Cal Thomas promotes bike commuting

Frank Krygowski

Cal Thomas is a syndicated op-ed columnist, about as conservative as
the Pope is Catholic.

Today's column makes the following points:

a) The oil companies are good guys. They should continue to get $17
billion in tax breaks from our government.

b) The US should drill for oil offshore, in the Arctic National
Wildlife Refuge, etc.

c) "A slow transition [to non-oil energy sources] will also give us
time to consider more fuel-efficient cars and greater use of public
transportation, even bicycles for short trips. Bikes would help more
of us lose weight and get in shape. A friend bikes to work every day,
saving gas, car payments, insurance and repair costs."

The first two points illustrate that he's not turned into a left-
leaning softie overnight. The third point illustrates that it's not
only left-leaning softies that see value in biking.

- Frank Krygowski

r15757@aol.com

On May 14, 9:24 am, Frank Krygowski <frkry...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> b) The US should drill for oil offshore, in the Arctic National
> Wildlife Refuge, etc.

What are these people smoking?

Drilling in previously off-limits areas will have no significant
positive effect on America's energy dependence or the price of oil or
the price of gasoline. People who believe otherwise, and clearly there
are a lot of them, completely misunderstand the nature of the
predicament, which has become coming down the tracks at us for about
40 years, ever since this country became an oil importer instead of an
exporter. Look: today the US produces about half the crude it did near
our production peak 35-40 years ago. We peaked out at about 10 million
barrels per day -- not for lack of drilling, quite the opposite. Today
we consume more than 20 million barrels per day and manage to produce
only about one quarter of that in the US. People need to put down the
crack pipe and realize there is no way we are going to drill our way
to energy independence or even make a serious dent in it.

Robert

SMS

r15757@aol.com wrote:
> On May 14, 9:24 am, Frank Krygowski <frkry...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> b) The US should drill for oil offshore, in the Arctic National
>> Wildlife Refuge, etc.
>
> What are these people smoking?

Nothing, they're Republicans.

John Thompson

On 2008-05-14, Frank Krygowski <frkrygow@gmail.com> wrote:

> Cal Thomas is a syndicated op-ed columnist, about as conservative as
> the Pope is Catholic.
>
> Today's column makes the following points:

[yada, yada]

> c) "A slow transition [to non-oil energy sources] will also give us
> time to consider more fuel-efficient cars and greater use of public
> transportation, even bicycles for short trips. Bikes would help more
> of us lose weight and get in shape. A friend bikes to work every day,
> saving gas, car payments, insurance and repair costs."

> The first two points illustrate that he's not turned into a left-
> leaning softie overnight. The third point illustrates that it's not
> only left-leaning softies that see value in biking.

Sure, but do note that it is Cal's "friend" who bikes to work, not Cal
himself. Sacrifice is always easier when you don't have to do it
yourself.

N.B. Personally, I don't see commuting by bike to be a sacrifice; I do
it until the ice on the roads makes it unsafe. But for people like Cal
Thomas, giving up a motor vehicle is a major sacrifice.

--

John (john@os2.dhs.org)

John Thompson

On 2008-05-14, r15757@aol.com <r15757@aol.com> wrote:

> On May 14, 9:24 am, Frank Krygowski <frkry...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> b) The US should drill for oil offshore, in the Arctic National
>> Wildlife Refuge, etc.
>
> What are these people smoking?
>
> Drilling in previously off-limits areas will have no significant
> positive effect on America's energy dependence or the price of oil or
> the price of gasoline.

But that's not the reason why they want to drill in the ANWR. There's
good money to be made pumping that oil and they want to get it before
somebody else does.

Do remember that the people telling us that drilling in the ANWR will
help solve our energy problems are the same people who told us that
we invaded Iraq because of the "virtual certainty" that Saddam had
weapons of mass destruction, and for the same reason.

