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R1DynaSquid
| | Posted on Saturday, September 25, 2004 - 02:08 pm: | 
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Not too late to keep it positive tho. |
M2me
| | Posted on Sunday, September 26, 2004 - 12:20 am: |
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OK, I'll keep it positive.
Greg, how did a guy like you end up with such a good looking grandson?
I know that's a little negative but it's mostly positive! 
Thanks for the pictures! It is exciting to be a battleground state. Minnesota is also a battleground state which has been kind of weird since we are usually a Democratic lock. Gore won MN in 2000 but just barely. The MN polls are basically tied right now. It's going to be an interesting election. |
Rocketsprink
| | Posted on Sunday, September 26, 2004 - 10:19 am: |
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Actually, Bruce SALLY we need to figure out where Blake leaves off and you begin because you are soooooooooooo far up his  it's hard to tell. And once again, Blake shows the true Republican Moto " it's ok to have an opinion, as long as it's the same as mine!". Talk about flip-flop, when are you going to grow a set and race Dyna on anything other than your home track!? " Attention customers. Welcome to Home Depot. We are having a sale on Balls, isle 3." Maybe you should stop there!? I thought that was the point of all of the Wars this Country has fought. To have freedoms, Including the freedom of speech?! It's my opinion. I really don't care if you agree or not. Hey, on a positive note, they did keep that Terrorist Cat Stevens out! |
Brucelee
| | Posted on Sunday, September 26, 2004 - 10:29 am: |
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Rocketsprink
Here are the FACTS on gas prices. I know you hate facts. You MAY notice that we are not trying to stifle free speech but stick to facts when possible.
BTW-I am fine about keeping Mr. Islam out of the US. He is linked to terrorist groups, even if he was a singer way back when.
Drivers Get a Break on Gas Prices
Cost at Pump Has Fallen Even as Oil Reaches
For $50 a Barrel, but Respite Isn't Likely to Last
By THADDEUS HERRICK
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
August 18, 2004; Page D1
Oil prices have been surging, but so far drivers are being spared the brunt of it.
At the pumps, gas averaged $2.07 a gallon as recently as May 24, according to the Department of Energy's Energy Information Agency. At the time, oil was trading for around $42 a barrel.
Now, with crude-oil prices threatening to reach $50, gas prices have stabilized or even come down in many states. The average price per gallon for regular unleaded fuel is now $1.88, though prices vary widely around the country.
Californians pay an average of $2.09 a gallon for regular fuel, according to an American Automobile Association survey. That would be a bargain for Hawaiians, who pay $2.35 for that same gallon. Meanwhile, residents of Oklahoma and Georgia shell out an average of only $1.75 for a gallon of regular.
Unfortunately for Hummer enthusiasts and resolute non-car-poolers, this situation isn't likely to last. What has been keeping prices low is that the summer crunch for gas wasn't as severe as expected because Americans appear to have driven less. After growing by an astounding 3% for the first four months of the year, demand has declined to normal levels. That also helped keep gasoline inventories healthy.
The trouble is that even with this cushion, growing world consumption of oil and tight supplies are likely to keep the price of gasoline high for the months to come. Analysts say higher costs will be passed along to consumers in the coming weeks and see the average price of gas surging above $2 again.
"These issues are not going to go away," says Dave Costello, an economist with Energy Information Administration, which forecasts that crude oil will sell for close to $40 a barrel through 2005. Oil prices make up about half the cost of every gallon of gas, so high costs eventually get passed along to consumers. Indeed, prices for gasoline on the Gulf Coast spot market shot up 16% last Friday from a week earlier, a sign that retail prices won't be long behind. Heating oil may offer a reprieve: So far analysts say demand for it should be lower than last year.
The variations in gas prices around the country result from differences in regulations and in market forces. California, for instance, is one of the nation's tightest gasoline markets, lacking the same access to Gulf Coast refineries that help keep prices steadier in other parts of the nation. Nor do those refiners produce California's required low emission blend of fuel.
