“even eliminated state funding for recycling programs.”
I suppose I could understand why someone might oppose the EPA or planned parenthood
But recycling?
That’s taking things too far, IMO
As a an who makes a fair amount of money recycling scrap, I would think a well-run recycling program should be able to operate “in the black” or at least revenue-neutral as compared to driving it all to the dump.
If a politician refuses to “prop up” an inefficient public waste recycler–I say privatize.
If he wants to PAY MORE to be environmentally unfriendly…that’s just stupid!
@db4690: “Are you criticizing him or vilifying him?”
I am doing neither. I am merely stating facts; ironic facts considering where the Republican party finds itself now.
Everyone who has followed my posts for any amount of time knows my political leanings. Those posts are there for you to read if you wish. You can find them via my profile. I’ve been posting in this forum for a long time.
You are correct . . . facts are facts
But when you make that kind of statement, you may bring out the worst in some of us
Hopefully not
Just saying
We needed the EPA or an equivalent department. In 1946 a Dutch professor at UCLA discovered that photo-chemical activity produce the famous smog. No other city had experienced such a thing before. The infamous London fog was fog with coal soot that killed 1500 in 1951.
No one in LA could believe that their precious cars were responsible for the smog. California went its own way in first legislation crankcase ventilating systems. The rest is history. Every country now has an equivalent of the EPA. I personally take issue with the EPA regulating CO2 in the atmosphere. CO2 is not a pollutant and its management belongs somewhere else.
With respect to recycling China gets 70% of its copper from recycling by importing other countries’ electrical and electronic waste. Without this we might go back to aluminum wiring again for homes as we did in the 70s. Recycling makes both environmental and in most cases economic sense as well.
Most big city newspapers are 50% recycled paper and my supermarket shopping bag was made from 50% recycled plastic.
Nixon’s campaign was based on ending the war in Vietnam. But it took him longer then 4 years to do it. He declared the war ending in 1973…which was funny because I was in Nam getting shot at 2 weeks after he declared the war is ending. The final end didn’t come until 1975.
As far as being a leader…he was a weak scared man who NEVER should have been in office. Probably the most paranoid president we ever had.
Nixon was also one of the most immoral presidents we ever had. I’ve listened to many of his tapes…He’s heard talking about killing women and children in a Vietnam village and that their lives mean NOTHING. I voted for him in his second term…and regretted ever doing it.
@docnick Ah, Cor Suijk is a good friend of ours if you ran across him. Spent some time in the camps and was the personal assistant to Otto Frank, and later CEO of the Ann Frank House. We’ve taken a number of Holocaust trips through Europe with him and he usually tries to connect when he’s in the US. His friend Meip was the one who saved the diary and have also met her a number of times. She’s dead now and Cor is not in great shape anymore but learned much about Holland and the occupation from him.
The parties of Ike, JFK, Johnson, and Nixon have little resemblance to the parties today. In fact JFK was one of the most conservative from an economic standpoint. One thing missing today on both sides is any great leadership with the long term health of the country at risk.
@Docnick
The sweet crude from the Middle East is both cheaper to extract and easier to refine then the thicker tar sands oil from Canada. Middle East oil is more expensive then Canadian oil because of the political unrest of the wars being fought in the area over the last ten years. The cost of refining and bringing either to market i feel is in favor of Middle East oil. Without sweet crude on the market from the Middle East, you can bet Canadian tar sands Oil would be $114 a gallon and not as low ($85) as it is. Middle East oil is of higher quality and easy to extract and is still preferred and still moderates the overall price of crude regardless of it’s higher price.
A more expensive Camry or Accord with it’s better resale value, keeps the price of a less desirable cars lower for the same market reasons.
@Bing, I agree !
Political discussions toady are generally nonsensical. Generally, different people identify with different parties even if they agree in substance on the same issues. Richard Nixon was a perfect case in point. Many of his views were extremely progressive and made sense to a lot of people. In favor of national healthcare and support for the EPA are progressive stances because in the long run, BOTH SAVE MONEY, and lives and that is what true conservatism is all about. How we ever got to where people in the Conservative . party will support the elimination of programs that actually save money and lives that are contrary to some of their well thought out conservative principles of the past is way beyond my understanding.
Richard Nixon just made sense on more issues then his so called liberal opponent at the time. That’s why he was elected. If we eliminate his criminal record and 5 o’clock shadow, he would stand a good chance of being elected today. Unfortunatly, it would have to be as an Independent. The same can be said for Dwight Eisenhower as far as his electability is concerned whom i consider one of the greatest presidents of all time given the time he served in. Now we have a race to the so called middle by both sides, neither of which is motivated by the well being of our populous, but by their desire to support the well to do. The top 1% has most if not ALL of the political power and wants little to do with programs like universal healthcare or the EPA getting in the way of their acquisition of more wealth.
This is why debates on politics make no sense. People vote for those they identify with as a label and not with issues. I asked a so called conservative friend if it was worth while putting everyone under the same guranteed plan to lower healthcare cost for everyone, save countless lives per year and make sure all the politicians were under the same plan as every other American…and was that fair. It was also a plan supported by his political party of the past. His response was remarkable but common. . It was, " do you know a friend of mine had his car pelted by tar by three minority teenagers"… " you should not insure people like that, so no, we should not have universal healthcare."
