| THIS IS A READ-ONLY ARCHIVE FROM THE SORABJI.COM MESSAGE BOARDS (1995-2016). |
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"This is George," a girl's voice says of an oblivious man at a gas station. "This is the gas that George bought for his S.U.V." The screen then shows a map of the Middle East. "These are the countries where the executives bought the oil that made the gas that George bought for his S.U.V." The picture switches to a scene of armed terrorists in a desert. "And these are the terrorists who get money from those countries every time George fills up his S.U.V." A second commercial depicts a series of ordinary Americans saying things like: "I helped hijack an airplane"; "I gave money to a terrorist training camp in a foreign country"; "What if I need to go off-road?" At the close, the screen is filled with the words: "What is your S.U.V. doing to our national security?" Source |
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well you know im sure there's a market for f-16 fighter jets and shoulder-fired missles but the market can't always get what it wants. i wish assholes would stop confusing civic responsibility with freedom. fucking pussies. while im kicking up dirt. i read this and thought he must of been reading sorabji, specifically my posts. Powers usually makes me feel pretty stupid as he's poignant like James Hetfield is in the beginning of Seek and Destroy when he starts the song off with "Alright". Odd comparison, but its on my player right now so suck it..... |
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That woman owns a 10,000 square foot house. I rent a 1,000 square foot apartment. Which one is more energy efficient? Further more, we only get about 20% of our fossil fuels from the Middle East. My wife's mini-van gets 25 miles to the gallon, my car gets about 16. The average SUV gets 20.7 mpg. When you drive in a SUV you are sitting up higher and can see the road much better then in my car or a Yugo. your chances of surviving an accident in a SUV are much higher then in a compact car. Plus, if you have two children, only two, in school, and they play in the band or on the football team or cheerleading squad, and you have to haul them, their equipment, plus their back packs (Which weigh an average of 25 pounds plus, I will find sources on these stats somewhere if you want), then try and cram all that in a hybrid 3 cylinder. And if she is going to preach at me about what car I choose to buy and drive, then I should have the right to lecture her on using private jets to fly around the country. She does. She is also worth about 9 million dollars, so odds are she does not even drive herself to and from the office, to say nothing about riding public transportation. I do not deny there are yahoos out there who buy one of these big monsters to drive themselves a half mile to work and back, but you know what? That is their fucking choice. In America, you have the right to be a complete jack ass. And that should never change. |
yeah, and all of us in small cars can't see the road ahead of us. furthermore, a recent thing i've noticed--suvs and large vans parked at the corner make it impossible to see if anyone is coming. -your chances of surviving an accident in a SUV are much higher then in a compact car. yeah, and if there were no suvs to hit compact cars, our survival wouldn't be at risk. there are suv-like cars (such as the subaru outback, recommended by the cartalk guys, who hate suvs), which fulfill the "need to fit lots of kids and their stuff" function. most parents i know with a large brood have gone that route--safe, efficient, spacious. no, everyone cannot drive a hybrid (questionable technology anyway--electricity usage pollutes too). however, most suvs are shameless wastes of gas and lives. in most other countries, vehicles as inefficient as suvs are outlawed. have you noticed that suv drivers are more likely to use cellphones (which are as statistically dangerous as driving drunk?). have you also noticed that suvs are often driven by one person? yes, people do have a right to be a jackass, but not when it endangers me, on the road. and not when it endangers, to sound like an immense hippie, the planet. |
to the first question, no. Most people I see driving and holding a cellphone to thier ear is a woman driving a small compact, seriosly. to the second one, um, only one persone can drive at a time. And no, I see tons of them in the driveway of schools picking up kids. So if they are alone when they are driving it, they may or may not be on the way to pick up kids or are returning from dropping them off. And again, how does a SUV endager you, specifically? and no, they are not more ecologically damaging then any other car. |
