Jack
Forum
Did you actually look at the links I posted???
A run-down Liverpuddlian estate is NOT the same as the horrific conditions MILLIONS have to endure every day in the REAL slums. I believe you don't get Cholera in a Liverpuddlian council house anymore.........................
Regarding your 'retort' on global warming............ I believe you missed out just one tiny yet major ingredients of that paragraph in order to counter-attack my earlier post...........an argument. Rambling on about a Period 4 classroom 12 and some such nonsense.......... what - do you think global warming is all one big COMMUNIST-CONSPIRACY ???? It's rather scary that you call yourself a mechanical engineer..... you don't seem too bothered about the energy crisis - only in terms of "but can I still have power in MY household??" nevermind where it comes from. I don't want an SUV because I don't a) want it b) want to kill the planet any more so than we're already doing so. Motorcycles are at least slightly more efficient with fuel compared to your average car - and remarkably more when compared to an SUV. Tell me do you feel incomplete everytime you see a commercial of a consumer good that you DON'T own??? Does it keep you awake at night??? Are you haunted by nightmares that you've not got the BEST model, the MOST EXPENSIVE gear........... ????
So you're quite happy to hire black people whilst agreeing with JJ on the matter that African/black people are armed chimpanzee cannibals????
And you're always quite happy to employ hispanic people who you say should get out of America if they can't speak "proper" English, and whom you don't want to send your kids to school with ???/
My my - that DOES say a lot about you......................
>>By Tchock (Wednesday, 15 Nov 2006 20:27)
Not that *you* speak proper English mind L2R.
>I do not have any black neighbors, nor do I have any close friends that are black. Surely not by design, just happened.
No, more like through the willfull inaction of those in power in your wonderful wonderful country.
And I'm told that compared to homelessness in Mexico City, homelessness in London is a lifestyle choice. I imagine the same thing could apply to slums in Africa and 'slums' in Liverpool.
Maybe Bill Gates would call *your* area a slum L2R.
>>By Flagg (Wednesday, 15 Nov 2006 20:44)
Tchock
Efficiency of a motorcycle engine??? The 1364cc Harley develops70-80 bhp at a weight of 630 pounds (you may convert to kgs or stones if you wish) and achieve 40-60 passenger miles per gallon.. Note the weight/edfficiency graph is truncated. Adding just one 159 lb. passenger may reduce the mpg by 30%....very, very weight senditive. An SUV, at a curb weight of 3000 pounds, bhp of 250, can carry/tow 6 passengers while achieving 20-25 mpg....which equals 120-150 passenger miles per gallon. Perhaps a Honda/Yamaha 50-75 cc engine is efficient, but I am not sure of that.
So you're quite happy to hire black people whilst agreeing with JJ on the matter that African/black people are armed chimpanzee cannibals????
<<<And you're always quite happy to employ hispanic people who you say should get out of America if they can't speak "proper" English, and whom you don't want to send your kids to school with ???/>>>
Even Period 4 Classroom 12 would scold you for these words. They would remind you that revolutiuonaries should endeavor not to appear stupid.
Cheerio...
Flagg
Who is Bill Gates?? He, among many other good things, is a capitalist.
>>By lv2read (Wednesday, 15 Nov 2006 23:31)
>Even Period 4 Classroom 12 would scold you for these words. They would remind you that revolutiuonaries should endeavor not to appear stupid.
Would you like to say something relevant to what Tchock said? I'm getting tired of the Period 4 Classroom 12 shit.
Bill Gates is a very very rich man, much richer than you. I was trying to illustrate the point that perceptions of what is a lot of money and what isn't, and what is a slum and what isn't, are relative.
He is also a cheating, monopolising, heartless bastard selling bad, virus-vulnerable software to millions upon millions of people every single day.
>>By Flagg (Wednesday, 15 Nov 2006 23:52)
To be fair Tchock, JJ said that people living in Africa are cannibals, not that all black people every where are. It doesn't make him any less racist or ignorant, but that's what he said (if I read it right).
