It's About Liberty: A Conservative Forum
Topics => General Board => Topic started by: michelleo on June 08, 2011, 12:22:16 PM
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In our area we've had a rash of thefts in public parks and private residences of the copper bell backflow devices on sprinkler systems as well as sprinkler heads and brass vases found in cemetaries holding flowers on grave sites. The new normal.
All it takes is a daily perusing of drudge to see the country is going to crap. We're already starting to see marauding mobs, copper thievery everywhere, even 4 yr olds on school buses aren't safe. How long before we start to see homemade Mad Max tanks roaming our streets?!
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I saw a headline on Drudge the other day about a train derailing because thieves stole the steel rails off the track. I didn't read the article so I don't know where that happened.
Welcome to the Third World. Before long we'll no longer have electricity because the scavengers will have ripped the wires out of our houses to sell for scrap.
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The Obama/Soros plan comes together, the sonsabtches. True statement: Obama is here to see over our decline. Well, he and they can miss my azz.
Mine might be one of the first Mad Max tanks if I think that's what we'll need.
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I saw a headline on Drudge the other day about a train derailing because thieves stole the steel rails off the track. I didn't read the article so I don't know where that happened.
Welcome to the Third World. Before long we'll no longer have electricity because the scavengers will have ripped the wires out of our houses to sell for scrap.
The easiest residential target for copper thieves are air conditioners. You go to work and when you come home there is nothing left but a concrete pad where the air conditioner used to be. The thieves back a truck up to the unit, turn off the electricity to it and then use bolt cutters on the copper tubing and power line. Then they hoist it into the truck bed for a quick ride to the nearest empty lot. Once there they rip the thing apart - discarding the steel and keeping the copper and aluminum coil that wraps around it. Huge environmental mess: Loss of refrigerant (if you think that's a big deal) and a small pool of oil on the ground. Plus the steel and the compressor.
I can't figure on anyone taking steel, though. The price of steel is crappy. You have to be able to literally steal tons of steel to get anything for it. If you have to drive any distance at all to get rid of it, you use up your profit in gasoline. But thieves are stupid so who knows?
The big ticket metals are copper, aluminum and brass. Most are easily stolen. Especially from construction sites (there aren't many of those but they do still exist)...wiring, pipe and plumbing fixtures. Door hardware is mostly brass but since these are usually locked after installation it's harder to steal them.
Obamanomics. Gotta love it.
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Who's buying stolen copper?
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Who's buying stolen copper?
Scrap metal brokers do not (in most cases) ask where it comes from. After it's in their hands for a few hours it is usually untraceable. In some cases they will ask for some kind of written "proof" of origin. This can be just about any hand written document (receipt) that supposedly was issued to the thief by the person he obtained the metal from. It's also a handy fake document to have on hand if the thief is pulled over by law enforcement on the way to the scrap metal broker.
Legitimate scrap metal sellers will purchase their goods from electricians, plumbers, locksmiths and heating and air-conditioning companies (to name the most common sources) before selling it to a broker. Thieves will get their stuff from any available source (as noted in previous post).
In the past, metal thieves have tended to be drug addicts who are looking for a cheap and (relatively easy) way to score more drugs. Ripping the guts out of construction sites after hours and on weekends is easier and safer than armed robbery or burglary. Today, though, the wonders of Obamanomics is making everyday life begin to resemble Les Miserables and desperate people resort to unscrupulous methods to make ends meet. Imagine how crazy things will get if and when unemployment rises further and/or a depression sets in.