There's a tradeoff to getting a bigger car in order to be safer in the event of an accident. You increase the likelihood that you will kill someone in a regular sized car. My 22-year-old car gets 40 MPG on the highway. Yeah, if I'm in an accident at highway speeds, I'll probably die. Yeah, you have the right to be an asshole in the US. It'd sure be nice if so many people didn't choose to be, though. The vast majority of all vehicles on the road only contain one person. It's pretty silly. Carpool lanes that only require that you have two people in the car... Empty for miles. The freedom to be selfish is certainly a yours... Do with it what you will. |
not a good one. We could have used a bigger vehicle on this christmas trip. you should have seen the back hatch of the mini-van. But this was not really about SUV's, it was the message of the ad campaign, and the hypocrasy of the sponsors of the campaign. One of them has a 21 car garage. Just for his little self. And that is his right, but he needs to keep his judgement about what I drive to his self. |
And cargo capacity as well? I have yet to see one that will match that of a suburban. |
But I was just pointing some things out. I dunno... I LIKE having a car that seats 5 and gets 40 MPG (though maybe not at the same time. :) ) I have a Thule rack on top for hauling crap around if it doesn't fit in the trunk. But no, it doesn't rival a suburban. That's ok with me. He has just as much right to judge what you drive as you do to judge what he says. That is to say, it's unlimited. You're damned defensive about a car. |
We're Americans. We travel long distances and we like to take a lot of things with us, like the kids and the dog and the eight pieces of luggage, and on the way back we can throw in that interesting chair we saw in that antique shop in Austin. We're Americans. We like to go down to Home Depot and bring back a couple of sacks of top soil and mulch and a new lawnmower - a gasoline powered lawnmower, mind you - and some sheetrock and a couple of 2 by 4s. We're Americans. We discovered long ago that the Corolla doesn't cut it when you're hauling two kayaks and some backpacks and sleeping bags and it's a windy day. We'll take the Explorer or the Yukon and then we'll be able to take the bikes along, too. And guess what? At the end of the year the difference in the amount of gas we used as compared to the little car wasn't all that much. And we had more fun in the SUV and it came in handy the time we had to ford that stream. We're Americans. We go where we want when we want and we drive what we want. Your pious little hybrid is a nice car. But when I moved to San Antonio, I hauled 1400 pounds of books in the back of my LX450 and when I was almost to my destination I saw a dirt road that looked interesting and I went and explored it and it got pretty rutty and rocky. But the view on the mountain at the end of it was worth it. If I had been in a regular car I wouldn't have gone there. But I wasn't. I was at the wheel of my gas-guzzling, irresponsible SUV, thank God. We're Americans, not terrorists. Sydney Smith, writing in the Edinburgh Review in 1810, noted that "men, whose trade is rat-catching, love to catch rats; the bug destroyer seizes on his bug with delight; and the suppressor is gratified by finding his vice." You've found your vice, Mrs. Huffington. Congratulations. Some people are damned offensive about a car. |
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you're sure scaring the hell out of me. conversation overheard at the halfway house for sex offenders: we're pedophiles and rapists! we don't need consent. we like fucking things and being scary and we do it on our own terms. we don't ask, we just do it. that's how we are. we're brutal. tough shit if you don't like it. they wouldn't call us offenders if we weren't offensive. deal with it! i mean, get over it. what's your problem anyway? you don't like fucking? |
I have always tried to teach my spawn to be the thinkers, not the followers. You anti-SUV people are just sheep. Think for yourselves. This is simply a form of propaganda. I do not need some pea brained idiot to tell me what kind of vechicle to drive. I am quite capable of making that decision on my own. I have a brain, you will not hear me utter baaaa. You will not hear me chant,"Baaaaaa, must not drive a SUV. Baaaa,must not drive an SUV." I can formulate opinions on my own. Although at present I do not own an SUV, I have in the past, and chances are that I will again. I run a farm. I haul things. Lots of things.Sometimes big things. I haul parrots sometimes, and do not want them exposed to the elements,while being transported in the back of a truck. I haul kids, and their accompanying paraphernala. I am quite capable of making my own decision about what type of vehicle best suits my needs. And guess what, just because I see an add that says,"Hurry to Mcdonalds, and get their Big Mac meal,cause its tasty and good for you!", doesn't mean I am mindless enough to jump in my vehicle and chant,"Must go to Mcdonalds,must go to Mcdonalds." I can think for myself. |
