Gasoline or Bread 1927On Sat, 06 Aug 2005 00:29:42 +0100, Pooh Bear "buttuming state-of-the-art practices, the net energy ratio could be as much as 2.51:1." Note the "could be." According to this...
It's been a long time since we've had one of those lengthy and inconclusive, but sometimes interesting, discussions about where the world's most cutthroat drivers may be found. Certainly it's not exclusive to the US, and to some extent may even be inherent to the combination of urgency , personal power, and social isolation found in driving. One is reminded of J.P. Donleavy's comment about drivers' being "isolated in their own little mobile temples of discontent" and the awful manners that result, and he was presumably thinking of places most of us would judge to be relatively civilized.
Well, there are some pathologically aggressive drivers on the USAmerican streets (homicidally so, in extreme cases), but from the looks of most of the ones I've encountered, somehow I don't think they get much of a chance to use computers as they phase in and out between prison and desbreastution and-or the underground economy.
Young males on mind-altering substances (pick one or more) seem to make up most of that fortunately small group.
Far more common, of course, are drivers who are only aggressive when they think (a) there is something to be gained and (b) they can either melt away into the crowd or successfully pretend they didn't really mean to do that and it was all a horrible mistake and won't you please let me back into the lane I needed all along. But their acts usually fall into the category of rudeness rather than menace, at least if you're paying attention and can brake or maneuver in such a way that both they and you survive whatever exaggerated sense of enbreastlement was on display. They're not the ones who run you into the ditch or take a pistol out of the glove compartment and open fire or whatnot.
Gasoline or Bread 1926Do The US government has not paid farmer to not plant corn for years. I've been running a farm for the past 20 years, and never once have I been paid not to plant...
Gasoline or Bread 1928Arif Khokar Says who ? There's a lot of outdated data out there ! I've seen that many ppl quote a 70s document ( that's unfavourable to ethanol ) still ! If that were true then there would be *zero...
Finally, as they say, "never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity." There are plenty of drivers out there who mean you no harm but just aren't very good in the chair -- even though often they think they are.
As for Usenet, well, yes, it's famous as a way that people who in real life are meek, or frustrated and bottled-up, or just plain old responsible citizens can let their id go on a virtual naked rampage through the public square. Some of us here are (for better or worse) more or less what we seem, and others are play-acting, and sometimes it's hard to tell the difference.
Cheers, --Joe