>>By Flagg (Thursday, 16 Nov 2006 00:19)
FLAGG
<<<He is also a cheating, monopolising, heartless bastard selling bad, virus-vulnerable software to millions upon millions of people every single day.>>>
I was beginning to take you seriously until this. You are choking in mediocrity when you write such. The success story world-wide, who has touched more people, more business, more governments than any person before, and you latch onto drivel and misrepresentations propagated by his competitors---long lost in the dust.
And trying to equate purchasing a SUV with being irresponsible is pure BS---and you are damn well old enough to know that. As long as she spews that BS, I'll point out the direction to her classroom on 'revolutionary' studies. The very minute you and her, and Deaf Ear take moderate positions we will be able to have mature, productive exchanges. And never, never say that there aren't slums in Liverpool. I never said that it was an undesirable city....what is wrong with you? You are brighter than this. Cholers?? Who brought up cholera?? No one gets cholera here but we sure as hell have slums. What the hell are you so self-conscious about? I don't live in a Utopia...nor do you. Slums in Newport? No. Slums in Orange County? Maybe. Slums in Los Angeles County? Too numerous to mention....but those folks have cable (sky?). But still, a slum is a very undesireable place to live. You have no right to label JJ a racist. Mererly because Deaf Ear and Tchock do so, do you have to gang tackle?? Whatever happened to looking before you leap, to thinking before you speak or write?? Those are virtures that will serve you well. Try rereading JJ's post and (even for a second) see if you can latch on to the broader point that he made. He's given you several hints...
>>By lv2read (Thursday, 16 Nov 2006 02:21)
I can't recall seeing an SUV on the road with 6 ppl actually in it. Rather throws your figures into more sensible relief.
>>By planet ear (Thursday, 16 Nov 2006 04:44)
It's also perfectly obvious that Tchock and I disagree about other issues in a fairly civilised way.
I'm sorry but JJs comments are self-evidently racist, I doubt that he holds them with great seriousness but that's opinion which he may choose to disagree with.
Bill Gates software certainly used to be pretty dire actually may have improved with XP. Bug-ridden, unstable, not at all user-friendly. Try an Apple, I've used both much prefer the Mac as do very many of those who have experienced alternative operating systems. Unfortuanately MS near-monopoly means Joe/Josephine punter is often largely ignorant that "a computer" doesn't have to have Windows installed....
As for his business practices .... I think the slew of brushes with your own Justice Dept regarding MS "innovative marketing" really don't need to be listed. Oh but I suppose they're just commie lackeys in your eyes?
BTW as a matter of form perhaps it would be more sensible to allow me to call drivel what I regard as drivel and not speak for me?
>>By planet ear (Thursday, 16 Nov 2006 05:04)
Planet Ear
I too have rarely seen 6 adults in a SUV---but occasionally see a slew of children aboard. I've never had 3 people (at one time) in the back seat of my sedan...so I don't have room to talk. And the way most motorcycles are ridden, you can cut the anticipated mileage in half.
Re Drivel. As long as you spread your caustic remarks evenly and fairly, I'll observe what you say. Until then...............we'll label drivel as necessary. Am sure that you understand.
Microsoft has the size and sales as a monopoly, yet doesn't function as one. That thread of logic has been sustained over and over. Not being a barrister I can't add much more to this. I'm not sure that 'brushes' with the justice department is synonomous with conviction....are they the same in England?
>>By lv2read (Thursday, 16 Nov 2006 06:23)
Okay, for the record...I live in Georgia. I have more black friends than Tchock can dream of in her "I want to be a perfect liberal" slumber. I also have spent a lot of time in Mexico, where my father did business, and I speak fluent spanish. I am family to many a Mexican and they are family to me. I don't need some limey who knows a few Jamaicans to tell me about race relations.
Considering the borderline anti-semitism here, it astounds me that anyone would call me a racist.
At least I know the difference between an Israeli and a Jew, and I respect the right of Jews everywhere to defend themselves considering what happened the last time protestant liberals could have done something to help them.
Again, I am amazed that Tchock is offended by me calling the majority of Africans apes (which is really an insult to apes if you think about it), yet she defends modern-day Hitlers like the Mohammedan weirdos and their thinking.