And no, SUV's are not universally evil. But the vast majority of SUV owners don't need one. Trace... You just summed it up. We're Americans. We like to be wasteful and materialistic and selfish. We like bigger and better and faster and shinier. That's the root of it all. Does that really make you happy? I'm happy without all that. I don't think people should be like that. But it's totally your right to drive whatever you want... And I would never support the outlawing of SUVs. I'd just like to suggest that more people choose to drive more efficient vehicles. While SUV's are the brunt of this discussion, I dislike any wasteful vehicles or practices. I think it's pretty short-sighted to put being a good American before what's good for the world. |
first: "When you drive in a SUV you are sitting up higher and can see the road much better then in my car or a Yugo. your chances of surviving an accident in a SUV are much higher then in a compact car. " ...and later: "And again, how does a SUV endager you, specifically? and no, they are not more ecologically damaging then any other car." They endanger people in smaller cars for the same reason you have a better chance of surviving a crash if you're driving an SUV: mass. You stated earlier that driving an SUV is safer for exactly that reason, trace. You seem to have a short memory when it comes to facts that don't support your arguments. Try formulating a complex thought and thinking through all of the ramifications once in a while. Czarina: "You anti-SUV people are just sheep. Think for yourselves. This is simply a form of propaganda. " Gee. People who don't agree with you are sheep and can't think for themselves? Riiiiight. |
you really know nothing of arianna huffington's personal life do you? other than what rush has recited right? your lack of knowledge and science on SUVs and the dangers they pose to other drivers on the road is deplorable. Your really have no idea what you are talking about and you sound scary/retarded in the meantime. czarina, calling us who oppose the mass use of SUVs "sheep" is a bit extreme isnt it? we arent speaking against the oh...say....5% who actually use these vehicles for what they are worth. the SUV argument is not just about the car, its about the idiotic unique american notion that bigger is luxury, that bigger is better and safer. its not. the safety science on SUVs is exactly the opposite. How often do you hear of one of those mother fuckers flipping over on the freeway? they are jeeps with higher center of gravities meant for offroad driving, not 80mph freeway driving dipshits! the SUV argument is about arrogant american consumption with no regard for your fellow citizens, or your environment. Its the ugly American mentality thats the problem, not the fucking car. If you need to haul something. Get a fucking truck. If you need to haul your mormon family around, a volvo wagon or subaru wagon or most minivans have just as much space and are safer for the occupants AND other motorists on the roads. The one-upmanship of "i'll get a bigger one than the jones to keep my family safe" mentality is sick. Are ther Hummer's making a spash in your neck of the woods. Owners of hummers are sick fucking individuals. Sick sick sick. You don't like being told what to drive? Give me a fucking break. You are told what to do all the time. Stop acting as if this is a shot at your freedom. What a pussy response. The advert isnt hypocritcal at all. It uses the very same logic the Bush administration uses when making the argument about drugs and terrorists. The advert is beautiful for tossing retarded logic back in the face of the cocksuckers in the white house and making a poignant point about our consumption. Trace while you say only 20% of our fossil fuels come from the mid east (so you say), id dare say less than 20% of our drugs come from the middle east, but that didnt stop the Bush administration for launching their idiotic ads did it? hey check out troll lady giving it to dipshit Ari Fleisher, tossing his White house double speak right back at him. Fleisher should just off himself right now....how he can have a shred of dignity after being the White House spokesperson is beyond me, hes a tool. |
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And I do agree that "one-up-manship" is indeed simply a matter of hubris. And Hummers are really annoying.And, as far as I can determine, are useful for nothing, unless you live in the desert, and frequently have people shooting at you. And the reason I got rid of my SUV, was because of their propensity to tip over. I'm always in a hurry, and tend to drive rather fast, so decided it wasn't the safest vehicle for me. |