A bit of anecdotal history: I remember the gas shortages of the late 1970's (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1979_energy_crisis) being particularly bad for thievery. Gasoline prices had risen to well over 250% since the previous decade and had done so inside of only a year or two (thanks President Carter!). This was a big financial shock to a lot of people and some of them began to do strange and unusual things. Drive offs, where someone would fill their tank, drop the nozzle on the ground and speed off without paying, were the most common. Siphoning was pretty common, too. I remember one story where a fairly sophisticated van would pull up over the fill caps for the underground tanks, lower a hose into them from a trap door in the van and then pump the gas up into 55 gallon drums. Even the people who ran gas stations would steal gas by "rounding." Rounding was a scheme where the attendant would fill his own tank at the end of the business day by taking anywhere from a half a gallon to nine tenths of a gallon from each pump. This was possible because of the way that the old gas pumps recorded the gas. Each pump had a (mechanical) digital readout much like the odometer in cars that recorded the total gas used. The attendant would have to take a reading on it at the end of the day. Usually they would only be required to record to the nearest gallon but the meter measured down to the tenth of a gallon. So, if the meter read 0 tenths the attendant could pump out 9 more tenths of a gallon and still record the same (whole) number. Particularly greedy attendants would shut pumps off during the day as soon as they saw a zero tenths reading. Depending on the number of pumps at the station a rounding thief could pull in anywhere between 10 or 20 gallons of gas. Then there were the attendants who took advantage of the odd/even day rationing of the Carter years. During those miserable times you could only purchase gas for your car if your license plate matched the calendar day number. On top of that gas stations had quotas that limited the total number of gallons they could sell each day. A rationing thief would shut down his station early, leaving several hundred gallons for him to sell to friends and special customers. The rationing thief would charge a few extra bucks per person (under the table) to fill cars "by appointment." A lot of people would gladly pay the bribe to avoid the nuisance of the long lines during the odd/even day rationing period.
Ahh, the Carter years. What bliss.
(http://img846.imageshack.us/img846/9696/cd1351f41c897b269eb75b1.jpg)
(http://img824.imageshack.us/img824/5/4220036369522.jpg)
A gas station would open and immediately a line would form. The quota would usually be something like three or four thousand gallons. That would mean 150 to 200 cars could fill up at 20 gallons a tank. So one of the attendants would begin to walk down the line of cars counting them off until they thought they had enough to make the quota and then they would hang a sign on the rear of the last car in their count that read, "LAST CAR." Fist fights would sometimes break out at the pumps and in the lines, especially when people would try to cut in line. It was just like the Soviet Union except it was America.
(http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/2910/theunitedstatesenergycr.jpg)
(http://img851.imageshack.us/img851/4779/jimmycarterconfidence2.jpg)
People just couldn't wait to vote for Reagan.
And that's the big problem for so many libs today (one in particular whose name we don't mention because he's such an ass, for example), they are just too young to remember the misery of the Carter years. Double digit inflation, ridiculously high priced gasoline, crazy mortgage rates, super high unemployment, the American hostages held in Iran, etc.
Remember the Misery Index (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misery_index_(economics))?
It was the sum of the unemployment rate and the rate of inflation.
During the Presidential campaign of 1976, Democratic candidate Jimmy Carter made frequent references to the Misery Index, which by the summer of 1976 was at 13.57%. Carter stated that no man responsible for giving a country a misery index that high had a right to even ask to be President. Carter won the 1976 election. However, by 1980, when President Carter was running for re-election against Ronald Reagan, the Misery Index had reached an all-time high of 21.98%. Carter lost the election to Reagan.
Our current misery index is just over 12% but that is only because of the Fed doing everything it can to keep inflation at bay. They won't be able to hold it back too much longer. Then the baby libs will start squealing because they have never known such a thing in their lifetimes.
Libs who are forty and younger have never known pain such as was experienced by adults during the Carter years. That's because they were either in diapers or not born yet. They have grown up and reached adulthood during the post Reagan golden age of prosperity. Well, two Bushes, a Clinton and an Obama have finally killed that golden egg laying goose and we are about to be truly in the sh*ts. Another term for President Dumbass will push us over the edge and that will be that. It will be a tough enough job for anyone to fix the mess we are in now. Only a true fiscal conservative has a chance to set things back to the way they need to be. And even then, the young will be paying for it forever.
BONUS!!!
Three select songs from The Kinks "Low Budget" album. This outstanding album came out in 1979 and was a pretty obvious statement about life during the Carter years. "A Gallon Of Gas" compared the difficulty (and expense) of obtaining a full tank to buying drugs:
A Gallon Of Gas (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQtVPKZ58v4#)
The title song, "Low Budget" reflected the reality of high inflation, the scarcity of decent jobs and having to make do with less:
The kinks low budget (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1cOCeWpCjw#)
Finally, "Catch Me Now I'm Falling" about America's impotence on the national stage under Carter:
The Kinks - Catch Me Now I'm Falling (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCR83LxGKkg#)
This is a great album with, sadly, historical importance and relevance to today's administration.