I am inferior to a hell of a lot of black people, but the bulk of Africans, like the bulk of Iraqis, are mere beasts. They weren't born that way, but their lack of education has brought them to that point. It's easier to let them eat each other than it is to teach them civility.
Pragmatism's a bitch.
>>By Just Jon (Thursday, 16 Nov 2006 06:53)
It's clearly contentious issue and I rather suspect MS can afford better lawyers than any State!
But I understand MS was eventually compelled to behave differently. It would appear that the case against MS was sustained on appeal.
BBC News
"However, the appeals court confirmed that in one key point Microsoft still stands guilty as accused: The firm used illegal practices to maintain its monopoly position."
Fuller story:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/652150.stm
It's also perfectly possible to carry 2 adults on a m'bike and keep moving in congested traffic condtions where an SUV would be doing little more than burning petrol to no avail.
>>By planet ear (Thursday, 16 Nov 2006 06:57)
The military and industry are the main polluters. They want you to blame yourself; don't buy into it. I for one am not putting my 5-year-old daughter on the back of a motorbike so that I can pollute one billionth of a percent less than the factories and Army bases all around me.
Having said that, I wouldn't buy an SUV--if you need a truck you need a truck, and to me that means a bed with no shell and a constantly-dirty exterior.
SUV owners kill way more people by driving shit they can't handle than they do with pollution. If you want to reduce dependency on oil and clean up the environment, you need to bitch about the U.S. military and big industry, not soccer moms.
George Bush wants you to blame it on SUVs--it means you have to hold normal Americans responsible.
>>By Just Jon (Thursday, 16 Nov 2006 07:10)
Would you like to tell us your definition of racist JJ?
>>By planet ear (Thursday, 16 Nov 2006 07:12)
>>Would you like to tell us your definition of racist JJ?
Really I would, but I honestly don't know. I can reasonably assume that I have more black friends that I respect than most people posting here, just because I live among more of them. And again, I'm also a gringo mojado--I'm about as Mexican as you can get as a white guy.
Having said that, I'm just like my black and Mexican friends--if I see a group of young male blacks or Mexicans, I'm heading the other way. I learned this personally--long story and I don't have shit to prove to ya'll, but I once questioned myself, wondering if I was "racist," and I ended up with a .45 in my face because I decided to be politically correct.
It's not about race, it's about money. And most Africans came from, and live in, abject poverty. Thus, they don't read Shakespeare and they're not above cutting your hand off.
I say again, I've actually hung with the poorest of the poor here in the U.S., and none of my poor black friends ever called me racist. I think you might be unpleasantly surprised to find what would happen to effete brits like some of you visiting here should you come to my neighborhood.
It ain't racism here, it's survival, so take your PC shit and shove it right up your asses.
I'll listen to your bullshit when you have to pull the trigger; until then enjoy your little-kiddie universe.
No offense to anyone in particular, especially PE. It's just how it is and it upsets me that I have to be this way...unfortunately, that's survival in some places, and no amount of me wishing it wasn't so is gonna change it.
>>By Just Jon (Thursday, 16 Nov 2006 08:03)
I don't think we need the macho kill-or-be-killed-in-the-ghetto crap.
You're differentiating between skin-colour racism and nationality racism. They are both racist. Clearly you don't judge people around you on the colour of their skin, which really does place you higher than the BNP in this country.
But most people would say that claiming the majority of the population of a country or, worse, continent are cannibals IS racist. It is. Just as it's racist to say Irish people are thick or French people are cowards.
I can imagine you going all BiaM on me now and saying you don't care what I think (not sure if you will but it seems possible) but for what it's worth, as far as I'm concerned you ARE racist and what you said about Africa and the middle east is disgusting.
As it happens of the people I know who have been mugged in London most of the time it's by young black males. Statistics show most gun crime in this city is among young black males, as (I think) is the case in many parts of urban America. The fact that that is the case doesn't make it any less racist or any more acceptable to write off entire continents as savages.