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BE PREPARED TO RECEIVE YOUR ORDERS FOR SPENDING YOUR MONEY. THIS IS ONLY A TEMPORARY SOLUTION UNTIL WE GET THE PAPERWORK STRAIGHTENED OUT WITH YOUR EMPLOYER SO THAT YOUR CHECKS WILL AUTOMATICALLY BE DEPOSITED INTO THE FEDERAL BANK ACCOUNT. AT THAT TIME, WE BEGIN DELIVERING YOUR MONTHLY FOOD RATIONS, AND INSTALL THE USAGE MANAGER ON YOUR UTILITIES. PLEASE MAKE SURE ALL VEHICLES ARE CLEAN AND READY FOR PICK UP AT THAT TIME. A BUS WILL ARRIVE TO TAKE YOU TO AND FROM YOUR PLACE OF EMPLOYMENT. THESE STEPS WILL REDUCE THE STRESS LEVEL IN YOUR LIFE BY MAKING MONITARY DECISIONS FOR YOU. YOU WILL NO LONGER BE REQUIRED TO BE RESPONSIBLE IN YOUR SPENDING HABITS OR DRIVING HABITS. NOW ALL THAT WILL BE REQUIRED OF YOU WILL BE TO GO TO WORK, COME HOME AND WATCH TV FOR YOUR NIGHTLY EDUCATION AND CONDITIONING, AND GO TO BED. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO PRO-CREATE, YOU WILL FIND THOSE ORGANS DISABLED. THIS IS TO RELEIVE YOU OF THE RESPONSIBILITY OF RAISING CHILDREN OR SATISFACTION OF YOUR PARTNER. WE WILL DECIDE FOR YOU IF YOU ARE QUALIFIED FOR PARENTHOOD AND WHEN YOU ARE READY. THANK YOU FOR YOUR "COOPERATION". |
And I am convinced that you really are full of yourself. Your criteria for intelegence and taste is this: "Unless it is exactly the same as mine, then it is tasteless. Unless you think the exact same way as I do, you are stupid and tasteless I like the Hummer Limos and I love the new $50k hummers that they just introduced. |
Spunky sent the above information to my father (who drive a huge 4wd truck and my mother has a big expensive SUV). I got a call from him last night. He said he was just calling to tell me about what a terrorist supporting commy simpathizer I am because I spent all that money on gas to go visit them for Christmas. I know he was just trying to be funny, but he really pissed me off. My mother wanted to take me out in her new Dodge Durango and show it off. She kept pushing me to drive it (she never lets anyone drive it so I guess she was trying to convince me her new "toy" is cool). We went out to Wal-Mart and she was trying to show me the gadgets and toys and power of this thing and it had some little window thing that displayed your current average mpg on this tank of gas. It was sitting at 12.5 mpg. I just about hit the floor. Then she hit the gas pedal and did like 0-60 in like 100 ft. It dropped. She was so excited when she got the average mpg to 12.7 mpg. It's huge and she drives like a bat out of hell in it. Thinks she owns the whole goddamned road. It drives me nuts. I refused to drive her car (politely) the whole time we were there. I on the other hand drive a beat up old minivan. 4 cyl. Goes 0-60 in about 3 minutes. Gutless, and I love it that way. It does what I need it to do, it drives just as well as the others on the road, but I averaged on our trip around 30mpg which is just as good as I would have had in any sedan. OK maybe not a little Honda or anything like that, but anything big enough for our family would have been no better on mileage. Normally one tank of gas will last me at least a month, because I don't drive much and where I do go is usually within a 5 mile radius of our apartment. I am not overtaxing the market for fuel by any stretch of the imagination. My mother has to fill up her monster ever other day! Yes, we went through 6 tanks of gas on our trip to Missouri and Kansas and back, but she goes through the same amount of gas in a week (her tank is much larger than mine)! Anyways, it just pissed me off to think that they would turn this around on ME who uses an average of $8 a month on gas, like I was supporting terrorism by driving my old clunker when they drive gas guzzling monstrocities that are so "now" they even have butt warmers in the front seats. OK, I am done ranting now. |
I don't know about you, but I work my fucking ass off, and 80% of my income goes to pay bills and buy food. 15% goes towards keeping my 15 year old car on the road. I make just under 50K a year, and the dems want to lump me into the "rich" group so they can increase my taxes. If I choose to take that 15% that I use to keep the car running and apply it towards a car I enjoy, then god dammit I should have that right. Because this money is mine. No one handed it to me. I did not have my job handed to me either. I had to fight from working at taco bell as an assistant manager for $4.60 an hour in 1992 to making $46k per year for DOD/NSA network work in 2002. No rich parents to pay my way through college, no federal grant money. Just me working through it. No one gave it to me, so no one should have the right to tell me what I can and cannot buy with it. And I refuse to judge someone else for their choices on what they want to do with their income and call them stupid or tasteless because they want something that is a little bigger then what they had before, with muscle under the hood and can still haul the troops around, and go out to the Mojave where there is no god damn road. That is their right and it might make putting up with a pain in the ass job just a little easier to tolerate. |
