Gas prices...

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moonshadow
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Re: Gas prices...

Post by moonshadow »

Coder wrote: Sat Mar 21, 2020 5:01 pm I also am very skeptical of the numbers coming out of China, especially since they kicked some reporters out at some point during this debacle.
I've also wondered that too.

Don't get me wrong... I'm not trying to dog on my country. I'm about as star spangled patriotic as they come, I like fireworks, apple pie, watermelon, old trucks and such.

But I do think this should serve as a wakeup call for our own culture. It's time for the lower class to get off the crack pipe and get to work, and it's time for the industrialist to stop sending our jobs overseas to a communist country and throw us a bone.

I want to see "Make America in America!" again.

I want to see people take pride in their jobs, and employers take pride in their workforce.

I want to see Churches preaching love and compassion again, not bigotry and self righteousness.

I want to see charity for the disadvantaged and accountability for those who "cheat the system" no matter what income bracket they are in.

I want us to stop worshipping our political leaders (both right AND left parties) and hold them accountable for their legislation.

I want to see free press.

I want being a "country boy" to mean something again.. to mean a man who knows how to provide for his family, never abusive, works hard, doesn't have a bunch of babies for the tax and welfare benefits.

These are my values... I'm not a capitalist, nor am I a socialist or a communist. I'm a hard working American that's damned sick and tired of all of the bullsh!t.
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The old hillbilly from the coal fields of the Appalachian mountains currently living like there's no tomorrow on the west coast.
Grok
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Re: Gas prices...

Post by Grok »

"...on lockdown...pinned in place with nowhere really to go...."

Yesterday I had a friend over to watch DVDs-I couldn't think of anything else entertaining to do.

He commented that the lockdown is boring.

We walked a few blocks to a small grocery store, and were required to put on gloves upon entering. Loosely fitting, of clear plastic.



Yesterday it was cool but sunny in Seattle, which would be ok for the zoo (which is closed), but not quite mild enough for other outdoors activities.

Places to go: grocery stores, drug stores, gas stations. And the last video store in Seattle-when I went there yesterday there were a number of other customers there, who probably thought that this was one of the few options for entertainment. Actually, I suspect that the powers that be simply overlooked the video store, it being the only one left.
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beachlion
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Re: Gas prices...

Post by beachlion »

There was a time when Americans could build a Liberty ship in a little over 4 days, when they made bombers and fighter planes faster than they used to make cars. I believe those days are gone. If you give away those tools and experience to other countries, it is very hard to come back at a competitive level. You have to start at the bottom and build up the industrie from scratch.

But the layer of society with the power to do this is degenerated in the field of etics and will look only at the bottom line, at all cost. As long as the money rolls in, why bother. And when somebody might try to start a business and is succesful, it will be killed by buying it or bankrupt it.

The empty shelves in shops will fill up very slowly because the way manufacturing works. The whole train from raw material to ready product is a very lean process, there are no buffers along the line. If people start hoarding, there is not enough raw material to kick production in a higher gear. Produce is grown and cattle is held on the basis of normal consumption. If the demand goes sky high suddenly, you can not "make" more produce or cattle. It grows naturally in a planned way and you have to wait for the next harvest. So they have to find other sources and that takes time, a lot of time.
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Grok
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Re: Gas prices...

Post by Grok »

Another friend has abandoned her plans to visit Europe this year.

My big trip of the year was to be a family reunion in June. I suspect that it will be cancelled. I hadn't quite got around to making any reservations.
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Re: Gas prices...

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Grok wrote: Sat Mar 21, 2020 6:32 pm Another friend has abandoned her plans to visit Europe this year.

My big trip of the year was to be a family reunion in June. I suspect that it will be cancelled. I hadn't quite got around to making any reservations.
You are not the only one. I had planned a 4-week visit to Europe in June. I'm afraid I have to postpone it. My next option could be September or next year if humanity is still in existence. ;) For this kind of things, I'm always doing last minute reservations. Planning and researching was already going so I still can use it.

In 2010, after some visits of me to the USA, my (now) wife would visit me in April. But USA-Europe air traffic was cancelled due to the eruption of a vulcano at Iceland. So it was October before she came. In 2012 my wife came with me to the Netherlands ( I was going to move my stuff from NL to USA) and we were to spent a week in Paris. But most of France was on strike then so we had to do plan B, visiting the countryside and family and friends. That is why I'm a last minute planner.
All progress takes place outside the comfort zone - M J Bobak
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moonshadow
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Re: Gas prices...