As for SUVs and global warming, yes I'm pretty much with JJ on this one. If everyone in America stopped driving SUVs there would be a significant reduction in carbon emmisions and we might hold off the end of the world for a bit longer. Sadly there are a lot of people like lv2read in America and that's never gonna happen. The only *realistic* way to save ourselves from global warming is for governments so start passing laws right now. For individuals... it's great to get into the green spirit and start cycling to work or whatever, but it's not gonna make an impact.
Microsoft. L2R, you're saying I should respect Microsoft *because* it's so successful. It doesn't matter to you how they got there does it? Well I'm not even going to talk to you about it. They broke the law to get where they are and they've been abusing their position out of sheer greed for years. If that doesn't bother you then forget it, I'm not arguing with you about this.
>>By Flagg (Thursday, 16 Nov 2006 15:00)
Oh, also JJ, nothing I said came from any sense of 'political corectness'. I hate that term. Its name sums it up completely: it means the ideals *politicians* put forth in order to avoid losing their jobs. It has nothing to do with the definition of racism.
>>By Flagg (Thursday, 16 Nov 2006 15:02)
Well, I am going to respond courteously.....for a change.
FLAGG
We won't be commuting to our offices by bicycle....nor will we be drivimg electric cars. As soon as a power plant is designed that will have a cruising range of 350-400 miles, top speed of 100-120, acceleration to 60 mph in 7.5 seconds or less, ability to be refueled (economically) OR recharged ANYWHERE within 15 minutes or so, I can assure you that sales would be off the charts. Until then, as in the present case, the technology isn't here.
What right do you and Deaf Ear have to label JJ anything? I don't know enough about him to arrive at that conclusion. He is ONLY reciting his life experiences. And unless you've walked in his shoes..................
Political correctness. Flagg, is avoidance pure and simple. Sugar coat something, talk around an issue, be careful not to offend anyone and the hell with clarity. The older you get, the less you'll like it. Your statement about the incidence of mugging and armed robbery (by blacks) in London would NOT be printed in any American newspaper today. Even though you are providing factual information, it would never make it to press. PATHETIC!! Flagg, I don't just hate the term. I hate the practice....am sure that you meant that.
>>By lv2read (Thursday, 16 Nov 2006 19:33)
If the worse should happen and that environmentally friendly but still powerful supercar never gets developed, would you ever consider going without a top-of-the-range car (or indeed any car) for the sake of the planet? Because if laws aren't passed soon to *gradually* reduce carbon emissions then that's what is gonna have to happen in another twenty or so years.
I consider JJ's ''the middle east is full of violent madmen and Africans all live like armed chimpanzees'' statement disgustingly racist, so that's what I called him. I accept that I will be judged for what I say on this board. Haven't you labelled me and Tchock communist/socialist several times?
>Political correctness. Flagg, is avoidance pure and simple. Sugar coat something, talk around an issue, be careful not to offend anyone and the hell with clarity.
I agree. And yes, I did mean I hate the term and what it stands for.
In Britain though - or at least London - the mainstream press are often critical of political correctness. However, much of the mainstream press in London is also (in my opinion) pretty racist.
>>By Flagg (Thursday, 16 Nov 2006 20:11)
>Well, I am going to respond courteously.....for a change.
And thank you for that, I enjoyed reading and responding to the post.
>>By Flagg (Thursday, 16 Nov 2006 20:11)
Actually lv2read I believe I didn't call JJ "a racist". I believe I said his remarks were offensive. I am usually happy to some extent to debate, defend or explain my views. I am growing rather tired of you making false accusations against me....
Your argument against what you perceive as PC seems to me to be flawed. To wit:
A black guy mugs someone.
He might well also be a youthful hetereosexual male. Does that make it reasonable to have as a headline youthful hetereosexual males are more prone to be muggers than the population as a whole? I strongly suspect the evidence would support that conclusion but I also suspect that most of us would see that particular arbitrary division of the population as unreasonable. We would probably ask what angle the author of such a statement was persuing...... Simply because something is factually accurate does not necessarily make it a representative statement.
I can clearly demonstrate for example that you personally are either a bare-faced liar or in my (and several others here) estimation a very ignorant man. Would you regard a statement like that as reasonable to print in a newspaper?
