Aahhhhhhh

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Padi

Joined
Nov 9, 2002
Messages
59
OK, im thoroughly confused. and normaly that does not happen to me in the weapons department. but in this case, somthing realy basic is driving me nuts. i have never used a barber strop. ( yeah yeah, knife enthusiast who does not know how to use a strop i know, i know).

somebody PLEASE tell me what kind of compound u use for ur khukris, and who sells it. hard ware stores here all give me totaly confused and blank looks.

the hand to hand portion of the recruits training here will start in a few weeks. since their head instructor is a HI enthusiast (urs truly), i have a feeling that a number of future GI's will be draging a BIG KHUK through baghdad. or whatever other country feels the need to mess with the best.

quick question. I saw an article in TIME, while sitting in Sweden (cold) this past week. it said that at a Paris Autoshow, Ford or GMC (dont know which was there, but they both are working on it) hade a car on display that runns on hydrogen and has the performance level of a regular car. some of the other features of this tfuture-auto, kinda convinced me that itl be a big winner when it comes out. they predict 2010 to be the yr when it will be comercialy available.

so lets say, its 2020 and these cars have replaced regular automobils (this type of engin works on planes and rockets too btw, more efficient and has more potential than the jet fuel currently used), and thus the world no longer depends on fossil fuels.

WHAT EFFECT WILL THIS HAVE ON THE MIDDLE EAST?????

will they go back to the stone age without the oil revenues, or will they start investing, somtime soon, heavily in alternate industries so when the day comes they can survive, or (this is familiar to all the europeans out there)
will we see a massive emigration to Europe and the US?
just asking.
 
<i>so lets say, its 2020 and these cars have replaced regular automobils (this type of engin works on planes and rockets too btw, more efficient and has more potential than the jet fuel currently used), and thus the world no longer depends on fossil fuels. </i>
Click to expand...

Well, when I get my Galloper 4wd next week, The Middle East will be safe for another few decades. This baby drinks a lot :)

On a more serious note: all kinds of energy alternatives for engines are developed, varying from electric to hydrogen. Also, alternative fuels for existing diesel engines can be made from, yes, coconut oil or sugar reed, as done by local villagers in New Guinee, I remember. Alcohol like stuff works also fine for petrol engines.

So for vehicles (consumer market) they will see less demand anyway in the near future. For defence, shipping, transport and other big markets I do not think the change will be that quick.

And a lot of the oil gets into byproducts like f.e. plastics.
 
Padi:

I've read that some of the Gulf States (e.g. Dubai), have already begun developing other industries like banking, tech/biotech and tourism. (The "Economist" magazine had a piece on this subject sometime back, IIRC.)

Still, as things get worse in the Middle East (economically speaking), I think that we're going to see more emigration and more "death to the infidel". Many of the Middle-Eastern economies - like the Saudi's - are already a mess, and a drop in oil demand and/or oil prices won't improve the situation for them.

Personally, I can't wait until practical alternative fuel vehicles are available. Even though the U.S. gets much, if not most, of it's oil from other sources, the idea of me shelling out money to someone who then turns around and gives it to folks who want to kill me is hard to take. A reduction in oil demand will probably lead to greater instability over there, but at least I won't be helping to fund the bad guys.

S.
 
This battle has been fought over different commodities in the past:

Wood
Land
Spices
Gold
Opium
Precious metals and rocks

Like any self respecting region or country, they will adapt or be cut out of the loop. I doubt fossil fuels will totally go out of vogue, but they may. Can't wait to tell my future grandchildren about the dayz we ran cars on sludge made from dead dinosaurs and plants. They'll look at me like I'm nuts!

Beats the hell outta killing for ideology's sake.

Keith
 
Maybe we will have a hydrogen crisis and have to fight them for their bountiful hydrogen resources! :eek:



;) :p
 
Mobile, Chrystler, Ford and the rest have an ogligopoly (sp?), a hold on all of the automobile industry via oil. As long as they make cars they will appear to be making a "alternative". The only way that that "alternative" will get a true foothold and take the market is if there is a strangle hold on the worlds supply of oil and the market demands something new.
Until then they will keep making money the way they have been.

As for a strop, the real barber strops have nothing on them but leather, the compound will ruin a straight razor. As for a knife strop, I dont have one, but there are multiple grits of compound.
Some polish, some have "bite" and actually remove steel. (Supposedly you can achieve a smoother, and more perfect, razor edge than is found on your Bic in the bathroom.)
I think you want the green stuff, the starting compound, you can find it here http://www.texasknife.com ... I think :confused:

How you use it is by draging the edge backwards across the leather you have applied it to. (use a little baby oil to dilute it and rub it into the leather a little)
...this is what i understand, anyone please correct me if I am wrong.
 
oligopoly
a market situation in which each of a few producers affects but does not control the market.

America will forever be dependant on oil. No matter what alternatives are presented in automotive technology - that is only one part of the bigger picture. Even electrically-powered cars need oil for lubrication.

The only question will be whether or not another country will have the power to cripple the US by limiting oil exports. And I think that opportunity is diminishing every day.

