie to "all faiths are equally valid." Paying for gas is pretty damn mundane too. Many (most?) people still have to do it, though. God is an Imaginary Friend, and sometimes we have to ask our friends for a few bucks until the next paycheck. I am really surprised that theists would mock each other for their taste in prayers. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, given the inherently sectarian and competitive nature of religion. All the faux ecumenicism drops away when it’s time to point and laugh, doesn’t it? This certainly puts the lie to “all faiths are equally valid.”

]]> by: inge http://pandagon.blogsome.com/2008/04/27/pray-in-for-gas-prices/#comment-512188 Tue, 29 Apr 2008 07:01:21 +0100 http://pandagon.blogsome.com/2008/04/27/pray-in-for-gas-prices/#comment-512188 (Sorry if this posts double) Hector B., re: seasonal food: Just because you cannot do it 100% is not reason not to do it at all. I'd hate to have no bananas or oranges ever (they do not grow local, no matter the season), but I'd wait for early summer for strawberries from the (metaphorical) instead of buying tasteless and overprices ones from Spain in February. Grammar RWA: Maybe praying for lower gas prices just is so damn <i>mundane</i>. squashed, re: Gas prices, internationally: You need to consider here that the dollar is as low as it ever was against stable European currencies. The current gas price at the next station would convert to USD 8.52 per gallon today -- one year ago it would have been 7.27, eighteen months ago 6.81 (all taxes included). It's hard to do a good comparision under those circumstances. (Sorry if this posts double)

Hector B., re: seasonal food: Just because you cannot do it 100% is not reason not to do it at all. I’d hate to have no bananas or oranges ever (they do not grow local, no matter the season), but I’d wait for early summer for strawberries from the (metaphorical) instead of buying tasteless and overprices ones from Spain in February.

Grammar RWA: Maybe praying for lower gas prices just is so damn mundane.

squashed, re: Gas prices, internationally: You need to consider here that the dollar is as low as it ever was against stable European currencies. The current gas price at the next station would convert to USD 8.52 per gallon today — one year ago it would have been 7.27, eighteen months ago 6.81 (all taxes included). It’s hard to do a good comparision under those circumstances.

]]> by: inge http://pandagon.blogsome.com/2008/04/27/pray-in-for-gas-prices/#comment-512187 Tue, 29 Apr 2008 07:00:31 +0100 http://pandagon.blogsome.com/2008/04/27/pray-in-for-gas-prices/#comment-512187 Hector B., re: seasonal food: Just because you cannot do it 100% is not reason not to do it at all. I'd hate to have no bananas or oranges ever (they do not grow local, no matter the season), but I'd wait for early summer for strawberries from the (metaphorical) instead of buying tasteless and overprices ones from Spain in February. Grammar RWA: Maybe praying for lower gas prices just is so damn <i>mundane</i>. squashed, re: Gas prices, internationally: You need to consider here that the dollar is as low as it ever was against stable European currencies. The current gas price at the next station would convert to USD 8.52 per gallon today -- one year ago it would have been 7.27, eighteen months ago 6.81 (all taxes included). It's hard to do a good comparision under those circumstances. Hector B., re: seasonal food: Just because you cannot do it 100% is not reason not to do it at all. I’d hate to have no bananas or oranges ever (they do not grow local, no matter the season), but I’d wait for early summer for strawberries from the (metaphorical) instead of buying tasteless and overprices ones from Spain in February.

Grammar RWA: Maybe praying for lower gas prices just is so damn mundane.

squashed, re: Gas prices, internationally: You need to consider here that the dollar is as low as it ever was against stable European currencies. The current gas price at the next station would convert to USD 8.52 per gallon today — one year ago it would have been 7.27, eighteen months ago 6.81 (all taxes included). It’s hard to do a good comparision under those circumstances.