>>By planet ear (Thursday, 16 Nov 2006 21:04)
<I have more black friends than Tchock can dream of in her "I want to be a perfect liberal" slumber.>
Actually I merely pointed out that I had two African friends who were NOT 'cannibalistic apes'. I only like people who I like. I don't like people just to balance the skin-colour ratio of friends. I don't feel I should have to have coloured friends. I am friends with people I like - just as you are, I would imagine. And if you'd read my posts on religion......then you'd know that i'm NOT a "perfect liberal"....& don't want to be.
<They weren't born that way, but their lack of education has brought them to that point. It's easier to let them eat each other than it is to teach them civility. >
Right. Tell me - if they're all eating each other, how come most Africans are starving to death ????
I rather think most Africans are more concerned with trying to survive in the atrocious conditions that those in control allow them to live in. Yes there are Africans who are do kill and maim people.. but it's the same the world over. You cannot label a whole continent by what a few do - it's like saying European's are all a bunch of Nazi's just because there were some Nazi's in Germany 60-odd years ago (you might like to note that not everyone in Germany was a Nazi..........).
Climate Change & Cars.
In 1997 there were 600 000 000 cars on the planet (Six Hundred Million).
There are 20m Cars in the US.
The US consumes 360 million galleons of fuel per day !!!!!
And you say this does not affect the environment ?????
The city in which I live barely has half a million people living in it. Yet there is a massive difference to the air pollution compared to where I used to live in the country. I believe you can no longer see the Hollywood sign from Downtown L.A because of the smog ???
"They've used a legal loophole to make SUVs far less fuel efficient than they could be; the popularity of these vehicles has generated a 20 percent increase in transportation-related carbon dioxide pollution since the early 1990s" NRDC
Don't tell me that's a lie & I've been had. I'd quite like you to continue being courteous :)
To add to a point planet ear made earlier - one which I was going to point out..... how often do you see 6 people in an SUV??? In fact, while walking to my lectures this morning I noticed again how 95% of the cars (the four person cars) had only one person (the driver) in them. My city has an excellent bus service & everything is in walking distance. Why do they need to take the car?
"DeCicco: That's right. One way to look at the global warming pollution from our cars and trucks is that it's the largest part [62 percent] of U.S. transportation carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, counting all forms of transportation. And our transportation CO2 emissions are the largest part [one-third] of all of our CO2 emissions, more than from factories, homes and everything else. And of course the United States itself is the world?s largest greenhouse gas polluter [contributing a quarter of the world's CO2 emissions]. In that sense, tackling pollution from U.S. cars and trucks is the single most important step that needs to be done to tackle the global warming problem. "
Of course we all need to take the car every now & then - it's raining or the destination maybe too far, you want to meander around or it's just plain convenient. But - as you say lv2read - the weather in L.A is perfect (well for someone accustomed to that heat & sun) then why don't you walk instead of taking the car? Or you say you have an excellent transport network - utilize it !!!
It's only a few hours of your life to spend with the "too poor to own a car" people, it's achievable if you put your mind to it !!!!
And what's wrong with taking the bike (as in bicycle) to work or wherever??
No one is asking you to strap your daughter on to the back of a motorcycle, by the way JJ. Just use your car reasonably - don't forget, you DO have legs !!!!
This is what we as citizens can do - at least in terms of car pollution. There are other ways of helping. Firstly - anyone out there switch of the TV with the remote ?? DON'T DON'T DON'T EVER DO THIS !!!! This only puts it on stanby - the tv is still on & consuming the SAME amount of power as if were watching something. This is a major cause of overloading on the cables here in Britain.
What the engineers & scientists must do is create the power source. Renewable energy NEEDS to be far more efficient than it already is - it's around on average 10-30% efficient (in terms of wind energy converted to kinetic). Also - think of the difference vast batteries of these could do - hundreds of them, instead of just scattered. The world's first ever off-shore tidal generator was created here at my university by some students - think of the potential of that !!!!! Not a lot of people are keen to gaze upon a wind turbine out their window, but who is going to notice a tidal generator (perhaps with a wind turbine on top of it ??) 10 miles out to sea ??
