Jebus said:
Kind of like those reports of revolutions, insurgencies, and general non-American problems plaguing countries most people can't point to on a map, let alone pronounce because they are so small and useless?
Good Bye New Orleans, I Hardly Knew Thee
- Thread starter John Uskglass
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Kind of like those reports of revolutions, insurgencies, and general non-American problems plaguing countries most people can't point to on a map, let alone pronounce because they are so small and useless?
Fireblade said:
Y'know, I'd rather hear about the negotiations with North Korea, the constitution in Iraq, the new Chinese textile import quotas in the EU or other stuff that actually matter shit instead of hearing a fat American talk about his machine-that-can-make-30000-meals-in-one-day as the top story for the day on the Belgian news.
But perhaps that's just me.
Bradylama
So Old I'm Losing Radiation Signs
A machine that could make 30,000 meals a day would be pretty big fucking news.
New Orleans seems to have gotten off pretty well. Last I heard, only a single levi was breached, and the floodwaters only reach a foot. There'll be some significant damage, but nothing close to worst-case. There were some cops that had their personal watercraft in the parking garage of an abandoned shopping mall in case the flood waters got so high they'd have to launch them from the garage to help people stranded in buildings.
My dad and I went out and filled up the truck and about 15 gallons worth of gas containers. Prices jumped 30 cents at 2 'o clock today, and word is that it'll raise 3 dollars by the end of the week.
New Orleans seems to have gotten off pretty well. Last I heard, only a single levi was breached, and the floodwaters only reach a foot. There'll be some significant damage, but nothing close to worst-case. There were some cops that had their personal watercraft in the parking garage of an abandoned shopping mall in case the flood waters got so high they'd have to launch them from the garage to help people stranded in buildings.
My dad and I went out and filled up the truck and about 15 gallons worth of gas containers. Prices jumped 30 cents at 2 'o clock today, and word is that it'll raise 3 dollars by the end of the week.
John Uskglass
Venerable Relic of the Wastes
Jebus, do you even know anything about New Orleans? It's probably THE most European city in America, maybe all the Americas.
Phil the Nuka-Cola Dude
Sonny, I Watched the Vault Bein' Built!
Wow, I seriously hope you are wrong about the gas prices...
John Uskglass said:
1. Aren't most of your cities founded by Europeans anyway?
2. What the hell is a "European" city?
Phil said:
Why? Euros have lived with it for decades now, we're not starving to death yet
Bradylama
So Old I'm Losing Radiation Signs
Europe also has a much different social clime and scale of economy. While Europeans have local-scale economies, where one needn't travel long distances to do anything, America has developed with a large-scale economy, where we do have to travel long distances to do anything. This is due to a number of factors that I think we've already gone into at length, so suffice it to say that high oil prices for Europe aren't nearly as debilitating as those for the United States.
And John is mostly talking out of his ass. New Orleans is only European in the prevailance of French architecture in the aptly named "French Quarter", and its liberal atmosphere in regards to social conduct.
As an addition, we're thinking of getting electric-assist motors for our bicylces. The good ones can get up to 25 mph on a flat surface. Something that's ideal for dudes like us out in the Midwest that live in smaller communities.
And John is mostly talking out of his ass. New Orleans is only European in the prevailance of French architecture in the aptly named "French Quarter", and its liberal atmosphere in regards to social conduct.
As an addition, we're thinking of getting electric-assist motors for our bicylces. The good ones can get up to 25 mph on a flat surface. Something that's ideal for dudes like us out in the Midwest that live in smaller communities.
John Uskglass
Venerable Relic of the Wastes
As is often my way.
And cuisine. And a lot of people of French origin. And religion (only without the lack of it).
Sorry, what else is required to make it more European?
Bradylama said:
I thought this myth about the Americans being more mobile had been discredited ages ago... This might've been the case around 1930 or so, but things have changed since then. Both in the USA and in Europe.
This is due to a number of factors that are too obvious to go into at length.
CCR said:
Have them not whining and evacuating entire cities because of some bad weather.
Bradylama
So Old I'm Losing Radiation Signs
I'd hardly call the Cajuns "European," John.
Not sure I follow. Many people sometimes drive 45 miles to work each day, so how exactly aren't we a commuter economy? Not to meniton that places like Tucson, big cities living out in the armpit of the world wouldn't have been able to thrive without necessities being shipped to them.
Not sure I follow. Many people sometimes drive 45 miles to work each day, so how exactly aren't we a commuter economy? Not to meniton that places like Tucson, big cities living out in the armpit of the world wouldn't have been able to thrive without necessities being shipped to them.
John Uskglass
Venerable Relic of the Wastes
It is, when compared to the rest of the USA. Parts are still somewhat Francophone, the cuisine is basically French+. Maybe more 'Continental' as most of the USA is pretty European, as Quebec has the required number of Communists, anti-theists and perverts required to make it European.
Phil the Nuka-Cola Dude
Sonny, I Watched the Vault Bein' Built!
The Creole culture in New Orleans is French/African, not just French.