--

John (john@os2.dhs.org)

Luke

In article
<02416063-018b-4231-b8e1-90f47a57f5c9@m36g2000hse.googlegroups.com>,
Frank Krygowski <frkrygow@gmail.com> wrote:

> Cal Thomas is a syndicated op-ed columnist, about as conservative as
> the Pope is Catholic.
>
> Today's column makes the following points:
>
> a) The oil companies are good guys. They should continue to get $17
> billion in tax breaks from our government.
>
> b) The US should drill for oil offshore, in the Arctic National
> Wildlife Refuge, etc.
>
> c) "A slow transition [to non-oil energy sources] will also give us
> time to consider more fuel-efficient cars and greater use of public
> transportation, even bicycles for short trips. Bikes would help more
> of us lose weight and get in shape. A friend bikes to work every day,
> saving gas, car payments, insurance and repair costs."
>
> The first two points illustrate that he's not turned into a left-
> leaning softie overnight. The third point illustrates that it's not
> only left-leaning softies that see value in biking.
>
> - Frank Krygowski

Sheesh. An affirmation of the bicycle's value as a corollary of
ideology. Must everything be politicized?

Dane Buson

SMS <scharf.steven@geemail.com> wrote:
> r15757@aol.com wrote:
>> On May 14, 9:24 am, Frank Krygowski <frkry...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>> b) The US should drill for oil offshore, in the Arctic National
>>> Wildlife Refuge, etc.
>>
>> What are these people smoking?
>
> Nothing, they're Republicans.

Actually, in my experience they're just more surreptitious about where
they obtain their recreational pharmaceuticals. Well, and they're more
likely to have a prescription addiction if they're not using illegal
drugs.

--
Dane Buson - sigdane@unixbigots.org
"There is no underestimating the intelligence of the American
public." -H. L. Mencken

Paul M. Hobson

> On 2008-05-14, Frank Krygowski <frkrygow@gmail.com> wrote:
>> Cal Thomas is a syndicated op-ed columnist, about as conservative as
>> the Pope is Catholic.
>>
>> Today's column makes the following points:
>
> [yada, yada]
>
>> c) "A slow transition [to non-oil energy sources] will also give us
>> time to consider more fuel-efficient cars and greater use of public
>> transportation, even bicycles for short trips. Bikes would help more
>> of us lose weight and get in shape. A friend bikes to work every day,
>> saving gas, car payments, insurance and repair costs."
>
>> The first two points illustrate that he's not turned into a left-
>> leaning softie overnight. The third point illustrates that it's not
>> only left-leaning softies that see value in biking.

John Thompson wrote:
> Sure, but do note that it is Cal's "friend" who bikes to work, not Cal
> himself. Sacrifice is always easier when you don't have to do it
> yourself.
>
> N.B. Personally, I don't see commuting by bike to be a sacrifice; I do
> it until the ice on the roads makes it unsafe. But for people like Cal
> Thomas, giving up a motor vehicle is a major sacrifice.
>

Maybe not. For all we know, he takes the train.
(I have no clue, personally)

\\paul


--
Paul M. Hobson
..:change the f to ph to reply:.

Mike Jacoubowsky

> b) The US should drill for oil offshore, in the Arctic National
> Wildlife Refuge, etc.

Why don't the "conservatives" get it? And by "get it" I mean recognize that
we're better off NOT drilling for oil up there now, but keeping it in the
ground as a strategic reserve, available in the event we REALLY need it, and
then basically stick it to the man.

Meanwhile, we work to hurt those that have the oil by reducing demand, and
freely share whatever technologies to save oil we can come up with. Again,
sticking it to the man.

"The man" being whomever has lots of oil that they sell for lots of money.

--Mike Jacoubowsky
Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReaction.com
Redwood City & Los Altos, CA USA


"Frank Krygowski" <frkrygow@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:02416063-018b-4231-b8e1-90f47a57f5c9@m36g2000hse.googlegroups.com...
> Cal Thomas is a syndicated op-ed columnist, about as conservative as
> the Pope is Catholic.
>
> Today's column makes the following points:
>
> a) The oil companies are good guys. They should continue to get $17
> billion in tax breaks from our government.
>
> b) The US should drill for oil offshore, in the Arctic National
> Wildlife Refuge, etc.
>
> c) "A slow transition [to non-oil energy sources] will also give us
> time to consider more fuel-efficient cars and greater use of public
> transportation, even bicycles for short trips. Bikes would help more
> of us lose weight and get in shape. A friend bikes to work every day,
> saving gas, car payments, insurance and repair costs."
>
> The first two points illustrate that he's not turned into a left-
> leaning softie overnight. The third point illustrates that it's not
> only left-leaning softies that see value in biking.
>
> - Frank Krygowski

r15757@aol.com

On May 14, 3:30 pm, John Thompson <j...@vector.os2.dhs.org> wrote:

> But that's not the reason why they want to drill in the ANWR. There's
> good money to be made pumping that oil and they want to get it before
> somebody else does.