We're all responsible for stopping global warming - and those of you who think not do not deserve the energy you so readily take from the national grid.
Recharge your car anywhere - well if it's electric, just get a fairly big inductor & put it in your car battery & it'll work forever more....
So you'd rather have a car that's fast & stylish than risk looking like a hippie riding a bike to work ???
Apologies to any point I have not discussed - but study awaits me............
>>By Tchock (Thursday, 16 Nov 2006 21:29)
typo - when i said "renewable energy needs to be more efficient it's 10-30% right now"
i meant
wind turbines..............
>>By Tchock (Thursday, 16 Nov 2006 21:49)
Deaf Ear
What is there to answer in your last post??
Tchock
Walk to work....ride a bicycle to work or for fun....don't use the remote---between us girls here THAT is crazy. And none of you here recognize that there are responsible scientists that challenge the validity of the global warming theory. Or do your minds refuse to believe that there could be another side to this??
Flagg
JJ is one of the 80 million Americans that live in the Bible Belt as Tchock refers to it. He should be ignored for that reason?? I live CLOSE to a multicultural area---Los Angeles, but Newport Beach is very white. In my daily life I seldom engage Mexicans or Blacks, yet it would not bother me if I did. But would I live in an area heavily populated by minorities (in excess of 50%), not as long as I have a choice. Isn't it normal to want to see people like yourself close to home? How about personal freedoms, personal preference and choice. Are those bad words on Scotland and England? I am not entitled to date whom I choose, live where i want and have acquaintenances of my choosing??
Tchock
Urban sprawl....in California people commute on average 30 minutes (by car) to work. To convert....that would be 2 hours by public transportation, 3 hours by bicycle...and way to far to walk. Southern California ain't Scotland. And people worldwide relocate to Southern California.....NOT Scotland. Urban sprawl will get worse and worse and worse.
Miles driven per year...just a guess. Leases allow 12,000 miles annually which is a joke. I know of no one that doesn't drive a minimum of 15-20,000 miles per year. I'm talking California here. I've heard that 30% of the residents/workers on Manhattan Island in New York don't drive period. I do not know one person that hasn't got a driver's license and know of NO ONE that doesn't own a car.
If you were an American, do you think that the Global Warming fixes might be unfairly trained on our way of life. In view of the technological advances of the last 25 years, is it difficult to conceive that the development of a 0 emissions car is unsolvable??
I don't think ANYTHING is unsolvable.
>>By lv2read (Thursday, 16 Nov 2006 22:19)
I guess that must be your way of conceding a point then.... how generous. ;)
>>By planet ear (Thursday, 16 Nov 2006 22:26)
To be fair (which I try to be, despite your endless provocation lv2read) there is a lot of poor reporting regarding climate change in my opinion.
However one should look for bias and it seems the is both the biggest carbon polluter and the source of most sceptical reports. Even your oil-rich beloved president has I believe conceded there are issues.
But aside from that, oil supply seems to a major contributor to conflict in the world and what oil remains has many many uses better for humankind than being burnt needlessly on the highways of California. I am sure your public transport system would improve immensly if it became uneconomic even for someone such as yourself to drive. This will likely happen eventually as oil becomes more scarce. Why not seize an opportunity to equip your state for it's long-term future and invest now? Or is part of the problem the short-term, middle-ground-seeking way your "democracy" has developed?
>>By planet ear (Thursday, 16 Nov 2006 22:57)
it seems the *USA
>>By planet ear (Thursday, 16 Nov 2006 22:58)
>But would I live in an area heavily populated by minorities (in excess of 50%), not as long as I have a choice. Isn't it normal to want to see people like yourself close to home? How about personal freedoms, personal preference and choice.
Whoah. Hang on. That's a personal choice that not everyone has, so why should you have it? You need to understand that we DON'T live in a world where anything is possible, even if that's what YOUR life has taught YOU. Great and ingenious and advanced as mankind is, it has its flaws and can't control who every single citizen's next-door neighbour is. To say it's a right you're entitled to is, for want of a better word, spoilt.
Oh, and for me, no I don't care at all if people close to home look like me or have the same heritage. Could this be an age difference thing?