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People are driving off without paying here and have been for a little while now. If the attendant doesn't know you, you pay first, then pump. Also, there have been reports of what trap has stated; vans with floor-doors pulling over the tank-covers and filling on-board 55 gallon drums.
I imagine it will get worse, much worse, before long. The thefts mostly will not be paper money, they'll be commodities; grocery trucks, gas and propane tankers and such being hijacked.
Watch yourselves while traversing parking lots with full grocery carts and while loading into vehicles and when leaving drug and liquor stores.
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Yep, the times they are a changin'
Liberalism always brings out the best in people. Every. Single. Time.
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Include in that list of Carter favorites the Russian invasion of Afghanistan and the breaking of our security treaty with them. Instead of honoring the treaty and assisting them he chose the firm stance of boycotting the Olympics in protest. grrRuff
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Include in that list of Carter favorites the Russian invasion of Afghanistan and the breaking of our security treaty with them. Instead of honoring the treaty and assisting them he chose the firm stance of boycotting the Olympics in protest. grrRuff
Yeah, there was a lot of stuff that Carter sacrificed on his own personal alter of "human rights."
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I remember when you were limited to ten gallons per fill-up. One enterprising "entrepreneur" (not a store employee) would walk down the line, collecting the money from the customers, and then take off.
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I've heard about air conditioner theft, and while I've never heard of it happening in my area I figure it's only a matter of time.
I've thought about having a small chain link fence installed around my outdoor unit. I imagine it would have to have a gate on one side for service or replacement. Would that be enough to protect it, or could thieves lift it out vertically?
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Trap, as much as I hate Carter and despised the Carter years), I'm going to have to disagree with you. The long lines and no gas were because of the Arab oil embargo in '73. During Carter, we had gas, it just cost out the wazoo.
The reason I remember it so well, was my dad had a gas station at the time. The oil embargo (along with a couple other factors) pretty much ran him into bankruptcy from which he never recovered.
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I remember during the Carter years one of my babysitters telling me that her husband got beat up one night when he happen to go out to his car for something one night and discovered a guy siphoning the gas out of his work truck.
My mom claims she never waited in a line for gas back then...she says she went after everyone was at work. I don't remember my folks having a problem getting gas. But I do remember them hating Carter with a vengence.
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Trap, as much as I hate Carter and despised the Carter years), I'm going to have to disagree with you. The long lines and no gas were because of the Arab oil embargo in '73. During Carter, we had gas, it just cost out the wazoo.
The reason I remember it so well, was my dad had a gas station at the time. The oil embargo (along with a couple other factors) pretty much ran him into bankruptcy from which he never recovered.
The reason that I remember it so well is that it happened just as I described in Houston. Perhaps some parts of the country were immune but the pics that I posted all came from a search for "1979 Energy Crisis" And that first pic shows the rear end of a 1976 Datsun pickup.
Now, to be fair, I didn't check images for the 1973 Energy Crisis but I did just now and, yes, some of them are the same but the 76 Datsun pickup pic has to be from 1979. Also if you go to the linked article at the beginning of my long ass post you will find this:
The Jimmy Carter administration began a phased deregulation of oil prices on April 5, 1979, when the average price of crude oil was US$15.85 per barrel (42 US gallons). Over the next 12 months the price of crude oil rose to $39.50 per barrel (its all time highest real price until March 7, 2008.)[8] Deregulating domestic oil price controls allowed domestic U.S. oil output to rise sharply from the large Prudhoe Bay fields, while oil imports fell sharply. Hence, long lines appeared at gas stations, as they had six years earlier during the 1973 oil crisis.
All I can say is that I was in Houston in 1979 and we had odd/even days with quotas and long ass lines.
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The price almost doubled.
There was also every other day based on you license plate. I'm certain of those two things.
