Kind of hard to regulate companies that are based in foriegn countries (IE: Venezuala, Saudi Arabia, England, etc). 

Unfortunately our politicians (all parties) have their hands in the cookie jars.  The same with the auto makers.  There is no reason we can't have higher mileage vehicles, they have them in Europe.

I think the Amish are having the last laugh on us now!!!

The only reason we don't have higher mileage cars in the US today is .....

Drum roll....

.

.

.

WE didn't buy them...

We wanted huge vehicles like Hummer and all their SUV wanna-bees.  Ford, GM et al have made small fuel effective vehicles for years in Europe.  WE are the  Problem.

Actually there are Amish Mennonites, in Ohio, who drive black cars...but because of the rise in fuel prices...they are parking their cars and getting their buggies back out...

I was in Southern California this weekend and had to pay $5.15 a gallon for diesel.

Ford Motors announced that they will not show a profit in 2008 and probably not until some time in 2009 due to the current recession, as the cost of fuel has slowed the sale of their high profit trucks.

Well just north of Los Angeles we are at $5.49. The wife and I aren't moving our two trucks unless we have to. Figure it's easier to saddle the horses to run errands

Jeff

I agree a lot of folks drive big gas guzzlers for a status symbol, but consider.....I get offended when people make broad statements about how we choose to drive great big rigs for the fashion statement etc. 

Hello.... the working ranch and farm has to haul heavy loads of produce, equipment, cattle, cow ponies, hay feed fertilizer .... get the picture?  Or.... America is gonna have trouble eating.  All this fuel cost..... it costs the farmer and rancher double.........

As for us, we help feed America... cattle to be precise.  We have equipment, not subsidized, that we pay for, maintain, and fuel at our own expense to try to achieve a profit on the calves we sell.  I don't have a rig here that is not capable of pulling a trailer, cuz every rig here has to work for a living.  I cannot afford to add to my financial load by adding yet again the purchase price, insurance and maintenance of another rig just cuz it is little.  My only saving grace is my job is here at the ranch, and I do not have the need for a small daily driver to go to a modest job.

If the rancher and farmer cannot afford their business, guess everybody will be eating lead saturated food imported from China, and non regulated groceries dripping with contaminants...sound good?  So when you see that guy or gal driving his rig through the parking lot, take a closer look........   there is likely manure on their boots and a farmer tan under that shirt and calluses on their hands.... and thank them for a job done under circumstances that many would not accommodate....

Here is what comes out of one barrel of sweet crude...