The environment.
>If you were an American, do you think that the Global Warming fixes might be unfairly trained on our way of life.
This is gonna sound more or less like my first paragraph. The MAJORITY of scientific evidence - and yes, there are respectable figures who don't agree - but the majority of evidence shows that a) climate change is real and b) your way of life is one of the things that has to change if this problem is to be solved. Would it really be so hard to give up these luxuries - for the sake of the whole planet? I'm not trying to guilt trip you, I'm saying if you agree with the majority of the scientific community and are aware of the full extent of the threat... surely that outweighs the luxury of SUVs?
If you can give me a good, considered, scientifically sound argument to say that global warming isn't happening then by all means do. I don't claim to be an expert on the science so I'm open to proof. At the moment I trust the majority.
As for the zero emissions car and the technical advances of the last 25 years: That car has to be developed, then mass-produced, then distributed indiscriminately to as many car-owners as possible, REPLACING not supplementing carbon-emitting cars, and then we just hope that we haven't already done too much damage. I assume you're not proposing that this supercar be COMPULSORY for all drivers - I really couldn't imagine you saying that. How many people with perfectly good cars are going to buy a new one because it's energy efficient? A lot would, for sure, if the car was marketed well enough. But plenty of people just wouldn't care, plenty of people would still be claiming global warming isn't real, and of course cars aren't the only cause: there are power stations to worry about.
No, I would not pin my hopes for the survival on mankind on a new kind of car, even if I thought it was likely to be developed at all and then used widely enough to make a difference.
Tchock:
>There are 20m Cars in the US.
The US consumes 360 million gallons of fuel per day !!!!!
And you say this does not affect the environment ?????
Whether the military and industry are bigger polluters than cars as JJ said, you would know far better than me. I am saying that it would be a MIRACLE if everyone decided to start living green. Personally I try to be as energy-efficient as I can, but I know that I'm in the minority there. Because to most people global warming isn't this huge, terrible threat looming over them, it's just ONE tiny little part of their life: it comes on morning tv occasionally and while they watch it they might get worried, but they forget all about it the next day and drive to work. That's what I think anyway, and that's why I thinkthings like the Big Ask are our best bet: legislation is needed or nothing is gonna happen.
>>By Flagg (Thursday, 16 Nov 2006 23:42)
Just wanted to say that PE's analogy of an "heterosexual male" committing a crime really got me thinking. My logic might be a bit flawed when it comes to race and crime. I love being proven wrong and will reconsider my conclusions.
>>By Just Jon (Friday, 17 Nov 2006 01:45)
I think that logic really applies to people in a position of influence JJ, newspapers, politicians maybe rather more than to the public in general. I know I also use a kind of primeval instinct in the rougher bits of town, so don't go getting yourself shot!
Appreciate you saying so though, maybe there's something I'm missing, please let us know where your thoughts lead you.......
>>By planet ear (Friday, 17 Nov 2006 03:11)
I really don't know, ya'll. I have been so accepted in the black and Mexican communities (the only two "minorities" I've really spent a lot of time with), and yet it's a fact that most of the crime here is committed by blacks and Mexicans.
I have this anger about it, but I'm not sure where to direct it. The easiest thing is to call Africans monkeys because I can't do shit about their suffering; to call Iraqis savages because I can't understand why they're killing each other; to choose force to deal with people around me who would take what I have.
I honestly don't think I'm a racist, but here in the South there's not only a history but a current perception of things on the part of both blacks and whites, and it easily gets confusing. Add to that the fact that in 1996 my small town had maybe 100 Mexicans--now they are nearing 50% of the population. That's what I mean when I say Tchock doesn't understand. The blacks here hate the Mexican immigrants way more than white people hate the Mexicans, and of course virtually everyone hates gays. I'm not blaming my surroundings on my outlook, but I am saying that it makes things confusing.
would really love to hear more about everyone's experiences and opinions on this--God knows I've heard a lot of Brits complain about the "Pakis," yet I know that Brit culture in general is more tolerant of other cultures than we are in this part of the States.
>>By Just Jon (Friday, 17 Nov 2006 03:23)
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