I worked night shift and by virtue of that and a 30 gallon tank managed to keep topped off.
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On the copper thefts: I had heard that copper prices had tanked due to the construction business being depressed. If they were only getting like .02 on the dollar before, I wonder what they're getting now?
On the gas crisis, I remember it well. We had lots of shortages. One way around it for me and a few enterprising individuals was to buy gas from the marina and transfer it to our cars. Since my summer job was fuel jockey at the marina it was a perfect fit ;D
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I was selling Buick and Opels in 73. People were trading big cars in for pennies on the dollar and paying over list for Opels. It was a disgrace.I had only been in the business for 9 months and the place went from 11 salesmen down to 3 I was one of them.
I was only married 10 months then and was scared to death because Nan was pregnant with our first.I stayed at work for every hour the place was open which was 9AM till 9 PM Mon/Fri and 9 Am to 6 PM for months and months to support them.
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I remember gas lines, but I recall that it was fairly easy to predict the best times to go to certain stations, once you knew their schedule for topping off their underground tanks. The few I frequented the most had tankers top them off at night, so if I got there right away in the morning when they opened up (most stations were not 24/7 back in the day!) I could top off without much waiting, if at all. And making sure all your gas cans were topped off in case you ran low before getting to a station was done. I remember more than one occassion where I was on fumes and needed a couple gallons out of the can to make it! We had one neighborhood station where we knew an employee who told us when their tanker came in, so we could get cars up there, that helped too. And people learned a little about logistics too, no back and forth stuff, errands were scheduled like bus runs so there was not any wasted fuel.
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WRBL story from this week (http://www2.wrbl.com/news/2011/jun/01/stopping-copper-theft-ar-1915277/) on a church which had its air conditioners stripped of copper. Several hundred bucks worth of copper for many thousands of dollars of damage.
“Even if insurance does cover it, the deductible takes away a lot of food and stuff that we could give to the people in the community, so it devastates a congregation like us,” said Reverend Harper.
Reverend Harper said if insurance does cover the damage, it looks like the church would still have to pay a four to $5,000 deductible.
In Shreveport, LA (http://www.shreveporttimes.com/article/20110609/NEWS03/110609022/More-arrests-made-copper-theft-ring?odyssey=tab%7Ctopnews%7Ctext%7CFRONTPAGE) the authorities made arrests this week...
Webster sheriff’s investigators have arrested four more people in connection with a multi-parish copper theft ring targeting oil and gas locations.
The individual thefts, which number in the hundreds, total more than $315,000 in stolen copper wire. Shane Nipper, who confessed his involvement to authorities, reportedly sold the copper for scrap and netted $30,000 to $40,000.
Comprehensive NYTs article from February: (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/08/us/08theft.html)
From Hawaii to Florida, thieves have electrocuted themselves and caused electrical and telephone failures and street light blackouts. Many municipalities, which have been hard hit by budget deficits, have been unable to afford repairs.
Highways in some states have remained darkened for months. In California, where copper wire theft appears to be most rampant, according to law enforcement officials, Little League baseball fields have gone dark because the wiring was stolen from the lights.
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The Coalition Against Copper Theft (http://www.coppercoalition.com/)
(it's a lobbying group, duh)
It's serious when they start to lobby congress to do something.
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Newnan, GA Church Air Conditioners Gutted (http://www.times-herald.com/Local/More-copper-stolen----this-time-at-a-church---on-Savannah-Street--1707546)
Minnie Robinson, program coordinator with CAFI, said that she arrived at work Monday to discover they had become victims of this all-too-common crime. Copper had been removed from two air-conditioning units, rendering them unusable.
"I've been here 43 years and never seen this before," said Robinson on Tuesday. "I've heard about it. I hear people talk about this happening to churches and things like that, but I didn't know what they were talking about.
"It's really sad to see people who don't have anything else to do than demolish people's property," she continued. "It's very frustrating."
In the latest case, on Thursday just before 5 a.m., Newnan Police Officer Christopher Robinson was on patrol on Savannah Street when he noticed something suspicious at Stonepoint Church, located at 18 Savannah St., according to the police incident report.
