Hello occasional reader.
Gas (or petrol - you DO realise that it is a liquid and not a gaseous substance don't you?). Lifeblood of the economy for most nations (unless you live in Papua New Guinea and headhunters have taken to using scooters). F*****g expensive in the US I understand.
How I laugh. To give you some idea about how ripped off the average British motorist is I will give you some figures. We pay road tax (which, despite it's name, is used for everything other than road maintenance) that amounts to around £165 (or just over $320) per year. Then there is the tax on buying the car (highest in Europe). Then there is the servicing, tyres, etc (all taxed). Oh, then there is the price of gas petrol. nearly £1 (or nearly $2) per LITRE. Not gallon, litre
I lived in the US and you have had it so good for so long on things like that but now it is all going pear shaped. It is going pear shaped here too, but we're used to that because we live in a country where we get ripped off with prices all the time. The whole effect of the war in the Middle East is simple - it has destabilised the region to the point where the flow of oil is interrupted by dangerous fanatics who want nothing more than the world to go back to the point where we had just invented the wheel.
Running a military campaign is gas petrol heavy too. You seen how many gallons to the mile your average MBT does? Or how much fuel an aircraft uses in a typical flight? In that kind of situations most government go "Screw the civilian population - they don't matter. After all, the elected us for four years and by then end of that time they will have forgotten about it."
Remember, you live in a democracy and that more or less guarantees you a right to a voice. One voice is tiny, an insignificant thing drowned out in the sea of noise that is politics, but thousands of voices all shouting the same message can be heard. You vote for these people to do the right thing by you - your country is nothing without the people. As Jimmy Stewart once said "Mr President, you do things by the will of the people FOR the people" (and that goes for Blair too).
All I can say is that certain politicians in the US must be thinking "|Thank god - we have something else for people to focus on other than Iraq and gas petrol prices and a faltering economy".
Gits.
Posted by AlexC at September 6, 2005 11:44 AMWhen I was over in Yorkshire, the gas (petrol) was right around $5.60/gallon, at least that's what we figured.
Funny, 'cause some of the idiots that I work with think our prices rival yours! Still others whine about how at least you guys get national health care out of your taxes... we get nothing.
Don't really know how that all plays out. Hell, all I know is that I'm not all that happy about it, myself. Going from 1.50 to 3.10 in a year's time sucks. But I know it could be much, much worse.
Posted by: That 1 Guy at September 6, 2005 01:07 PMHey, I'm not complaining about the price of gas. It's life and the cost of driving a vehicle. Sure it cost me $185.00 to top off my gas tank on my truck and that will only last me maybe 2 weeks, but it's my choice to drive it that much.
Posted by: Contagion at September 6, 2005 01:58 PMI picked a great time to be unemployed.
I'm saving like $30 a week from not having the commute :-)
Posted by: Harvey at September 7, 2005 12:42 AM