And then there is the rumor about Citgo Oil Co. being owned by Venezuela and them wanting to "overthrow" us.  :lol:

That is NOT A RUMOR!  I do not believe in being politically correct, but I will respect anyone regardless of their religious or political views AS LONG AS they respect mine.  So . . . with that said, I'm not gonn'a go over the line and try to force my views on anyone else, but I will present the facts . . . you interpret them any way you choose.

According to some real fine print on Citgo's own web site:  

In the 1990s, CITGO was purchased by Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. ( http://www.pdvsa.com/ ), the national oil company of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.

 Yes, Citgo is 100% owned by the government of Venezuela.

And here's a little about their President (who has compared President Bush to a modern day Adolph Hitler . . . and also saying that the descendants of the "Christ Killers" (Jews) rule the world and something needs to be done about it.

Associated Press
Updated: 1:00 a.m. ET Jan. 30, 2006
CARACAS, Venezuela - Cindy Sheehan, who gained international fame when she camped outside President Bush’s ranch in an anti-war protest, plans to pitch her tent again, Venezuela’s president said Sunday as he urged activists worldwide to help bring down “the U.S. empire.”

The whole story can be found at http://msnbc.msn.com/id/10704025/

We know we can build a hell of a lot more economical cars but won't. No incentives to do it.

One of our members is in the process of converting a Vanagon over to run on used vegetable oil.  More and more folks are doing this.  How long will it be before a company pops up that will produce a system for collecting, filtering and running used vegetable oil in cars that they produce?  It's already happening.  Search the internet for "used vegetable oil" web sites.  It's also within reason to build a home distillery and brew fuel grade alcohol.  Until just a few months ago, Volkswagen of Brazil was building a duel fuel Bay Window bus . . . powered by a type 1 air-cooled motor that would run on gas or alcohol fuel.

In the early years of the automotive industry, Rudolph Diesel and Henry Ford were both big proponents of renewable fuel sources.  Diesel designed his engine to run on vegetable oil and was devastated when people converted them to petroleum-based fuels.  Henry Ford invested in ethanol production, but cheap petroleum fuels killed the idea.

The answers to our problems are out there.  They've been out there for over a hundred years.  So, are we going to sit around and complain and blame others, or are we gonn'a get busy and fix our own problems?  As long as the average consumer will buy big expensive SUVs and pay for the gas to run 'em up and down the road and just stand around and gripe about how our government or some foreign government or some Saudi oil baron or whoever we choose to blame is causing all our problems, the situation will only get worse.  As the comic strip character Pogo once said, "We have met the enemy, and he is us."

Zen that last sentence you wrote I have seen many times.How true! I saw a thing on tv where this guy had converted his engine on his truck to veg.oil. It got great mileage.He collected it from several fast food resturant's then went home where he further refined it a little and put it in.It also had a thing on there that heated the oil to 160 degrees to keep it from becoming solid in winter or cooler days.He was laughing because he say's sometimes when he is sitting there idleing at a stop sign he get's hungry because it smells like french fries.Can't remember what the show was called. :lol:  :lol:  :lol:  :lol:

I know this is probably the wrong thread for this but for the few of us that has a dunebuggy there are some really cool books I found last night on the web for sale. All about dunebuggies.History,pictures all the manufactorers (over 100).There are three books l would like to have.If you are interested and have a email address I will send a link.

Well I'm loaded if it doesn't rain.Wheres you email at?

I've got my "Funfest or Bust" home-made bumper stickers ready and Homer is itching for a road trip!  I'll either be by myself or it'll be me and Jesse.  I'm camping.  Can't wait!

where are you camping? maybe i can join you guys

I'm planning on camping on the Mid-America Motorworks show grounds.  No power, no water, no showers . . . port-a-potties is about all that's there after hours . . . but it's free.  

I am still trying to get the shifts covered here Friday-Sunday so I can go.  ](*,) A fellow worker has a trailer he said I can use, so that is covered. Well that depends on what type shape it is in. Last time I saw it the trailer was like me, a bit worn out!! If it looks like it will make the trip I'm bringing it home Tuesday.I find it interesting that this man who is retiring on June 2nd is from the Chattanooga area and is coming back home after retirement. See there are good "Chattanooga People" that do not live in Chattanooga!!!