Politics has become a race to the bottom and the winner is the one who excludes the most people.
“Nixon’s campaign was based on ending the war in Vietnam. But it took him longer then 4 years to do it.”
+1
And, to top it off, a major part of his campaign mantra was, “I have a secret plan to end the war”. (Yes, that is a direct quote.) When pressed for details, his response was along the lines of, I can’t tell you because it is a secret! And…the vast majority of the public actually bought into this cryptic nonsense.
Since it did indeed take an additional 4 years for him to end our involvement in that war, apparently the plan was also a secret to his staff and to The Pentagon.
@dagosa There are a number of factors influencing oil pricing. Mostly it is supply and demand, but with the OPEC cartel controlling about half the supply, some price fixing is in order as well. The cost of producing oil has little to do what it is sold at. Middle East crude from existing wells costs as little as $1 a barrel to produce. Light oils from Alaska and other regions cost more to get out of the ground.
The quality of the oil determines the DISCOUNT from the world price which is currently about $112 a barrel, but could shoot up rapidly if there is another war in the Middle East due to the “Fear Factor”. Heavy Venezuelan crude and Canadian blend select are both discounted from the world price and from West Texas Intermediate (US market) because they require more processing. Heavy California crude sells for much less again. The amount of sulfur also has a bearing on the discount.
In a perfect, free market with no transportation constraints, Canadian oil would sell for about the same price as Venezuelan and other heavier grades like Nigerian. That would be about $15 less per barrel that light. And China would buy every barrel they could get their hands on. They are making heavy investments in Venezuela right now.
The other reason for price differentials is whether the commodity is traded world wide or is landlocked. Natural gas is very cheap in North America, but sells for nearly 4 times as much internationally. That’s because we have a glut of natural gas in Canada and the US. And that gas is currently not exported.
If you buy a couple of copies of the Oil & Gas Journal you will quickly get the hang of how the markets work. After 40 years in this business I still have to explain the complex interplay between politics, fear factors, Cartel actions and other factors that determine oil prices. The cost of production is the least important factor here.
Hope this helps.
@Bing Sorry I don’t know Cor, but we visited the Ann Frank museum last year when in Amsterdam. I almost feel I know them all since our drama guild put on “The Diary of Ann Frank” in college. Our biggest problem was controlling the behavior of the cat. I ended up dating the sister Margaret.
My late stepmother lived in Amsterdam during the war, not far from where the Franks lived.
@Docnick
Talk to some of the people around here about natural gas. While the initial price is very low compared to oil after being inticed into converting, so called delivery charges are escalating. Regardless, with out Middle East oil, oil ( and other energy costs) prices would be much higher. They are a huge player in the world oil supply and regardless of how you couch the numbers, they have a dramatic affect on the final price here. Nearly one third of the worlds oil comes from the Middle East and regardless of how little we directly use, without it, prices would be dramatically higher !
The idea that we can play the "what if game " in a free market neglects so many other economic factors, the biggest being the willingness of the consumer to pay. Just controlling everything from speed limits to sales of SUVs to the unwillingness of the auto company to get their act together on the electric car, to contrived refinery closings, influences pricing and the American public is and will always be held hostage by the Enron’s of the world. Many of the same companies that sell oil products, also sell natural gas. There is no savings for the public that isn’t still maximizing profits for energy companies. That’s the free market in which we live.
At one time you could follow the price of gas with the cost per barrel of oil. No more. It has a profit mind of it’s own based upon the public’s willingness to pay. And, my assertion still stands. We depend upon Middle East Oil whether we are direct users or not where we live, without it, energy prices would be higher, much higher.
“Oil and Gas Journal”
@Docnick
Please, using that as the definitive answer to price gouging practices by oil and gas companies ? That’s like going to the Red Sox team web sight for the truth on PEDs used by RedSox players.
A little investigating reporting is a little more revealing.
I’ve not been around since before the holiday weekend, but I missed this. Seems the Islam portion of the discussion has passed and now you’re talking about Watergate, but the broad-brush comments about Islam and other groups are very dangerous territory. Nobody from Al Jazeera or NPR told me anything…but let’s try to stick closer to the subject the board is here for, OK?
I for one am pretty happy that NPR is proud to have Al-Jazeera America as a sponsor
It shows that NPR is not narrow minded
It shows that NPR actually embraces diversity
As I said before, I will happily remain a contributing member of my local NPR station
It is called Islamophobia, a form of bigotry against Arabs and Muslims that invaded the US subsequent to 9/11. Like all bigotry, it is fomented by ignorance and even stupidity concerning Islam and Middle Eastern peoples. I don’t think NPR wants the support of practitioners of bigotry,
Before you comment on Al-jazeera you should at least listen to a couple of their broadcasts…
As for our mid-east oil imports, they are dropping quickly as our own crude-oil production skyrockets thanks to new drilling technology…As for the oil we DO import, most of it comes from Canada and Mexico…
@Caddyman " as for our Mid East oil imports…they are dropping quickly …"
And how has that influenced oil pricese ?