Robinson observed four units on the east side of the building appeared damaged. He found that all four units had been opened and most of the copper tubing had been cut out and stolen, according to the report.
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In California, where copper wire theft appears to be most rampant,
California? ::falldownshocked::
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In California, where copper wire theft appears to be most rampant,
California? ::falldownshocked::
As the economy worsens CA will take on the look of a car up on blocks, stripped of all value and left for dead on a street in the ghetto.
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In California, where copper wire theft appears to be most rampant,
California? ::falldownshocked::
As the economy worsens CA will take on the look of a car up on blocks, stripped of all value and left for dead on a street in the ghetto.
The only thing bad about that scenario that I can see is that the parasites will then be looking for a new host to ravage.
::rockets::
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In California, where copper wire theft appears to be most rampant,
California? ::falldownshocked::
As the economy worsens CA will take on the look of a car up on blocks, stripped of all value and left for dead on a street in the ghetto.
The only thing bad about that scenario that I can see is that the parasites will then be looking for a new host to ravage.
::rockets::
I have a daughter who wants to move to CA. As supportive as I am of her dreams I have to admit I'm praying she gets a new dream.
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In California, where copper wire theft appears to be most rampant,
California? ::falldownshocked::
As the economy worsens CA will take on the look of a car up on blocks, stripped of all value and left for dead on a street in the ghetto.
The only thing bad about that scenario that I can see is that the parasites will then be looking for a new host to ravage.
::rockets::
I have a daughter who wants to move to CA. As supportive as I am of her dreams I have to admit I'm praying she gets a new dream.
If forced at gunpoint I would still insist on being north of Sacramento!
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I have a daughter who wants to move to CA. As supportive as I am of her dreams I have to admit I'm praying she gets a new dream.
If forced at gunpoint I would still insist on being north of Sacramento!
Ah, if it were that easy.
She wants to live in southern CA.
Although she did look up the most conservative counties after the last election. She's pretty conservative and doesn't mind taking on anyone in a debate (I keep telling her to start a blog). Perhaps though I better send some articles her way.
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I have a daughter who wants to move to CA. As supportive as I am of her dreams I have to admit I'm praying she gets a new dream.
If forced at gunpoint I would still insist on being north of Sacramento!
Ah, if it were that easy.
She wants to live in southern CA.
Although she did look up the most conservative counties after the last election. She's pretty conservative and doesn't mind taking on anyone in a debate (I keep telling her to start a blog). Perhaps though I better send some articles her way.
"Although she did look up the most conservative counties after the last election."
Just remember, Orange County is surrounded!
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The reason that I remember it so well is that it happened just as I described in Houston. Perhaps some parts of the country were immune but the pics that I posted all came from a search for "1979 Energy Crisis" And that first pic shows the rear end of a 1976 Datsun pickup.
I stand corrected. By the time '79 rolled around, I was working in the offshore industry and didn't have much time to buy gas. It seemed like anyone could get it if they could afford it. My most memorable moments of the Carter years are the interest rates and the inflation.
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The reason that I remember it so well is that it happened just as I described in Houston. Perhaps some parts of the country were immune but the pics that I posted all came from a search for "1979 Energy Crisis" And that first pic shows the rear end of a 1976 Datsun pickup.
I stand corrected. By the time '79 rolled around, I was working in the offshore industry and didn't have much time to buy gas. It seemed like anyone could get it if they could afford it. My most memorable moments of the Carter years are the interest rates and the inflation.
Car loan interest rates were 21.5% only because Connecticut had a state cap or they would have been higher.
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Some folks invested a boat load of $$$ into long term CDs. ...16% '79/'82
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Some folks invested a boat load of $$$ into long term CDs. ...16% '79/'82
The owner of the dealership I worked at was being charged prime +2% and prime was 19% so he decided to offer us 20% return if we loaned him money for 6 mo. at a time. I did it and it paid on nicely.He figure that it was a win win and his people could make some money and he could save 1%.