FILLING UP THE TANK
The average price of a gallon of regular-grade gasoline is highest in:
Hawaii $2.35
Alaska $2.09
California $2.09
New York $2.04
The same gallon of regular gas is least expensive in:
Oklahoma $1.75
Georgia $1.75
Texas $1.77
Missouri $1.78
Source: AAA
Similarly, when New York and Connecticut switched this year from an additive known as MTBE to ethanol-blended gasoline, the two states left themselves vulnerable to refinery outages, because nearby states that don't make the ethanol blend are powerless to help out. And the Midwest continues to struggle every year with the potential for price spikes because in times of tight supply they have to rely on emergency imports from the Gulf Coast or even Canada or Europe.
For consumers, the likelihood of higher gas prices means fuel economy will continue to grow in importance. If you drive 15,000 miles a year, you'll pay $1,800 annually to fuel up a four-wheel-drive Ford Explorer sport-utility vehicle with an eight-cylinder engine that averages 16 miles to the gallon. That's according to a U.S. government estimate based on $1.92-a-gallon gas.
By driving a four-cylinder Toyota Camry -- by no measure a small car -- averaging 26 miles per gallon, you can slash that fuel bill to about $1,100. And if you go a step further and buy a Toyota Prius, which runs on a gas-and-electric hybrid engine and gets 55 miles to the gallon, you'll pay just $524 a year at the pump.
Such an investment could pay off for years to come. In the short term, analysts say a gasoline price spike may be small and short lived. But there will be longer-term pressure keeping prices high.
The reason: In an oil-thirsty world, refiners are finding it increasingly difficult to get the oil they need to make gas and other petroleum products. Presently, the little crude oil that is available is coming from the Persian Gulf, which has higher sulfur content than many U.S. refineries can process.
The more troubling problem is that there aren't enough refiners. The number of U.S. plants has declined by about 50% since 1980, as refiners closed or sold off their plants because of weak profit margins. Meanwhile, there hasn't been a new refinery built in the U.S. for close to 30 years due to growing regulation and community opposition.
U.S. refiners have made up the gap by boosting output at existing plants and importing more gas, increasingly from Europe. But gas imports, which now account for about 10% of U.S. supply, have been spotty. Imports dropped significantly earlier this year when federal rules mandating gasoline with lower sulfur content took effect, though they have rebounded in recent weeks.
Even while gasoline demand has dropped in the U.S., demand for crude oil continues to soar. The Paris-based International Energy Agency says world demand grew 1.7 million barrels a day in 2003 and expects it to grow another 2.5 million barrels a day this year.
Add to that scenario potential disruptions from key suppliers such as Venezuela and Russia, and crude oil could easily hit $50 a barrel within days, a price refiners would likely pass on to drivers. |
R1DynaSquid
| | Posted on Sunday, September 26, 2004 - 11:15 am: |
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Bruce..I didnt bother reading all of that, but gas prices here have jumped up 15 cents a gallon in the last 2 days.
And exactly how is Cat stevens..ala Mr Islam linked to terrorists?? Because he changed his name 20+ years ago?? Where is there any proof of this so called link? |
Coolice
| | Posted on Sunday, September 26, 2004 - 11:19 am: |
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Good job Brucelee! That's why WE ride BUELL motorcycles!!! 50 mpg and more!!! |
Brucelee
| | Posted on Sunday, September 26, 2004 - 11:23 am: |
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Dyna,
The gist of the article is that there are intense supply and demand issues in the world oil markets which move gas prices, not the actions of GWB as RS stated above. The whole machinery is pretty complex but underneath it all, demand is driving prices pretty hard right now.
Re: The former Cat Stevens, apparently he has funded a number of groups within Islam that intelligence sources believe are terrorist in nature.
Beyond that, I don't have any data but could Google it if need be. There was a long article written about him in Rolling Stone I think that detailed the concerns about him and his rebuttal. |
BadS1
| | Posted on Sunday, September 26, 2004 - 11:41 am: |
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Bruce we see this increase every year when the refineries change over from Summer to Winter blends and vise versa.The price will drop when they catch up with the switch over. |
Daves
| | Posted on Sunday, September 26, 2004 - 12:00 pm: |
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Yeah the high gas prices suck but what are you gonna do?
