Posted by The Taint on 2/5/2016 9:56:00 PM (view original):
Thank you all very much for your hospitality. We've just had a -- wide-ranging discussions on the matter at hand. Like the good folks standing with me, the American people were appalled and outraged and so were Muslims all across the world. Both Americans and Muslim friends and citizens, tax-paying citizens, and Muslims in nations were just appalled and could not believe what we saw on our TV screens.

These acts of violence against innocents violate the fundamental tenets of the Islamic faith. And it's important for my fellow Americans to understand that.

The English translation is not as eloquent as the original Arabic, but let me quote from the Koran, itself: In the long run, evil in the extreme will be the end of those who do evil. For that they rejected the signs of Allah and held them up to ridicule.

The face of terror is not the true faith of Islam. That's not what Islam is all about. Islam is peace. These terrorists don't represent peace. They represent evil and war.

When we think of Islam we think of a faith that brings comfort to a billion people around the world. Billions of people find comfort and solace and peace. And that's made brothers and sisters out of every race -- out of every race.

America counts millions of Muslims amongst our citizens, and Muslims make an incredibly valuable contribution to our country. Muslims are doctors, lawyers, law professors, members of the military, entrepreneurs, shopkeepers, moms and dads. And they need to be treated with respect. In our anger and emotion, our fellow Americans must treat each other with respect.

Women who cover their heads in this country must feel comfortable going outside their homes. Moms who wear cover must be not intimidated in America. That's not the America I know. That's not the America I value.

I've been told that some fear to leave; some don't want to go shopping for their families; some don't want to go about their ordinary daily routines because, by wearing cover, they're afraid they'll be intimidated. That should not and that will not stand in America.

Those who feel like they can intimidate our fellow citizens to take out their anger don't represent the best of America, they represent the worst of humankind, and they should be ashamed of that kind of behavior.

This is a great country. It's a great country because we share the same values of respect and dignity and human worth. And it is my honor to be meeting with leaders who feel just the same way I do. They're outraged, they're sad. They love America just as much as I do.

I want to thank you all for giving me a chance to come by. And may God bless us all.

So then, we people of other faith, can rely on the peace loving Muslims to unite and take out the evil doers of their faith. The ones who are destroying their reputations as a peace loving faith.

We are waiting!

I've been waiting for a long time.

Give it some time.  How many hundreds of years of Crusades did Muslims living in the Middle East have to endure before the Christians called that off?

Posted by bheid408 on 2/5/2016 8:09:00 AM (view original):
Obama proposes new tax on Americans of $10 per barrel of oil. Please f()ck us over some more Chief!

Gas prices should not be what they are right now.  It's going to screw us in the long run.

I wish we'd see better utilization of the US Strategic Oil Reserve to mitigate price fluctuations in the oil market.  We could probably have held gas prices around $3.50/gallon for the past decade or decade and a half if that had been done, rather than dealing with the violent swings.  Sure, it's nice now, but it'll suck in a couple of months or years or whatever when the price shoots back up to $4.50 or $5.

C'mon, It is only taxing the greedy oil companies.  They would never pass it on to the consumers.  Buy your electric cars that run on coal fired power plants!  That is so much better for the evil CO₂ out there.

It's not my fault you don't understand basic economics...

I might be dead in a couple of months/years.   I'll take my cheap gas now, thanks.

Posted by dahsdebater on 2/6/2016 12:04:00 PM (view original):
Give it some time.  How many hundreds of years of Crusades did Muslims living in the Middle East have to endure before the Christians called that off?

In making a statement like this you are implying that because it took a long time in the past it is OK to take a long time today. Why is it OK to compare what happened hundreds of years ago to what is happening now. I never understood that philosophy and never will. We aren't living under the same conditions as they were back then and the technology of everything we have and do now is so advanced that nothing should take as long to remedy as it did back then. Thinking that way now is just stupid. Are you Obama?

Posted by dahsdebater on 2/6/2016 12:06:00 PM (view original):

Posted by bheid408 on 2/5/2016 8:09:00 AM (view original):
Obama proposes new tax on Americans of $10 per barrel of oil. Please f()ck us over some more Chief!

Gas prices should not be what they are right now.  It's going to screw us in the long run.

I wish we'd see better utilization of the US Strategic Oil Reserve to mitigate price fluctuations in the oil market.  We could probably have held gas prices around $3.50/gallon for the past decade or decade and a half if that had been done, rather than dealing with the violent swings.  Sure, it's nice now, but it'll suck in a couple of months or years or whatever when the price shoots back up to $4.50 or $5.

It's all political. Why would the politicians use the oil reserve to maintain an even price on oil when they need to pay big oil back for the political favors that got them elected? It's also a way for the politicians themselves to line their pockets by buying and selling stock in the oil companies "at the right time" based on their own legislation. That is what is known as trading inside information, and while it's against the law for the general public it's not against the law for politicians.

Obama himself admitted that now is a good time to add his $10 per oil fee since the price is low. What he doesn't say is that when the price goes back up that he would remove the $10 fee. And by saying it is a fee on the oil companies he thinks the general public is too stupid to know that it won't get passed on to the customer. He's trying to hide what is just another TAX on gas by calling it something else.

A tax on gas is better than nothing.  Prices this low are unstable, and it will result in a bad spike.  Whether in a few months or a few years, we don't know.  But we do know that when gas is this cheap, people buy less fuel-efficient cars, and general usage goes up.  We're gonna burn through the surplus, and then we're gonna pay.

In addition to that, we're using up the global oil reserve.  I realize that a lot of people - mostly Republican people - like to argue that we just need to come up with a new power source before we use up all the oil, which gives us plenty of time.  I see that as incredibly short-sighted.  I think the problem is that people with no chemistry background tend to think of running out of oil as generating crises in the oil and gas markets.  From my perspective, this is only the lesser part of the problem.  I'm confident we CAN develop new energy sources.  The problem is that when we run out of oil, we don't just run out of oil and gas.  We also run out of everything we make with synthetic materials derived from building blocks distilled out of oil and gas.  Spoiler alert: that's EVERYTHING synthetic.  When we run out of oil, we run out of plastic.  No more PVC, polyester, vinyl, anything.  The vast majority of pharmaceuticals are synethesized at least partially from components of crude oil.  So no more meds.  No more rubbing alcohol.  No more pesticides.  No more refrigerants for our refrigerators and air conditioners.  The building blocks of most of our soaps and detergents are oil-based synthetics.  Paint.  Cosmetics.  Synthetic vitamins and food additives (flavors, colors, etc.)  Kevlar.  Carpet fibers.  Plastic electronics.  I could go on for hours.

I think there's a vast underestimation amongst the general public of how many things they use or appreciate on a daily basis are derived from petrochemicals.  Thinking of running out of oil as a gas and oil problem is horribly misguided.  We've been led in that direction by undereducated and oil-funded politicians and political advocates, but it's a blatant untruth.  Obviously we can come with alternative energy.  That's relatively easy.  Coming up with an alternative source of small molecules for synthesis is almost impossible.  That, of course, is why nobody is paying big bucks to advertise the problem.  But it's very real.