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I remember gas lines, but I recall that it was fairly easy to predict the best times to go to certain stations, once you knew their schedule for topping off their underground tanks. The few I frequented the most had tankers top them off at night, so if I got there right away in the morning when they opened up (most stations were not 24/7 back in the day!) I could top off without much waiting, if at all. And making sure all your gas cans were topped off in case you ran low before getting to a station was done. I remember more than one occassion where I was on fumes and needed a couple gallons out of the can to make it! We had one neighborhood station where we knew an employee who told us when their tanker came in, so we could get cars up there, that helped too. And people learned a little about logistics too, no back and forth stuff, errands were scheduled like bus runs so there was not any wasted fuel.
The key to success for us was an utter indifference to the rules and a transfer pump. No, we didn't siphon other people's gas tanks, but we would fill up on the even days in one car and then go back to fill in another car on the odd days. We would transfer fuel from vehicle to vehicle as needed in total defiance of the authorities. We would trade plates on the van that had the 30 gallon fuel tank.
And we looked out for each other. Mom & dad's cars always came first. Dad was always grumpy and disapproving but he never turned away the full tank. Mom just chose to focus elsewhere.
I was in my early teens and still trying to make sense of the world around me. I was witness to our country slipping a cog, thanks to jimmuh carter. I got to learn about home-style fascism and heavy-handed authoritarianism. Seattle cops aren't as corrupt as Chicago or New Orleans cops - but they're damned close. I was beaten more than once by cops. I was involved in riots in the summer of '69 so from then on I found myself in a peculiar, not quite criminal side of the law, but not entirely legal side either. I learned that respect is earned and in the absence of it I would do whatever it took to take care of me & mine.
Somewhere along the line I must have lost some of my idealism ::eyes::
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On top of that gas stations had quotas that limited the total number of gallons they could sell each day. A rationing thief would shut down his station early, leaving several hundred gallons for him to sell to friends and special customers. The rationing thief would charge a few extra bucks per person (under the table) to fill cars "by appointment." A lot of people would gladly pay the bribe to avoid the nuisance of the long lines during the odd/even day rationing period.
Exactly like the Soviet Union or any Third World hellhole. Funny how government-controlled economies always end up like that. If you don't have a friend who's a gas station owner, you're SOL. Get to the back of the line.
People often say, "Socialism doesn't work." I reply, "Nonsense. It works just fine for people in positions of power and those who have connections."
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I remember gas lines, but I recall that it was fairly easy to predict the best times to go to certain stations, once you knew their schedule for topping off their underground tanks. The few I frequented the most had tankers top them off at night, so if I got there right away in the morning when they opened up (most stations were not 24/7 back in the day!) I could top off without much waiting, if at all. And making sure all your gas cans were topped off in case you ran low before getting to a station was done. I remember more than one occassion where I was on fumes and needed a couple gallons out of the can to make it! We had one neighborhood station where we knew an employee who told us when their tanker came in, so we could get cars up there, that helped too. And people learned a little about logistics too, no back and forth stuff, errands were scheduled like bus runs so there was not any wasted fuel.
The key to success for us was an utter indifference to the rules and a transfer pump. No, we didn't siphon other people's gas tanks, but we would fill up on the even days in one car and then go back to fill in another car on the odd days. We would transfer fuel from vehicle to vehicle as needed in total defiance of the authorities. We would trade plates on the van that had the 30 gallon fuel tank.
And we looked out for each other. Mom & dad's cars always came first. Dad was always grumpy and disapproving but he never turned away the full tank. Mom just chose to focus elsewhere.
I was in my early teens and still trying to make sense of the world around me. I was witness to our country slipping a cog, thanks to jimmuh carter. I got to learn about home-style fascism and heavy-handed authoritarianism. Seattle cops aren't as corrupt as Chicago or New Orleans cops - but they're damned close. I was beaten more than once by cops. I was involved in riots in the summer of '69 so from then on I found myself in a peculiar, not quite criminal side of the law, but not entirely legal side either. I learned that respect is earned and in the absence of it I would do whatever it took to take care of me & mine.