I bought my Expedition before I knew I'd be working 300 miles away from my wife,dogs and home. Would it be smart for me to trade for a little econo box? Yep. Am I going to do it? No way! I don't like little cars.
I actually use my SUV as, in the beginning, they were meant to be used before all the soccer moms that never go offroad or tow anything started driving them.
I pull the shop trailer to the trackdays,deliver bikes to customers, go pick up broken down bikes and it takes me to my favorite hunting grounds. It tows whatever I need to tow,goes where I need it to go(4x4) and has room for both my dogs when I go bird hunting. I can haul my hunting partners in it and all our gear. I LOVE it.
Plus, it has that great big back window for my Buell sticker!
My Dodge handles the heavy duty hunting chores, driving across fields, thru 3 feet of snow,thru creek beds, goes down the overgrown lanes(or even places where there are no lanes) and I don't have to worry about the scratches, hauls dead deer in the bed. I love it too.
If I want good gas mileage, I take one of the bikes.
Dave |
R1DynaSquid
| | Posted on Sunday, September 26, 2004 - 12:06 pm: |
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Re: The former Cat Stevens, apparently he has funded a number of groups within Islam that intelligence sources believe are terrorist in nature
Havent read of any proof of this anywhere. These wouldnt by any chance be the same intelligence sources who also claimed Iraq was loaded with WMD??
And why did they wait until the plane was halfway here before deciding he was a terrorist? I thought the idea was to stop folks before they got on board the plane? |
R1DynaSquid
| | Posted on Sunday, September 26, 2004 - 12:29 pm: |
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From the Online version of Time magazine
"You Say Yusuf, I Say Youssouf...
The Cat Stevens incident has its origins in a spelling mistake
By SALLY B. DONNELLY
Saturday, Sep. 25, 2004
The Yusuf Islam incident earlier this week, in which the former Cat Stevens was denied entry into the U.S. when federal officials determined he was on the government's "no-fly" antiterror list, started with a simple spelling error. According to aviation sources with access to the list, there is no Yusuf Islam on the no-fly registry, though there is a "Youssouf Islam." The incorrect name was added to the register this summer, but because Islam's name is spelled "Yusuf" on his British passport, he was allowed to board a plane in London bound for the U.S. The Transportation Safety Administration alleges that Islam has links to terrorist groups, which he has denied; British foreign minister Jack Straw said the TSA action "should never have been taken."
The incident points up some of the real problems facing security personnel as they try to enforce the "no-fly" list. One issue is spelling; many foreign names have several different transliterations into English. And the sheer size of the list is daunting; thousands of names have been added in the last couple months, says one government official, bringing the total up to more than 19,000 names to look out for. That makes it difficult for airlines and government agencies to check all passengers. Within the past six months, several people on the no fly list have been mistakenly allowed to fly.
Still, the TSA is learning. It recently acknowledged that a Federal Air Marshall, unable to fly for weeks when his name was mistakenly put on the "no-fly" list, was in fact not a threat, and removed his name from the list." |
Biknut
| | Posted on Sunday, September 26, 2004 - 01:01 pm: |
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i never liked any of the his songs anyway. as far as i'm concerned he can spend the rest of his life in asscrackastan.
brucelee, you are well informed. rock on dude. |
BadS1
| | Posted on Sunday, September 26, 2004 - 01:02 pm: |
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Yeah you should hear how well informed he is about the human heart and the Atkin's diet. |
Brucelee
| | Posted on Sunday, September 26, 2004 - 01:10 pm: |
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"Good job Brucelee! That's why WE ride BUELL motorcycles!!! 50 mpg and more"
Yes, at $ 2.47 a gallon, I feel pretty smart filling my Buell. I also have a 4 cylinger BMW that gets 33 on the highway so that helps too!
Imagine filling up that Hummer 2?
OUCH!!!!!!! |
Brucelee
| | Posted on Sunday, September 26, 2004 - 01:11 pm: |
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"Yeah you should hear how well informed he is about the human heart and the Atkin's diet."