What Does One Barrel Of Crude Oil Make?
QUICK STATS - One barrel of crude oil contains 42 gallons - About 46% of each barrel of crude oil is refined into automobile gasoline - In the US and Canada an average of 3 gallons of crude oil are consumed per person each day - The US imports about 50% of its required crude oil and about 50% of that amount comes from OPEC countries
Product	Refined Gallons/Barrel
Gasoline	19.3
Distillate Fuel Oil (Inc. Home Heating and Diesel Fuel)	9.83
Kerosene Type Jet Fuel	4.24
Residual Fuel Oil	2.10
Petroleum Coke	2.10
Liquified Refinery Gases	1.89
Still Gas	1.81
Asphalt and Road Oil	1.13
Petrochemical Feed Supplies	0.97
Lubricants	0.46
Kerosene	0.21
Waxes	0.04
Aviation Fuel	0.04
Other Products	0.34
Processing Gain	2.47
Source: EIA March 2004 Data You want to know why oil prices keep going up...Here is part of the answer...  Oil rose above $133 a barrel Monday on persistent worries about global petroleum supplies and the outlook for the U.S. economy and the dollar. Reports of an attack by militants on an oil pipeline in Nigeria, one of Africa’s largest oil exporters, also helped boost prices. Light, sweet crude for July delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange was up 88 cents at $133.07 a barrel in electronic trading by late afternoon in Europe. The contract rose $1.38 to settle at $132.19 a barrel on Friday. Nymex floor trading was closed Monday for Memorial Day and it also was a holiday in Britain, resulting in lower trading volume than usual. The dollar has weakened over the last week after a modest recovery, and investors will be watching economic data out of the United States to be released over the next few days for further clues about the health of the world’s biggest economy. “The dollar’s been swinging down again,” said Mark Pervan, senior commodity strategist at Australia & New Zealand Bank in Melbourne, and that’s “going to sway sentiment.” Oil and other hard commodities are seen as hedges against a weakening dollar and inflation. Also, a weak dollar, the currency of international oil trade, makes petroleum products less expensive to Asian and European buyers. This week, investors will be watching for what implications U.S. consumer confidence, new home sales, gross domestic product and other economic data might have for the dollar and oil prices, he said. “It’s a pretty price sensitive week for economic data,” Pervan said. “The data we’re seeing out of the U.S. at the moment looks pretty weak. You’d expect that trend to continue, pushing further down on the dollar.” The dollar, one of the factors that has fed oil’s rally from about $65 a year ago, was lower against the yen, but up a bit against the euro in currency trading during the afternoon in Europe after losing ground Friday in New York. The euro slipped to $1.5764 compared with $1.5775 on Friday, while the dollar fell to 103.41 Japanese yen from 104.17 yen Friday. Prices also were supported when militants in Nigeria, a major supplier to the U.S. market, claimed they destroyed an oil pipeline and killed 11 soldiers in a gunbattle. The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta says it attacked the pipeline operated by a Royal Dutch Shell PLC joint venture early Monday. Shell officials were not immediately available for comment, and a military spokesman had no immediate confirmation of any overnight incidents. Last week, a series of supply warnings shook markets, and Thursday, a report that the International Energy Agency — the energy watchdog for the most industrialized nations — is in the process of lowering its forecast for long-term global oil supply, sent crude futures rocketing to an all-time high of $135.09 a barrel. Investors are also worried about a growing squeeze on global diesel supplies as demand in China surges has sparked a massive run up in heating oil prices. Over the weekend, China’s top economic planning agency again urged oil and power companies to make sure there are enough supplies for earthquake-hit areas and for the Beijing Olympic Games in August.

The link that "GONE" is speaking of.... 

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3870461488930715065

All of the shows I have attended this year (NRHA & AQHA) are bigger than ever. It doesn't look to me like people are staying home yet, in fact, it is the novice & rookie classes that are bigger than ever.

I paid $4.71 for diesel in NE Ohio on Sunday morning heading to a QH show. There were 47 aged geldings in the halter! And the show went to well after 1 AM every night.

There was an NRHA event in Williamston, NC this past weekend as well. It went to 5:30 AM on Sunday morning. Doesn't look like entries are down anywhere I've been.

alot of people are going in groups rather solo.  I know I'm not going anywhere out of town unless there's someone else to share in the expenses with and I trail ride (don't show).

the turnout at our local saddle club is also dwindling - Diesel is over 5.00/gal here by Chicago with no end in sight to it increasing.  this is my daily driver vehicle so this is not good.

This is BS!!!!

If you research this individual just a little bit...you would have found this site...

http://survivalcenter.com/lw.html

Lindsey Williams 7 DVD's Include*:

1. Energy Non-Crisis -- "No longer available due to threat to author".

Yet you can find the entire text online here...

http://www.reformation.org/energy-non-crisis.html

And as you posted...all of these You-Tube postings...Hmmm...you think the youtube posting would also cause a threat to his life...

1. Torn From the Land ( about the American Family Farm Crisis )
2. Vaccinations - Do they work? Is it worth the risk?
3. Economic Hit Man - Lindsey Williams interviews an Economic Hit man in Prison ( Many of his predictions have already come to pass, are you ready for the rest of the story?)
4. Stem Enhance - Are Adult Stem Cells The Answer to PERFECT HEALTH?
5. Loose Change - 911 and many other subjects. ( Free Bonus not for sale)
6. Lou Dobbs on The North American Union. ( Free Bonus not for sale)
7. Dangers of Evolution ( Free Bonus not for sale)

The rest of these videos are almost laughable...and therefore I will not waste my time or yours analyzing them...