http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/SavingandDebt/SaveonaCar/WhatIfGasCost10DollarsAGallon.aspx

Nothing totally revoluationary, but still a good read. I'm not pasting the whole article, lots of words.

5/21/2008 1:23:17 PM

What if no one were fat?
http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Insurance/Advice/WhatIfNoOneWereFat.aspx

5/21/2008 1:32:14 PM

Well Sweetheart, for your sake I hope it'll be all peaches and cream.

But I'm afraid the end time is near.

The cataclysmic apocalypse referred to in the scriptures of every holy book known to mankind.

It will be an era fraught with boundless greed and corruption where global monetary systems disintergrate, leaving brother to kill brother for a grain of overcooked rice.

The nations of the civilized world will collapse under the oppressive
weight of parasitic political conspiracies, which remove all hope and
optimism from their once faithful citizens.

Around the globe, generations of polluters will be punished for their
sins, unshielded by the ozone layer they have successfully depleted,
left to bake in the searing naked rays of light.

Wholesale assassinations serve to destabilize every remaining government,
leaving the starving and wicked to fend for themselves.

Bloodthirsty renegade cyborgs created by tax-dodging corporations
wreak havoc.

Pissed off androids, tired of being slaves to a godless
and gutless system where the rich get richer and the poor get fucked
over and out, unleash total worldwide destruction by means of nuclear
holocaust, annihilating the terrified masses, leaving in its torturous
wake nothing but vicious, cannibalistic, mutated, radiated, and
horribly disfigured hoards of satanic killers bent on revenge.

but against who? There are so few left alive.

Starvation reigns supreme, forcing unlucky survivors to eat anything and anyone in their path.

Massive earthquakes crack the planet's crust like a hallow eggshell
causing unending volcanic eruptions.

The creatures of the seven seas,unable to escape to certain death upon land, boil in their liquid
prison.

Disease encircles the earth...plagues and viruses with no
known cause or cure, laying waste to whatever draws breath.

And human kind, having proven itself to be nothing more than a race
of ruthless scavengers fall victim to merciless attack at the hands
of interplanetary alien tribes who seek to conquer our charred remains.

This is Extinction Level Event: The Final World Front.

and there is only one....

year...

left.

[Edited on May 21, 2008 at 1:41 PM. Reason : x]

5/21/2008 1:33:02 PM

neat.

i'd love to see cars in cities replaced by bikes. my fat ass might stay in shape better and save on gas. i'd also be a lot more likely to ride around on a bike if they made a full lane on every road a bike lane which could serve bikes, scooters, and even small motorcycles.

5/21/2008 1:34:09 PM

I see you are riding the failboat today!

Quote :

" i'd love to see cars in cities replaced by bikes. my fat ass might stay in shape better and save on gas. i'd also be a lot more likely to ride around on a bike if they made a full lane on every road a bike lane which could serve bikes, scooters, and even small motorcycles."

Even a 50cc scooter can go up to 35+ mph. My 250cc motorcycle can reach triple digits, and has a 0-60 better than about 95% of cars on the road.

If they had a bicycle/scooter lane and then a motorcycle lane without a speed limit I'd be all over that.

In many cities motorcycles can use the carpool lane. I've never been in one on the bike during rush hour but it's got to be fun driving past all the parked cars.

5/21/2008 1:58:26 PM

I don't care if a 50cc scooter goes 35+, no way I'm riding in the same lane as cars. I live 10 miles from work and the speed limit is 40 the whole way. I have an 07 Ruckus that has about 200 miles on it, I'd love to take it to work every day but I'd get ran off the road.

5/21/2008 2:07:52 PM

Maybe I just have more balls?

I've topped out a 50cc on a 40mph divided road before. Just can't stand to own one because the automatic sucks any fun and personality out of them.

5/21/2008 2:15:36 PM

from the article on obesity above ^^^

Quote :

"Plus-sized clothing costs 10% to 15% more, so shoppers would save $10 billion on shirts, pants and dresses. And clothes might fit better too. Cynthia Istook, an associate professor in textile apparel at North Carolina State University, says the economies of making fewer sizes would be tremendous. Clothing makers could then afford to offer more variety in hip and bust sizes, rather than asking every woman to squeeze into an hourglass shape."

5/21/2008 2:27:08 PM

Quote :

"Plus-sized clothing costs 10% to 15% more, so shoppers would save $10 billion on shirts, pants and dresses. And clothes might fit better too. Cynthia Istook, an associate professor in textile apparel at North Carolina State University, says the economies of making fewer sizes would be tremendous. Clothing makers could then afford to offer more variety in hip and bust sizes, rather than asking every woman to squeeze into an hourglass shape."

but if all women could fit off-the-rack sizes, tailors would go out of business!

