Gas Prices Around The World

Have you ever wondered: Where do we (Canada) rank in the world, as an oil producing nation... and how do we compare with the other countries in regards to the price we pay for fuel?  With our latest jump in prices at the pump, together with all the talk of the oil sands projects... it crossed my mind.  The following is a list of the top ten oil producing countries in the world, and their average pump prices (pre-summer gouge, of course), in US$/Litre.

1. Saudi Arabia - 0.16
2. Russia - 0.93
3. United States - 1.02
4. Iran - 0.57
5. China - 1.06
6. Canada - 1.18
7. Iran - 0.38
8. United Arab Emirates - 0.50
9. Mexico - 0.77
10. Kuwait - 0.22

If you knock out the three greedy North American countries, the average pump price among the top ten oil producing nations is 54 cents/litre... less than half of what we pay!  And, as you can plainly see, we have the highest pump price of them all.  Compare that to what Venezuela does.  They have oil reserves, ignore the world price of oil, and even subsidize the price of fuel... to keep the cost of moving people and goods down.  They pay 2 cents/litre, or 8 cents/gallon!  Imagine that!  A nation attempting to reduce the burden on it's people!
So, any which way you slice it... the Canadian government screws us at the pump (and ironically, they don't have the common courtesy to use lube)!  I guess it could always be worse.  In Turkey, they pay $2.40/litre.

Pay on... my Canadian friends!

Pay As You "Go"

I normally wouldn't have put this much thought into it, but for the year 2013 (in a blatant attempt to hide how much everyone's property taxes are going up), our local RM has decided to take the waste water management levy off of our property tax bill, and send us a separate bill for that quarterly.  After receiving my first bill, I thought that I might do the math.  Before drawing any final conclusions, lets start out with some assumptions.  These assumptions are obviously not all correct, but for the sake of the story, let's assume them anyway.  If you care to read to the end, I'll get the story closer to the truth (which is actually worse!).

1. Only the tax payer gets charged.  Family and friends can "go" as they please.
2. In Canada, we have the inherent right to pee for free.
3. Grey water (showers, laundry, dishes, etc.) doesn't require the same treatment, and will be excluded.
4. The average person poops once/day, at relatively the same time/day.
5. Most exceptions to #4 can be offset by the amount of times that you "go" away from home.
6. My quarterly waste water levy bill is $29.00 (or $116.00 annually).
7. I will poop at home approximately 400 times in 2013.

Conclusion:  I HAVE TO PAY 29 CENTS TAX EVERY TIME I TAKE A POOP!!!

To get the story closer to correct, we actually don't have any measuring devices for the amount of waste water produced by each home.  As a result, what they've done is to prorate at a per ca pita  flat rate per household.  Since I live in a neighbourhood with a lot of immigrants that have lots of children, and there's only two of us at our house... I've basically adopted several of my neighbour's children, and I also have to pay my share every time that they flush their toilets too.  Once you've taxed my poop, and communism style made me pay when my neighbours poop... is there anything left that's sacred?!?

Please excuse me... I have to "go".

Gary Busey (Celebrity Apprentice) - And The Emperor's New Clothes

To the ignorant, there is precious little to discern between the ravings of a lunatic, and the soliloquy of a genius (seeing as how they understand neither).  Add to that, the fear that the average person has, that they might end up looking even more foolish than they already are, and you get the perfect opportunity to have a lunatic passed off as a genius.
Enter Gary Busey.
Somewhere along the line, "somebody" (and likely nobody knows who that might have been) ended up referring to Gary as some sort of genius.  You can't un-ring a bell, and once "somebody" states that Gary is a genius, every other moron that doesn't want the fact that they're ignorant made public, has to agree.  Now, we have a lunatic going on publicly televised rants.  Then, we have a moron like Donald Trump, who doesn't want to appear ignorant, making those lunacies out to be somehow intelligent.
And now, there you have it.  The modern day remake of The Emperor's New Clothes.  If you'll recall, the Emperor walked around naked, thinking that he had new clothes that only wise people can see, until a child cries out that he isn't wearing anything at all.  Gary's not saying anything at all, but in people's efforts to seem smarter than they are, they all pretend that they are hearing words of wisdom.

Shine on, you crazy diamond!

Humble Pie

Humble Pie is a dish best eaten when fresh.  The longer you wait, the worse it tastes.

Winning

The best way to actually win: Start fast, speed up as you go along, and finish with all you've got.

Win/Lose

People who say "it doesn't matter whether you win or lose, it's how you play the game", are the same ones that said "slow and steady wins the race" right before they lost the race.

Grudges

That was yesterday Buddy... get over it already!