]]> by: squashed http://pandagon.blogsome.com/2008/04/27/pray-in-for-gas-prices/#comment-512167 Mon, 28 Apr 2008 21:52:21 +0100 http://pandagon.blogsome.com/2008/04/27/pray-in-for-gas-prices/#comment-512167 Gasoline to cost $10 a gallon in US soon? The New York Sun reports that the price of gasoline in the US will soon be in line with what Europeans pay. Translating this price into dollars and cents at the gas pump, one of our forecasters, the chairman of Houston-based Dune Energy, Alan Gaines, sees gas rising to $7-$8 a gallon. The other, a commodities tracker at Weiss Research in Jupiter, Fla., Sean Brodrick, projects a range of $8 to $10 a gallon. While $7-$10 a gallon would be ground-breaking in America, these prices would not be trendsetting internationally. For example, European drivers are already shelling out $9 a gallon (which includes a $2-a-gallon tax). http://www.boingboing.net/2008/04/28/gasoline-to-cost-10.html Gasoline to cost $10 a gallon in US soon?

The New York Sun reports that the price of gasoline in the US will soon be in line with what Europeans pay.

Translating this price into dollars and cents at the gas pump, one of our forecasters, the chairman of Houston-based Dune Energy, Alan Gaines, sees gas rising to $7-$8 a gallon. The other, a commodities tracker at Weiss Research in Jupiter, Fla., Sean Brodrick, projects a range of $8 to $10 a gallon.

While $7-$10 a gallon would be ground-breaking in America, these prices would not be trendsetting internationally. For example, European drivers are already shelling out $9 a gallon (which includes a $2-a-gallon tax).

http://www.boingboing.net/2008/04/28/gasoline-to-cost-10.html

]]> by: tzs http://pandagon.blogsome.com/2008/04/27/pray-in-for-gas-prices/#comment-512144 Mon, 28 Apr 2008 19:58:58 +0100 http://pandagon.blogsome.com/2008/04/27/pray-in-for-gas-prices/#comment-512144 Given how Jehovah acts in the Old Testament, the last thing I think a Christian would want to do is prayer. That's some psychotic dude you're asking to pay attention to you..... Given how Jehovah acts in the Old Testament, the last thing I think a Christian would want to do is prayer. That’s some psychotic dude you’re asking to pay attention to you…..

]]> by: Bitter Scribe http://pandagon.blogsome.com/2008/04/27/pray-in-for-gas-prices/#comment-512142 Mon, 28 Apr 2008 19:30:32 +0100 http://pandagon.blogsome.com/2008/04/27/pray-in-for-gas-prices/#comment-512142 And religious people wonder why sometimes we atheists can't take them seriously. And religious people wonder why sometimes we atheists can’t take them seriously.

]]> by: the opoponax http://pandagon.blogsome.com/2008/04/27/pray-in-for-gas-prices/#comment-512086 Mon, 28 Apr 2008 15:11:39 +0100 http://pandagon.blogsome.com/2008/04/27/pray-in-for-gas-prices/#comment-512086 <i>And I’m betting if you count all the people out there praying for cheap gas, most of them need the money.</i> Yeah, that's the grey area. On the one hand, it's easy to feel superior and think "boo hoo, stupid fundies just want to fill up their hummers while people in Haiti are rioting over food!" On the other, we're getting to a point now where prices (for everything) are going up, and even relatively affluent Americans are starting to feel the squeeze. It's easy to feel superior when you live in a city where you don't drive and get most of your food from unorthodox sources where prices aren't as connected to oil because they aren't as packaged and don't travel as far. Those are not options for a lot of suburban and exurban Americans. And I’m betting if you count all the people out there praying for cheap gas, most of them need the money.

Yeah, that’s the grey area. On the one hand, it’s easy to feel superior and think “boo hoo, stupid fundies just want to fill up their hummers while people in Haiti are rioting over food!” On the other, we’re getting to a point now where prices (for everything) are going up, and even relatively affluent Americans are starting to feel the squeeze.

It’s easy to feel superior when you live in a city where you don’t drive and get most of your food from unorthodox sources where prices aren’t as connected to oil because they aren’t as packaged and don’t travel as far. Those are not options for a lot of suburban and exurban Americans.

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