5/21/2008 2:31:06 PM

^^^Maybe you don't weigh 230 lbs. Oh wait, a girl on TWW, you probably do...

[Edited on May 21, 2008 at 2:33 PM. Reason : a]

5/21/2008 2:32:46 PM

4000 rounds of ammo and hundreds of rounds in consumables for reloading.

5/21/2008 2:37:49 PM

i wish gas were 15 dollars a gallon

[Edited on May 21, 2008 at 2:40 PM. Reason : so i could laugh at others misfortune cause i'm a psychopath]

5/21/2008 2:39:32 PM

gas already costs $10/gal in England. they seem to be doing alright. of course their country is the size of North Carolina so it's not like they have far to drive.

5/21/2008 2:44:56 PM

I wish the world ran out of oil tomorrow

5/21/2008 2:46:20 PM

I wish we could make a car that ran on the tears of baby seals.

5/21/2008 3:12:42 PM

^ That would be great. It's an eco-friendly renewable resource.

5/21/2008 3:17:15 PM

the process of harvesting the tears though....

they're already in an uproar about milking cows

how would we get the seals to cry anyways? show scary pictures of polar bears?

5/21/2008 9:37:21 PM

Two words: Killer whales.

5/21/2008 9:38:25 PM

I'd fucking ride my bike. You'd see me on 540 every morning

5/21/2008 10:14:54 PM

What if gas cost $10/gallon?

My car would be worth $0.35 and a pack of skittles. I'd have a hard time selling it at these prices, it would be totally worthless at 3x what we're paying now... combined 17 MPG FTL.

5/22/2008 10:58:58 AM

i hope it gets to $10/gallon soon...oil dependency is stupid and people who drive SUVs/trucks for commuting are dumb

i already bitch when my car gets less than 35mpg

5/22/2008 11:16:13 AM

hey now, I don't drive an SUV or a truck. Just a large car.

(I'm still dumb though!)

5/22/2008 11:33:54 AM

^^i drive a sedan and i get 18-20 mpg

5/22/2008 11:35:54 AM

Quote :

"i hope it gets to $10/gallon soon...oil dependency is stupid and people who drive SUVs/trucks for commuting are dumb i already bitch when my car gets less than 35mpg"

thats a pretty stupid statement to make, since oil prices affect more than how much it costs to fill up your tank. Your home energy price would go up, all your food prices would go up. Anything that is shipped to a location before you buy it would go up in price. Anything make with oil products would go up in price.

well thought out statement there...

5/22/2008 12:09:26 PM

and it wouldnt get to $10/gal because people would use less and that would drive the price down

5/22/2008 12:12:41 PM

ethanol is making food prices go up but that aint stopping people

5/22/2008 12:12:52 PM

^^^ actually, it's very well thought out, since i stated "oil dependency is stupid"...or are you saying that being DEPENDENT on FINITE RESOURCES is a smart move?

it's simple - oil is limited, and our economy revolves around it...if it takes gas being $10/gallon and other cost of living going through the roof, then so be it...this dumbass culture has been too long complacent and we're now getting pwned

[Edited on May 22, 2008 at 12:16 PM. Reason : d]

5/22/2008 12:16:03 PM

FIGURES....QUAGMIRE IS ANOTHER ONE OF THOSE BLAME AMERICA FIRST LEFTISTS


/rightwing loon

5/22/2008 12:19:15 PM

now hold on...i blame china and india, too

5/22/2008 12:22:34 PM

^^^you're assuming too much and not addressing the statement at hand.

No where did I say oil dependency is a good thing

[Edited on May 22, 2008 at 12:22 PM. Reason : ^]

5/22/2008 12:22:42 PM

seriously, there'd be no cataclysmic change that would ruin the world. Come, on. It's gas.


People would just start changing for the better.

THere'd be a huge push for hybrid vehicles and carpooling


yes, there'd still be delivery for pizza and stuff. Come, on.


Things would be more expensive, for sure, but we'll find ways



$10/gallon for gas would mean that ethanol would be cheaper than gas, so actually we'd probably start to see a growth in the E85 market and we'd start driving around running on veggie oil and other stuff.


drilling for oil in the US would happen, obviously.


Solar, Wind, Geothermal would grow too, but mainly in areas where tehy are most beneficial, i.e. solar in desert areas, wind offshore and in high wind areas, etc. It would probably give a potentially 5% reduction in use of fossil fuels. Maybe.


Nuclear power is definitely an option.....id' go for it.


hydrogen fuel also would be worth it.