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beachlion wrote: Sat Mar 21, 2020 6:26 pm But the layer of society with the power to do this is degenerated in the field of etics and will look only at the bottom line, at all cost. As long as the money rolls in, why bother. And when somebody might try to start a business and is succesful, it will be killed by buying it or bankrupt it.
Nailed it!
-Andrea
The old hillbilly from the coal fields of the Appalachian mountains currently living like there's no tomorrow on the west coast.
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Re: Gas prices...

Post by Faldaguy »

We have all seen the price gouging at the individual level -- folks buying out the TP or such and selling on line for 5-20 times their cost; but take a look at this article, not entirely balanced, but it clearly points out just one of the places where the corporate world has no ethics save the immediate bottom line. The western concept of individualism rather than anything that leans toward cooperation and equality is rightly exposed. Capitalism as practiced is inherently flawed, and we fall prey to its mystic of great wealth for all, when the game is subtly rigged. There are thousands of examples, this is just a bit on one industry; one that is well placed in DC politics buying their pols for pennies on the dollar of government largess and legislation that returns massive returns to shareholders at the cost of keeping the 98% of the rest of us struggling for the remnants. But hey, the Supreme Court has ruled Corporations are people and dollars are free speech...if you can't back your speech with million dollar donations, you don't know the truth!
(Article addresses Big Pharm and Investment Bankers seeking to exploit Coronavirus 19 for profit by inflating treatment costs.)
https://theintercept.com/2020/03/19/cor ... e-gouging/
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Re: Gas prices...

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Back when "Citizens United" was passed by the (purchased) Supreme Court, some very wise wag commented, "I'll believe that corporations are individuals when Texas executes one." (I wish that had been me!) Unfortunately, it doesn't work that way. In the Big Bust of 2008, there were several corporations who should have been executed for gross misdeeds (read "crimes") committed against society. So what did the federal government do, too wage-earners' tax monies to prop them up so the billionaires wouldn't lose so much as a dime. Not a single banking nor "insurance" exec served so much as a day in jail for the fiasco which came perilously close to bringing down the entire western world.

AIG, in particular, should have received a figurative "pistol ball to the head" for its misdeeds as, when they refused to cover their bets, the whole thing -- which was a toxic morass to start with -- summarily imploded, taking with it much "created wealth". Yet AIG is still in business at the same game, and having been rewarded for bad behaviour is almost certainly going to commit the same again. It's just a question of time.

Wells Fargo is another one that was rotten to the core and should have been taken out by force. Let the FDIC cover the savings-accounts of the little people, and as far as the investment accounts go, well the fat-cats who were in that game merely lost a bed and the money's gone. Such is the will of the market.

One of the things that's not being discussed much is that all the market's current problems have largely obliterated a lot of little people's retirement "savings" which are in fraudulent vehicles like 401k accounts, and since those are all market-driven -- and hence uninsured -- they're fair game for pilfering by the elites. And that's what we're watching now.

Things around here are supposed to open back up on 2020-04-06; however, there is a subcurrent in play now in the medical community that says we may be in this for a year or more. At that point it won't matter as the Little Economy will have long since utterly collapsed. The billionaires will have won.
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Sinned
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Re: Gas prices...

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Yes Carl, precious few prosecutions over here also. The current situation has also put my retirement plans on hold for a year or two. I had a prospect lined up into which I was going to transfer the pension pots that I had built up when wham! the stock market took a sheer dive and will take some time to recover. Since all my pots are ultimately invested in shares via one vehicle or another they will be worth less now than before. Oh well, the rich ....

As for petrol prices, I haven't a clue what I pay. I always fill up at the Tesco filling station and, as it's one of the busiest Tesco one in the country, it's the cheapest around. So no need to do any price comparisons. Since £40 worth lasts me 3 or 4 weeks it's not a huge expenditure for me. We have two cars and I suppose that we could downgrade to one but the extra car isn't really expensive to run. They're both paid for, MOH has garage contacts so if we needed to replace we can get an older car cheaply and repairs done cost effectively, insurance is about £120 and car tax is about £140 ( both per annum ) so there's no incentive to downsize.
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