Exactly.

Bill Sornson

r15757@aol.com wrote:
> On May 14, 3:30 pm, John Thompson <j...@vector.os2.dhs.org> wrote:
>
>> But that's not the reason why they want to drill in the ANWR. There's
>> good money to be made pumping that oil and they want to get it before
>> somebody else does.
>
> Exactly.

Exactly wrong, of course. It's U.S. territory, so no one else will "get
it" -- unlike, say, international waters near the mainland, where other
countries are drilling today while the oh-so-cautious U.S. dares not even
try.

BTW, Congress approved exploring/drilling in Alaska back in the '90s, but
Bill Clinton vetoed it. The U.S. would be getting a /lot/ of oil from there
today if not for that.

Bill "more supply, more jobs, lower prices...can't have that!" S.

r15757@aol.com

On May 14, 6:59 pm, "Bill Sornson" <as...@ask.me> wrote:

> Exactly wrong, of course. It's U.S. territory, so no one else will "get
> it" -- unlike, say, international waters near the mainland, where other
> countries are drilling today while the oh-so-cautious U.S. dares not even
> try.

He meant, no other companies will get it. Whichever companies that
develop that oil, any oil, are going to make a ton off it. Developing
that oil will not, however, have any significant effect on the big
picture of this country's dependence on foreign oil.

(Note also that many of the companies that would be involved with
developing and getting rich off said oil, from American soil, would
likely be foreign owned.)


> BTW, Congress approved exploring/drilling in Alaska back in the '90s, but
> Bill Clinton vetoed it. The U.S. would be getting a /lot/ of oil from there
> today if not for that.
>
> Bill "more supply, more jobs, lower prices...can't have that!" S.

You obviously have no clue what's going on.

Frank Krygowski

On May 14, 5:31 pm, Luke <lucasirag...@rogers.com> wrote:
> In article
> <02416063-018b-4231-b8e1-90f47a57f...@m36g2000hse.googlegroups.com>,
>
>
>
> Frank Krygowski <frkry...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > Cal Thomas is a syndicated op-ed columnist, about as conservative as
> > the Pope is Catholic.
>
> > Today's column makes the following points:
>
> > a) The oil companies are good guys. They should continue to get $17
> > billion in tax breaks from our government.
>
> > b) The US should drill for oil offshore, in the Arctic National
> > Wildlife Refuge, etc.
>
> > c) "A slow transition [to non-oil energy sources] will also give us
> > time to consider more fuel-efficient cars and greater use of public
> > transportation, even bicycles for short trips. Bikes would help more
> > of us lose weight and get in shape. A friend bikes to work every day,
> > saving gas, car payments, insurance and repair costs."
>
> > The first two points illustrate that he's not turned into a left-
> > leaning softie overnight. The third point illustrates that it's not
> > only left-leaning softies that see value in biking.
>
> > - Frank Krygowski
>
> Sheesh. An affirmation of the bicycle's value as a corollary of
> ideology. Must everything be politicized?

Well, he is a political columnist, you know.

- Frank Krygowski

SMS

John Thompson wrote:
> On 2008-05-14, r15757@aol.com <r15757@aol.com> wrote:
>
>> On May 14, 9:24 am, Frank Krygowski <frkry...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>> b) The US should drill for oil offshore, in the Arctic National
>>> Wildlife Refuge, etc.
>> What are these people smoking?
>>
>> Drilling in previously off-limits areas will have no significant
>> positive effect on America's energy dependence or the price of oil or
>> the price of gasoline.
>
> But that's not the reason why they want to drill in the ANWR. There's
> good money to be made pumping that oil and they want to get it before
> somebody else does.

Who else is going to get the oil on U.S. territory?

> Do remember that the people telling us that drilling in the ANWR will
> help solve our energy problems are the same people who told us that
> we invaded Iraq because of the "virtual certainty" that Saddam had
> weapons of mass destruction, and for the same reason.

And they knew (and know) that neither of those was true. They have their
reasons for doing what they're doing though.