Private A-380

[Deuce130]

So much for free speech here. Apparently ten million just won't buy what it used to.

The country didn't turn that money down. One man did...Giuliani. He was wrong to do so. Accepting the money wouldn't have changed the countries policies. It wouldn't have catered to any special interest. It was money, sorely needed, pure and simple.

Waleed is no terrorist.

Free speech? The guy said what he said, pissed off many New Yorkers, who exercised their right to tell the guy to pound sand. Sounds like everyone had free speech in that scenario. The guy is self made? He's self made in the same sense that George Bush and Chelsea Clinton are self made. The fact that he's a Saudi prince is what set him on the path to success, not hard work. Are you really that naive? It's only a matter of time before the Saudi extremists turn their sights on their own country. The ruling family has done a good job of creating distractions from their obscene wealth, decadence, and hypocrisy for a long time, but that'll end someday soon.

 

[F/O]

I think that, long term, corn based ethanol is a bust, especially when poor people are paying more for food because of it. But at the moment it does make sense for the gasoline consumer. E85 is about $2.10 in my area and regular gasoline is $3.00. Yeah, you sacrifice a few MPG with E85 but the numbers still work out. And you aren't committed to run a specific type of fuel as you are with a diesel. Unfortunately your choice of vehicles is extremely limited.

The current trouble with diesel for the consumer is that it runs 30-50 cents more per gallon than gas. Why? Because of taxes. The truckers don't pay what you and I would pay. Why the government doesn't reduce the tax on diesel to promote people buying cars that get better mileage defies logic.

BTW, Al-Waleed has a chick flying his jet. Presumably she will be checked out on the 380. Pretty progressive for a Saudi prince.

http://www.arabnews.com/?page=9&section=0&article=54958&d=24&m=11&y=2004

 

[Wiggums]

The premium for diesel depends on the state, some places you pay close to gasoline and some places, like NY, diesel costs 30-40c extra. However, it's pretty much a wash since diesel contains 12% more energy per gallon, so your price per BTU is about the same. This AAA site shows the real price of E85 adjusted for it's energy content.

 

[time builder]

BTW, Al-Waleed has a chick flying his jet. Presumably she will be checked out on the 380. Pretty progressive for a Saudi prince.

http://www.arabnews.com/?page=9&section=0&article=54958&d=24&m=11&y=2004

One of the many women on his planes. I hear he goes for the high class, well educated types, (if it's the same guy who used to fly around in a green and white 767). Maybe I shouldn't start rumors though.

The 767 was pretty ugly on the outside, but inside, wow, persian rugs, marble floors..... I don't know if I was worthy to even be in the front galley of that plane.

I'd love to see the inside of this A380.

 

[Jmoney]

Justification.....

Actually that would be YOUR translation of his effort, and turning down the gift was very, very poor international relations. That money could have done a lot of good.

How much money did the President of the United States donate? How much from each member of congress?

So much for free speech here. Apparently ten million just won't buy what it used to.

The country didn't turn that money down. One man did...Giuliani. He was wrong to do so. Accepting the money wouldn't have changed the countries policies. It wouldn't have catered to any special interest. It was money, sorely needed, pure and simple.

Waleed is no terrorist.

I still see no reason to attempt to justify this man's comments. Any attempt to blame 9-11 on the "policies of the U.S." is pure B.S. The things these fool terrorists do are inexcusable on any level. Clowns who attempt this sort of excuse-making are evil as well. No moral equivalency here-evil is evil! People like this will burn in hell!

 

[Hovernut]

Diesel and Uranium in the interim, then fusion/hydrogen when perfected.

Drill off FL (live there and don't mind it) and in ANWR (been there...it's a wasteland) to supplement imports. Convert coal to oil at $50/bbl in quantities surpassing that of the Middle East. And go for oil-shale.

All doable with the enviro-nazis out of the way. It can be done cleanly and safe. And the side-effect is a more stabilized market and reduced imports from unstable regions of the world.

 

[avbug]

The guy said what he said, pissed off many New Yorkers, who exercised their right to tell the guy to pound sand.

Just one new yorker told him to pound sand. Nobody else made that decision.

One of the many women on his planes. I hear he goes for the high class, well educated types, (if it's the same guy who used to fly around in a green and white 767). Maybe I shouldn't start rumors though.

That was Kingdom Holdings airplane, and yes, his aircraft are very nice inside. The women come from a variety of backgrounds, are very well treated, and yes, some are highly educated. I know at least one who is an attorney.

The guy is self made? He's self made in the same sense that George Bush and Chelsea Clinton are self made. The fact that he's a Saudi prince is what set him on the path to success, not hard work.

Actually no, it's not. With thousands of Saudi princes in the country, it doesn't amount to much to say you're a "Saudi prince." In fact, his own heritage is largely from outside the country. Waleed is very much a self made man. I say that from the perspective of having spent time in his aircraft, with his people, in his compound, and studying the man, in his home country. Not at all what you might suspect from having read the occasional newspaper article over here.

I still see no reason to attempt to justify this man's comments.

I said nothing of justification.

 

[NuGuy]

Diesel and Uranium in the interim, then fusion/hydrogen when perfected.

Drill off FL (live there and don't mind it) and in ANWR (been there...it's a wasteland) to supplement imports. Convert coal to oil at $50/bbl in quantities surpassing that of the Middle East. And go for oil-shale.

All doable with the enviro-nazis out of the way. It can be done cleanly and safe. And the side-effect is a more stabilized market and reduced imports from unstable regions of the world.

Heyas,

I agree with you and all the others re:ethanol.

It's a terrible fuel. Even if you used %99 of the arable land in the US for ethanol production, you still come up WAY short and you have zero room for food production.

Even if you decided to go that way, to get the crop density to be even marginally efficient, you STILL need gobbs of mechanization (which takes, um, fuel) not to mention PLENTY of synthetic poop, which guess what? Its petrol based.

When you work out the plus and all the minuses, you wind up in an energy hole and are out of food to boot.

Hydrogen is only an energy transporter, NOT a fuel source. It takes ALOT of energy to crack water, compress it, cool it, and deliver it. Unless you are using nukes, all you are doing is pushing carbons to one spot, and wasting more of them. Wind or solar power simply does not have the energy density to do this.

If I was king, I'd:

Start producing lastest generation Nuke plants, preferably the latest generation 3 reactors, with plans to get the generation 4 plants online ASAP.

Drill the crap out of the ANWR and offshore. The hippies will just have to deal with it unless they want to ride bikes to the rallies, rather than drive their Volvo SUVs.

I'd put heavy money into fusion research. It's going to take some VERY heavy bread to go there, and even the most optimistic estimates put it 50 years into the future.

Nu

 

[F/O]

Drill off FL (live there and don't mind it) and in ANWR (been there...it's a wasteland)

Drill the crap out of the ANWR

I flew around in ANWR for a summer and would much prefer the oil companies didn't f--- it up.

"Environmentally sensitive" drilling? Yeah, right. BP rakes in billions per quarter in pure profit and they can't even perform basic maintenance in the pipeline. F-ing liars.