If gas goes to $10/gallon, i'd probably stop driving my car. It's an SUV and it gets about 17 city, which is nice for an SUV, but absolute i'm talking fillups every 2 weeks, so i'd be spending $350 a month or more on gas. Just not worth it

I'd probably get a honda ruckus scooter. Those things get close to 100mpg, and for short city drives, they'd be well worth it. I know people say they'd get run off the road cause the max speed is like 40mph, but if a lot of people start riding around in those b/c of gas prices, we'll see a more conscious effort to integrate them into everyday driving situations


also Raleigh and Durham RTP traffic would most likely swell with busses and carpool traffic.

I wonder how many gallons of gas a day are used by cars just driving to work at RTP. Probably an assload.


I would love to see trains emerge like they have in europe, but all reality says this isn't going to happen. Laying track like that is just too damned time consuming and expensive. This country gave up trains >60 years ago.

5/22/2008 12:30:30 PM

also i expect we'd see a lot more shopping districts like north hills popping up. Wouldn't it be nice to have all your shopping needs (EVERYTHING) in one big place so you could get your hair cut, go to the gym, buy some clothes, go to home depot and get house supplies, go to the grocery store, pick your kids up at daycare, all in one place?

Hell, i need to get involved in a project like that. Some serious $$ potential there.

5/22/2008 12:34:45 PM

^^well its a little more difficult to do that when we're much much bigger than european countries.

5/22/2008 12:43:42 PM

i need to move to a city before people really catch wind of this and prices become even more unreal than they already are.

5/22/2008 1:42:56 PM

this would never happen because by the time it hits $5/gallon, the demand would start to drop significantly and the price per barrel would balance itself out again. No one is going to wait until $10/gallon to start thinking about cut backs.

5/22/2008 1:47:59 PM

Quote :

"this would never happen because by the time it hits $5/gallon, the demand would start to drop significantly and the price per barrel would balance itself out again. No one is going to wait until $10/gallon to start thinking about cut backs."

Never underestimate Americans

5/22/2008 1:49:21 PM

it doesn't matter what the American mentality is...most Americans are already so deep in the whole that regardless of how badly they want to drive...they literally would not be able to afford it.

5/22/2008 1:52:12 PM

^^


people who need shit done will pay the higher prices.



but think of it this way. If the average MPG for all cars is 20mpg, and everyone switches to hybrid cars that achieve 40mpg, we've essentially doubled our oil supply (cut use in half) which will help reduce gas prices.


thing is, though, trucks gotta have big engines, which means hybrid truck technology is out of the question. No way a truck driver is going to make a buck doing that anymore. We'll have to solve that problem somehow. Too bad I don't know of any really good ideas


last thing I want is for the government to take control of the oil/gas in the country. Then we just wind up like venezuela. (speaking mexican everywhere)

5/22/2008 1:54:39 PM

Us damn Americans...

god, you people need something to bitch about all the time.

5/22/2008 1:55:29 PM

But if the U.S. stopped using so much oil, then how would Chavez, Russia, and Saudi Arabia get their money??

5/22/2008 1:57:16 PM

Quote :

"last thing I want is for the government to take control of the oil/gas in the country. Then we just wind up like venezuela. (speaking mexican everywhere)"

well since Mexican isn't a language, I'd have to say you're wrong on that one.

and Venezuela pays 12cents/gallon. FYI.

5/22/2008 1:58:04 PM

Oh, it's Golovko.

5/22/2008 2:03:22 PM

even with 10 dollar a gallon gas there will still be a bunch of rich ass spoiled children driving their SUV they didnt pay for

5/22/2008 2:04:40 PM

Only due to subsidies. They may not pay for it at the pump, but they still pay for it via taxes.

coincidentally i just read this while on this shitter in last week's forbes:

"Venezuelans pay some $700million a year for 4.5 billion gallons of gasoline. The same fuel would fetch at least $10Billion sold to the US. Venezuelans would be better off if Hugo Chavez raised their gas prices, quashed demand, exported the difference, and then cut every citizen a royalty check for their share of the US dollars their forgone gasoline brought in."

5/22/2008 2:04:44 PM

^^^your astuteness is amusing.

5/22/2008 2:11:51 PM

If people would SELL some of their oil shares, things might do better. Perhaps, rather than removing the gas tax, the government should instead compensate major shareholders to free up some of their shares and help lower the prices.

5/22/2008 2:23:33 PM

i was just joking about the mexican thing


and yeah, venezuela is like the cheapest gas in the world.


I'd rather pay extra for gas but live in a free country than have free gas for life under some dictator

5/22/2008 3:53:57 PM

well the irony is you probably wouldn't have a car either so cheap gas would be useless to you.

5/22/2008 3:55:26 PM

pretty much

5/22/2008 3:57:50 PM

I drive an SUV with horrible gas mileage, and you know what, if gas cost 10/ gallon id probably cut back a little bit, but not much

actually, id get a motorcycle to add to my toy collection

Id still take the boat out too.

5/22/2008 10:25:48 PM