Nobody is knocking the people who use their SUV's because they need them in their area, just the people who are too busy keeping up with the Jones's. I realize that you haven't seen lots of people driving SUV's needlessly, but you haven't worked in Alamo Heights lately. Every single one of those rich Mom's was comparing notes on their SUV's and not a one of them could fit half of the soccer team in them, where as most would have fit in my minivan. They all had these cars as a statement....like Mom & Dad. You may have the right to make whatever statement you want with your own money, but it IS more taxing on the environment, the roads, and the other drivers on the roads. Most people we know in the Mojave Desert DO NOT drive SUV's because they roll over too easily in the winds there and just get 4wd trucks to manage off road where they need to. If you want to make a pain in the ass job a little easier to tolerate, why do you have to go and buy and SUV? I don't see how one relates to the other when there are so many different ways to relieve stress after a hard day at work that don't involve SUV's. |
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"the dems want to lump me into the "rich" group so they can increase my taxes. " It's a bitch paying for those roads you drive your car on, ain't it, trace? Fuckin' pain paying for those street lights and signs, too. Maybe we should do without. Why don't you buy an SUV and only drive offroad as a protest. "...with muscle under the hood and can still haul the troops around, and go out to the Mojave where there is no god damn road. " Yeah, that's what most people use SUV's for: hauling troops in the Mojave! Everyone should have the ability to haul troops in the Mojave if they want to. I DEMAND MY RIGHT TO HAUL TROOPS THROUGH THE MOJAVE! GODDAMIT, YOU WILL PRY MY MOJAVE TROOP HAULING PRIVS FROM MY COLD DEAD FINGERS!!! |
people are judged by their actions. it happens everyday in our courts and otherwise. deal with it. you dont have a right to own an SUV. You show me some documentation where you are guaranteed such a right, we'll talk. I don't seek homogeneousness as you think. Most of my life has been based on diversity trace. I love it when conservative, republican types launch this kind of rhetoric. The irony is laughable. |
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heh. trace you probably think Bush is thinking of people like you when he launches his economic plan. silly silly silly. you may pay less in income taxes but you can bet your healthcare and other costs of living will increase. silly conservatives. |
Apparently during the first Gulf War (christ did I just say FIRST GULF WAR?), the hummers were not the vehicle of choice in the desert, simply because once sand got in the gear box and ruined it, replacements had to be shipped from the US once the ones on hand were gone. With the Chevy Blazers ( ithink they were blazers; they may have been Ford Broncos), there were parts available in the country, since they were commercially available there. You know what's even more retarded looking than the new hummers? These things. http://www2.gazeta.pl/auto/1,24820,1081547.html |
Lame lame lame argument. you do not have the right to own a single thing, except a gun. check out the constitution |
Look how incensed you all are over a vehicle, when there are plenty of other rights that are being raped due to "security" and "for the children" and "ecology". |
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im incensed over the mentality behind such a vehicle. my rage is muli-faceted trace. i have stated this bluntly countless times. |
Points out that Huffy and co. hijacked the idea from a less-visible group which had put out a better ad a few months ago. |
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What are you talking about? We're talking about people choosing to make selfish decisions. Specifically, to drive wasteful vehicles.... Stop making this into a defense of your freedom. Defend your choices... if you can. |
There is always some group ready to take your rights away. Definition: Privaledge - A right someone wants to take away from you. |
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why didnt you go with the Intrepid? Those are v-6 luxury 4 door's right? |
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i admit jeep cherokee's arent the worst of the breed by a longshot. |
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Or is it just ok for me because I am a PTA going, carpool joining mom? |
If Trace is going to tell me I'm wrong to be so offended by SUVs, he should stick to telling my why. To talk about freedom is changing the subject. I'm not interested in taking your rights away, I just don't like SUVs. When I was younger, my life goal was basically to own a Hummer. I don't like these new bubbly H2's, but I've always liked the look of the old Hummer. But even if I get to the point where I can afford one, I'll never be able to justify owning one. It's gotta be fun to barrel around in one of those things though. Maybe I'll get to take one for a drive someday. |
if i get behind the wheel of a hummer, im looking to get off the road or on top of miata's and tiny beemers |
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