Strop content - buy a double sided strop from Lee Valley Tools online. Get their strop package and it comes with the rouge you need. Load one side, keep the other clean. Strop with the green first, then move to the nude leather. Works for me!

Dan
 
I'm not sure I'm following you, SD. Yes, it would mean investment and re-tooling, something the margin-squeezed automakers would be loath to do. But, alternative-fuel vehicles are going to happen sooner or later - whether driven by the global oil situation, or environmental regulation (I'm thinking Califorina in this case). The automakers who aren't prepared for it will be left behind.

Dan is right. There will always be a demand for oil - as a lubricant, for home heating, plastics, etc. However, as more supplies (e.g. Russian oil) become available to the global market, the price of oil will most likely fall in the nearer term. Bad news for the Middle Eastern nations. Good news for us.

Nevertheless, I hate the idea that by burning oil (gasoline) in my car I am putting money, even if it's only fractions of cents, into the hands of the Osamas of this world. By reducing the demand for oil by reducing my consumption of it, I help reduce the wealth of the Saudis and their kin, however indirectly. Even though it's only a drop in the ocean, I still say "that's a good thing".

S.
 
Originally posted by Bill Martino
What we need is a good anti gravity machine.
Click to expand...

The Transcendental Meditation folks say they can do it without a machine. If it were true, I'd expect my company would be pushing it big-time. Save 'em a bundle in airfare.

S.
 
Hydrogen fuel:

Burns efficiently and very cleanly.

One catch--where do you get it???

here's a couple of ways:

1) Electrolysis of water. Needs electricty generated how??? Probably mostly by burning something like most of it is now. Note that recently many areas of the country haven't eactly been overflowing with electric power. This just moves the location of the "dirty" action and probably increases overall efficiency a little. Popular with those in polluted cities but not with many who will be next to the power plant. Hydrocarbons would still be a good choice of fuel for electricity generation.

2) Catalytic "reforming" of small hydrogen rich molecules like methanol or....small hydrocarbons like methane, ethane, propane etc. The latter are gases that accompany oil deposits. Or they could made from heavier hydrocarbons by more advanced and extensive cracking than that employed for producing gasoline. Cracking requires energy too. Hydrogen production through "reforming" could be done in the vehicle, or at a remote location and the hydrogen transported. Again, probably a little more efficient, but hydrocarbons will likely be a major contributor here too, since it's kinda hard to imagine producing enough methanol. And reforming will still leave a carbon residue as carbon dioxide, formaldehyde or formic acid--carbon dioxide is probably the least nasty and troublesome.

Both methods produce carbon dioxide somewhere in the process of making hydrogen. Nothing magical in terms of reducing hydrocarbon consumption except through some increased efficiency, and the option to dump the combustion or combustion-like products outside of the city where there are less people to complain.

This is being oversold the same way solar was a few years ago IMO.
 
No argument about producing hydrogen, Firkin.

But, does it have to be hydrogen? I know that there's work going on with both natural gas and compressed-air powered vehicles. Of course, producing the compressed air raises the same questions as hydrogen. But, there has to be a practical alternative out there somewhere.

S.
 
Meditate?
Naw, just eat more beans and make your own methane!!!!:p :rolleyes: :p

I produce enough without the beans to run our vehicles my Barbie says just think what I could do if I ate beans for every meal.:rolleyes: :footinmou

Of course I know I'm in good company here since if it isn't flatulance and methane it's BS and Methane.:p :rolleyes: :p ;)
 
There are some places that enough methane could be biologically produced to make a small dent, like feedlots.

Probably fortunately, I have no experience with Yvsa's domestic methane economy:)

But if biologically produced methane becomes big enough to really contribute, I'm buying a share of a perfume factory!! I bet it would take a lot more chicken (and other) poo than there is now. Might be like the old days in Europe when the hoi-poloi all had their snoots stuck in a scented hankie so they wouldn't have to smell what everybody else did.

Meanwhile in the Middle East, they flare off natural gas from the oil wells, as it's not yet expensive enough to bother with when they've got oil. Maybe some day that will be regretted.
 
Originally posted by firkin
Probably fortunately, I have no experience with Yvsa's domestic methane economy:)
Click to expand...
See what I mean about BS and Methane.:p :rolleyes: ;)
 
Personally I wouldn't like to have to run around with methane collecting equipment attached to my bottom. :(

Whatever floats your boat I guess. (literally :))
 
Personally I wouldn't like to have to run around with methane collecting equipment attached to my bottom.
Click to expand...

Maybe not, but if you've a condition such a Yvsa has described, others in your vicinity might prefer it...:p :p :p

(busily concocting defensive cusine based upon hard-boiled eggs and cabbage)
 
hey, thanks guys on all the interesting replies.
special thanks to those who helped me out with my sharpening qustiones.

I figured the US and the world will depend on oil for a long tie. BUT, if there is even a small change in demand, this will affect the oil industry, particularily the mid. east, severaly.
My fam. has been doing business for over 30 years in the middle east. everytime OPEC raises the oil prices, expenditures go over the top. suddenly everybody wants a new factory. obviously when oil prices are low, they stop investing. Now these are relatively small changes compared to the eventuality of oil not being demanded for transportation purposes.

everybody take care.
 
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