Somewhere along the line I must have lost some of my idealism ::eyes::
Working as a family was the way to go,we had a dump truck and boat cans that we used as storage and to be honest I had a 55 gal drum that was used too.Because the dealership had a connection with a gas station we went on off hours to fill up and did the siphon thing till everything was filled up and kept it all full all the time.As a salesman I had a 20 gal allowance per week but I only used 7 so 13 gals a week came out of my demo (Opel Manta) and I made a deal to fill the wife's car every week and used very little because she didn't work then(I wanted her home with the baby) so it was all good,we even went fishing on weekends.
And we had a couple of people we helped out too.
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The reason that I remember it so well is that it happened just as I described in Houston. Perhaps some parts of the country were immune but the pics that I posted all came from a search for "1979 Energy Crisis" And that first pic shows the rear end of a 1976 Datsun pickup.
I stand corrected. By the time '79 rolled around, I was working in the offshore industry and didn't have much time to buy gas. It seemed like anyone could get it if they could afford it. My most memorable moments of the Carter years are the interest rates and the inflation.
That brings to mind another Carter creation, bracket creep.
We had a very different tax structure back then in which there were several increments of progressive tax correlated to increase in income. As employee salary increased, caused by inflation, they also moved into higher tax brackets the end result being, even though the employee was "making" more money, at the end of the year his net income was less than before the increase. This was a net loss to the worker. Bracket creep causing a net loss of income while prices were increasing was a double whammy to the worker.
Jimmy, I remember.
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LINK (http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2011/06/14/utility-hit-hard-by-antioch-copper-thefts/)
Copper thieves knock down more than 300 power poles since the first of the year.
Where? California town, of course.
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Must be Obama shovel-ready jobs in action!
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LINK (http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2011/06/14/utility-hit-hard-by-antioch-copper-thefts/)
Copper thieves knock down more than 300 power poles since the first of the year.
Where? California town, of course.
From the video at the link, in Antioch, thieves are "targeting utility poles, buildings, construction sites, foreclosed and abandoned homes, and catalytic converters." Also it costs PG&E $500 in repairs for every $1 of copper stolen.
It won't take long to destroy our infrastructure if the destruction costs are 500 to 1 in value-reduction ratios.
How's your TEOTWAWKI prepping coming? Mine can't be done fast enough.
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A few years ago I received an email going around, with pictures accompanying a story about a thief who had attempted to steal heavy wiring from a power substation. It seems the enterprising thief cut into a line carrying 13,000 volts and did not live to learn from that mistake. The electricity basically incinerated his arm into nothing up to the elbow, and a similar incineration occurred at the point of exit, which happened to be his groin.
But yes, we're taking on many of the characteristics of a Turd World banana republic. It's astonishing the degree of privation, suffering, and oppression they're willing to inflict in their pursuit of these discredited command-and-control economic theories.
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. . .
Somewhere along the line I must have lost some of my idealism ::eyes::
Soup, as Churchhill said . . .
"If you're not a liberal when you're 25, you have no heart. If you're not a conservative by the time you're 35, you have no brain."
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From Drudge:
Thieves Destroy ACs at Animal Welfare League (http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/Vandals-Destroy-ACs-at-Animal-Welfare-League-124881849.html)
Large industrial fans were being used Friday to cool off more than 100 orphan dogs and cats at the Animal Welfare League after thieves destroyed the adoption center's main air conditioning units.
After an event Thursday night, organizers noticed the center felt hot and found the AC units damaged on the roof. One unit was completely broken, the other torn apart.
"The wires were cut and the copper piping and coils on the inside were stolen," said AWL manager Diane Spryka.
With the July heat, Spryka is scrambling keep the animals safe.
"We need the ventilation. We need the air circulating to have air exchanged for our animals," she said.
Some animals exposed to high temperatures for long periods of time could suffer from severe health consequences and even death, said Bridget Nolan, a volunteer at the shelter.
One of the AC units can be fixed, but the estimated cost for its repair is $20,000, an unaffordable price for the shelter on a tight budget.
"We need funds," said Spryka, near tears. "It saddens me because for 35 years we’ve been here to serve the community. Now the funds we receive that could be going directly to the animals will be used elsewhere to stabilize the units."
A shotgun blast is too good for those vermin.