One hundred truck drivers drove to Washington, D.C. to protest high fuel prices. They came from as far away as Maine in their trucks and formed a convoy in the city.

They drove their trucks hundreds of miles and used thousands of dollars worth of fuel to protest high fuel prices. Of course! The best way to show that fuel prices are in desperate need of government relief is to drive trucks hundreds of miles while getting six miles per gallon. That'll show them how badly they're hurting.

I thought it was a story from The Onion at first, but I'm not even sure they would have made that up.

Truckers protest high gasoline prices

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"Some years ago I had a sobering realization about women, which was that there are just too many nice ones. One simply can't fall in love with, sleep with, or marry all the nice women...One of the saddening facts of life is that there is always going to be a delightful woman somewhere who, for whatever accident of timing or attraction, simply slips by and recedes to return only in a dream."
-Larry McMurtry in Roads

Wow.

Burning up all that $5/gallon diesel will sure show them!



BTW, not sure which "them" was shown, but I'm trying to be positive.

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When they come a wull staun ma groon
Staun ma groon al nae be afraid
Thoughts awe hame tak awa ma fear
Sweat an bluid hide ma veil awe tears

Obviously they do not know much about supply and demand.

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"Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

Or they just don't care. I heard in an interview with one of them that they are trying to get Congress to cap fuel prices at $2 per gallon. Now, I know politicians are open to pandering to the public, especially with an election looming, but that's absurd.

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"Some years ago I had a sobering realization about women, which was that there are just too many nice ones. One simply can't fall in love with, sleep with, or marry all the nice women...One of the saddening facts of life is that there is always going to be a delightful woman somewhere who, for whatever accident of timing or attraction, simply slips by and recedes to return only in a dream."
-Larry McMurtry in Roads

They should have all gotten in Kias and driven down.

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"Jesus said: I have cast fire upon the world, and behold I guard it until it is ablaze."
Gospel of Thomas

People will be signing to a different tune when they are paying 8.00 for a gallon of milk for the kid.. or paying an extra 125.00 to the airline for each ticket to cover fuel.
Inside the belt way will not get the message til it is all over but the fat lady has done her song.

As a side question, Just how are the truckers to send a message to the boys and girls in the belt way of D.C.?

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Fear the Government

Honestly, driving a bunch of trucks into D.C. and blaring their horns is probably the most effective way to get their message across, but I don't think their message is very powerful. It also wouldn't have hurt to have more than 100 trucks show up. I've only been to D.C. twice, but I have think demonstrations of 100 people aren't unusual.

Anyway...

Yes, fuel prices are high, but in no way will I support the federal government regulating the price of fuel in this country. Some of them might be going out of business, but chances are pretty good that as fuel prices continue to rise, the transportation industry will become more efficient. It will have to. I might be labeled as a free-market nut because of it, but I think the fuel price situation in this country will eventually be a great example of "creative destruction" at work. I might be wrong, but I have a lot of faith in human ingenuity.

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"Some years ago I had a sobering realization about women, which was that there are just too many nice ones. One simply can't fall in love with, sleep with, or marry all the nice women...One of the saddening facts of life is that there is always going to be a delightful woman somewhere who, for whatever accident of timing or attraction, simply slips by and recedes to return only in a dream."
-Larry McMurtry in Roads

In some parts of the county the rail system might get a re-birth, but here in Alaska the only ways in for frieght is the Alcan highway, ship or plane..... no rail system from the states to Alaska.

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Fear the Government

I have only been to DC a few times. But I can only imagine what chaos a hundred trucks in convoy would have done to Conneticut Ave. Or up and down the streets along the mall. Now I think something more effective could have been done surely. 100 trucks is a drop in the bucket. You bring in a thousand trucks and Ill be impressed, and then you would see action. Imagine 100k Federal employees held up for an extra few hours on the commute home.

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Abstinence Education at its finest:

When pebble finally dies, I think you might see a light line to bring in cheaper goods to the west coast. Going from pile bay to clarks point. Then barge out from there to the other hub cities. Take off 2 weeks for the trip around the AK peninsula. Probably at least 10 years out.
But it still doesnt make a connection to the lower 48.

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Abstinence Education at its finest:

It would be great if there was a road and rail system that covered more of Alaska, but that would mean that the the people in the states that have been saying no to say ok..
It is a sad state when a state needs to go to the FEDS to get the ok to build roads or rail with in their own state.

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Fear the Government

I guess I'm pretty ignorant when it comes to Alaska, but why do you need to go to the federal government to build roads?

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"Some years ago I had a sobering realization about women, which was that there are just too many nice ones. One simply can't fall in love with, sleep with, or marry all the nice women...One of the saddening facts of life is that there is always going to be a delightful woman somewhere who, for whatever accident of timing or attraction, simply slips by and recedes to return only in a dream."
-Larry McMurtry in Roads

It is not that we need the Feds to bank roll the build, just get out of the reg way and let us do it.

Alaska is no diffenent than the rest of the states in the fedeal taxes on fuel, just that we has to kiss more ass to get what we have paid in to the system.

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Fear the Government

Its complicated really. But the federal gov owns 70% of the lands in Alaska. That is quite a bit bigger than the state of Texas. So basically there is some conflicts throughout the state where local interests become federal issues. ANWR, The Gravina Island Bridge, King Cove road, Tongass logging, all really require acts of congress to get anything done.

one quick example, the bridge to nowhere that McCain hammers all the time, is actually somewhere. It is the non-existent bridge that would connect Ketchikan to Gravina Island. Ketchikan is the 5th largest city in Alaska, and the closest to the lower 48, and a major tourist hub. Gravina Island is where the poppulation of 50, but it also is where the frackin airport is. So we get stuck in the middle, and if you live in Ketchikan Alaska, you must take a ferry to the airport. It is a major pain in the ass. Trust me.

So basically 3/4th of Alaska is a park of some sort. And what is designated a park versus another part wasnt really thought out to well. So when a town wants to build a road say 20 miles to the next town, it takes an act of congress and the consent of the President.

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Abstinence Education at its finest:

They should do it like in Italy. Shut down the entire country for a week. Would be fun.

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Terrornoia: how the propa-ugandists used the omni-territorialization of terror for the fundamen-talismanization of criminal law in a multi-cultus-ritualistic society