I guess you will have to say more about this, as I have no idea what you are talking about.
Or, don't, it is fine with me. |
Biknut
| | Posted on Sunday, September 26, 2004 - 01:18 pm: |
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atkin's diet, wow you guys are into performance. every 7 lb.s you loose is = to 1 hp. i'm trying to gain 2 more hp right now. |
Cj_xb
| | Posted on Sunday, September 26, 2004 - 01:26 pm: |
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Well this thread sure has changed from it's original intent, why does everything have to bleed over ??!!
CJ  |
Mr_grumpy
| | Posted on Sunday, September 26, 2004 - 03:29 pm: |
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Please, enough bleating about gas prices, when it gets up around $5 a gallon as it is here, come back & talk to me, till then thank your lucky stars and shut the f up about it! |
Rocketsprink
| | Posted on Sunday, September 26, 2004 - 07:12 pm: |
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That's why I live in the U.S.A. I have the right NOT to shut the F-up about it. Now, take your own advice. |
Brucelee
| | Posted on Sunday, September 26, 2004 - 07:27 pm: |
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Well RS, I assume you have no substantive rebuttal on the causation of fluctuating gas prices or on carbohydrates and their relationship to heart disease.
So, reverting to form, you simply show your true colors!
Nice job! |
Sandblast
| | Posted on Sunday, September 26, 2004 - 07:34 pm: |
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One pound equals one Horsepower? That make my M2 like 7 HP up on all you guys that are 200 lbs. YES! |
R1DynaSquid
| | Posted on Sunday, September 26, 2004 - 07:34 pm: |
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OH OH...Bruce just opened up that can of worms again regarding the atkins diet.
Im sure Naughty will be along before long. Wonder if a nurse with 14 years experience in the cardiac care area would know a thing or 3 about this?? |
BadS1
| | Posted on Sunday, September 26, 2004 - 08:03 pm: |
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Come on!!!!They (Arab's) just don't want Bush back in office,a war happy President to them.So if the barrel prices goe's up then there hurting him come election time. |
Rocketsprink
| | Posted on Monday, September 27, 2004 - 04:40 pm: |
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Did Bruce get a ' suspended account notice" too?
Guess ya can't have fun anymore. |
Brucelee
| | Posted on Monday, September 27, 2004 - 04:44 pm: |
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"OH OH...Bruce just opened up that can of worms again regarding the atkins diet"
It wasn't me, I swear it wasn't! |
Naughtynurse
| | Posted on Monday, September 27, 2004 - 05:07 pm: |
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I remember you BruceLee oh How I remember you calling me the names |
Bomber
| | Posted on Monday, September 27, 2004 - 05:33 pm: |
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it's always cool when a serving president comes to town, weather you voted for him or not -- I feel for the LEOs, though -- all that OT and trouble . . . .
topic creep -- wow, ain't you guys getting enough love over on the war and politics thread? |
Cj_xb
| | Posted on Monday, September 27, 2004 - 05:58 pm: |
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Apparently they're not !!!
CJ |
Naughtynurse
| | Posted on Monday, September 27, 2004 - 06:10 pm: |
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!! |
R1DynaSquid
| | Posted on Monday, September 27, 2004 - 06:40 pm: |
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Bomber...exactly. Even though im not a fan of Bush's..or Kerrys for that matter, the fact he came through town & we were able to get a glimpse of him was pretty cool. |
Bomber
| | Posted on Tuesday, September 28, 2004 - 09:29 am: |
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Yep -- it ain't political, and it ain't religious, so it's tough to argue about, but I"m sure some will find a way!
I still remember seeing Kennedy when he was campaigning . . . .stuff like that stays with ya |
Mr_grumpy
| | Posted on Tuesday, September 28, 2004 - 01:58 pm: |
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RS I don't follow your logic but it's a free country here too. |
Gschuette
| | Posted on Tuesday, September 28, 2004 - 07:56 pm: |
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Your right but uh um well you uh live in France. |
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