Bradylama said:
I'm not saying that the Americans aren't mobile, I'm saying that they are not or barely more mobile than Europeans are. Localised production in Europe has been a thing of the past for ages now, and especially since the full European common market people are driving around over here just as much as they are over there. This all seems pretty logical to me. In this respect, I fail to see the difference between wine being shipped between [insert random city here] and Tuscon, or between Bordeaux and Paris. Shipping is shipping, no matter what city involved - very few cities, both in the USA or the EU still produce the commodities and consumer goods needed for urban life in those urban centers themselves. Again, seems pretty logical to me. Also, 'many people' is, as you probably very well know, an abstraction that has no factual - or even statistical - basis, and has in no way been compared to the 'many people' that drive 45 miles to work each day here in Europe. Also, 'many people' is not that 'many people' as it has perhaps sometimes been, as the teriary sector in the USA is by now as spread out as it is in Europe too. Again, seems pretty logical to me.
Phil the Nuka-Cola Dude
Sonny, I Watched the Vault Bein' Built!
I only have to drive two miles to work, screw mobility!
The Vault Dweller
always looking for water.
John Uskglass said:
How about a few Authentic Europeans?
,The Vault Dweller
Bradylama said:
Jebus is right.
You have to realise most of the EU's oil-economy is balanced around the fact that trucks as a form of transport are fairly cheap, thanks to Diesel, while public transport also runs on this or other forms of "cheaper" fuels, which balances out a lot of the commuting.
On top of that, most if not all governments have forced all cars to have a very low oil-expenditure, easily getting 15 km to the liter (I forgot how that converts), which saves a surprising amount of cost. Add to this the fact that we have no social need to own multiple cars and its fine to have second-hand cars too, and somehow it balances out
The US can do it too, easily, but it kind of doesn't fit into your consumerist economy.
Graz'zt said:
The New York Times
August 30, 2005
Storms Vary With Cycles, Experts Say
By KENNETH CHANG
Because hurricanes form over warm ocean water, it is easy to assume that the recent rise in their number and ferocity is because of global warming.
But that is not the case, scientists say. Instead, the severity of hurricane seasons changes with cycles of temperatures of several decades in the Atlantic Ocean. The recent onslaught "is very much natural," said William M. Gray, a professor of atmospheric science at Colorado State University who issues forecasts for the hurricane season.
From 1970 to 1994, the Atlantic was relatively quiet, with no more than three major hurricanes in any year and none at all in three of those years. Cooler water in the North Atlantic strengthened wind shear, which tends to tear storms apart before they turn into hurricanes.
In 1995, hurricane patterns reverted to the active mode of the 1950's and 60's. From 1995 to 2003, 32 major hurricanes, with sustained winds of 111 miles per hour or greater, stormed across the Atlantic. It was chance, Dr. Gray said, that only three of them struck the United States at full strength.
Historically, the rate has been 1 in 3.
Then last year, three major hurricanes, half of the six that formed during the season, hit the United States. A fourth, Frances, weakened before striking Florida.
"We were very lucky in that eight-year period, and the luck just ran out," Dr. Gray said.
Global warming may eventually intensify hurricanes somewhat, though different climate models disagree.
In an article this month in the journal Nature, Kerry A. Emanuel, a hurricane expert at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, wrote that global warming might have already had some effect. The total power dissipated by tropical cyclones in the North Atlantic and North Pacific increased 70 to 80 percent in the last 30 years, he wrote.
But even that seemingly large jump is not what has been pushing the hurricanes of the last two years, Dr. Emanuel said, adding, "What we see in the Atlantic is mostly the natural swing."
Kharn said:
In other words: if the Americans would get those gas powered anal stimulators out of their bungholes and stop whining, they could easily adapt to the situation because the Europeans were able too?
Sorry if I sound bitter, but the astronomical gas prices in Europe are mostly caused by the USA (and China) blowing their demands way out of proportions in the past years.
Luckily I don't have much of a personal reason to care yet, because I managed to get into the local university, which I can easily get to with the public transport. But if I ever need to get a driver's license, I'll definitely buy one of those anything-to-oil converters and recycle baby corpses to fuel in my basement.
I think I'll just buy a bike. It's not only economical, but also healthy.
So I hear Biloxi Mayor and Landrieu (Senators?) have been comparing this to the tsunami.
...
Idiots.
That said, this is even better, from today's Guardian Unlimited:
Tonight the White House said the US president, George Bush, was cutting short a holiday at his ranch in Texas and would be returning to Washington tomorrow, two days early.
He, like everyone else, knew the storm was coming. For several days we've known it'll be very bad. ANY responsible leader of a country would have come home ages ago. He decides that it might be a good idea to go back after 80 people already died?!
Dude, someone impeach the man, this is getting sad
...
Idiots.
That said, this is even better, from today's Guardian Unlimited:
Tonight the White House said the US president, George Bush, was cutting short a holiday at his ranch in Texas and would be returning to Washington tomorrow, two days early.
He, like everyone else, knew the storm was coming. For several days we've known it'll be very bad. ANY responsible leader of a country would have come home ages ago. He decides that it might be a good idea to go back after 80 people already died?!
Dude, someone impeach the man, this is getting sad