1798 replies · 13305 views

^Yep.. no dirty thoughts there. Honest

^
Rail has been affected, so I took the alternative- buses. I did waste more time. As far as navigating through the city goes, I ride taxis a lot and overall the storm was a small inconvenience for me. Other people I know have had far greater problems. (flooding, damage to their homes, a few days without power, electricity, and/or gas, etc.)
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Do we have a caption thread on this forum by any chance?
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Hilarious thread by Maiya:

inb4 viral
wtf

^
I don't even know what to say at the moment

MUERICA!!!!
Ohio has oil & gas reserves to rival Saudi Arabia, energy executive says
The United States is on track to become the world's biggest oil producer by the end of the decade, a stunning turn of fortune that threatens to stifle the growth prospects of Canada's oil exporters.
America's rising oil output is "nothing short of spectacular" and will exceed that of Saudi Arabia or Russia by 2020, the International Energy Agency said in a report that starkly illustrates why the Canadian industry - and the federal and Alberta governments - are determined to build pipelines that would serve Asian markets.
The U.S. currently imports about 10 million barrels per day of crude, and Canada accounts for nearly 30 per cent of that total. But oil companies are using new technologies to extract vast amounts of crude from the U.S. Midwest. The IEA forecasts the Americans will be producing 11.1 million barrels per day by 2020, up from 8.1 million last year.
At the same time, the IEA expects American demand for petroleum products to decline significantly. The double-edged forecast has the potential to cause upheaval in the oil patch in Western Canada, which drew $40-billion in investment last year and is a major driver of economic growth and jobs in the country.
Nearly all Canadian oil is exported to the U.S., and Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver said the IEA report "dramatically emphasizes" the need for Canada to find new markets.
"They're simply not going to need to buy as much from us and so we can't rely as much on the U.S. market," Mr. Oliver said in telephone interview.
"If we don't find new markets, the resources will be left in the ground and the legacy will be lost. So it is crucial."
Todd Hirsch, a senior economist at ATB Financial in Alberta, sees the rise of U.S. output as among the chief threats to the Canadian oil business - partly because it may push down oil prices to the point where many projects no longer make sense economically.
"It is distinctly one of the biggest risks - supply coming out of the U.S. pushing price down to the point where they don't need Canadian oil, or the price is too low" for Alberta producers to press ahead. With oil sands projects, "almost none of them work at $50 [u.S. per barrel] oil. And if all that Bakken oil does come on stream, that's the scenario we could be looking at."
The Bakken is a prolific oil formation underneath North Dakota and Saskatchewan.
Still, the Paris-based IEA remains bullish on Canada's oil sands. But it offers two critical caveats: growth in the oil sands depends on the industry's ability to address the environment impacts as well as its success diversifying sales to Asia.
It expects Canadian oil sands production to nearly double between 2011 and 2025 to 3.4 million barrels per day, and grow to 4.3 million by 2035. While that growth rate is substantial, it is also well below industry forecasts. The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers sees oil sands production growing to 5 million barrels per day by 2030.
Whether the forecast comes from the IEA or the CAPP, it's clear Canada can no longer rely on the United States as its sole export market for oil or natural gas, given the boom in production from previously uneconomic reserves brought about by new drilling methods and the controversial practice of hydraulic fracturing, which uses chemically laced water under high pressure to extract oil and gas.
While industry critics would welcome slower growth in the oil sands, Bank of Nova Scotia economist Patricia Mohr said the Canadian economy is increasingly dependent on the resource development to sustain economic activity among Alberta producers and their suppliers across the country.
"If we don't expand our export capability to growing markets that are growing in Asia-Pacific area, we're going to stunt the development of our oil industry in Western Canada," Ms. Mohr said. "And it is very risky for the country to be assuming that if you stunt the growth of our biggest non-service industry in Canada, that you'll find an offset to that. The Canadian economy is very oil-dominant now."
A number of proposals have been made to build new or expanded pipelines to ship oil and gas to the B.C. coast, including Enbridge Inc.'s Northern Gateway project. But the projects face considerable political hurdles.
Crude oil is Canada's largest export, but producers have been losing millions of dollars a day in revenue as a result of price discounts they must accept in order to sell their oil in an increasingly saturated U.S. market. Sveinung Svarte, the chief executive of Athabasca Oil Sands Corp., said the Canadian economy is experiencing staggering losses because Canadian crude sells for a discount of as much as $20 (U.S.) a barrel compared to international sources of oil. Over the course of a year, the differential can cost as much as $25-billion.
"That's a direct subsidy to the U.S. by Canada," he said in an earlier interview.
The IEA report suggests that Canada faces a rapidly changing global energy landscape that will roil the global marketplace.
"North America is at the forefront of a sweeping transformation in oil and gas production that will affect all regions of the world," IEA executive director Maria van der Hoeven said Monday. However, she added that the world may well experience an equally dramatic improvement in energy efficiency that would be "just as important" to crude markets as the supply changes.
The United States is in the vanguard of both trends, as rising oil production and falling consumption threatens to squeeze producers who are dependent to that market. By 2030, the U.S. will have reduced its need for imported crude by 5.5 million barrels per day. Canadian producers hope to gain an increasing share of the smaller import market, but they face competition from Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Nigeria and Mexico, and what was once a seller's market will clearly shift in favour of the buyer.

Well, maybe the dollar for us will start going down for us again? ^^^
Who knows...

Interesting story there Pretty. Read something similar a few months back. Who would of guessed these kinds of fossil fuel production numbers for the US just 10 years ago. Just goes to show that any unknown variable can switch the internal game for the better. As a strategic point for our country, there is no doubt we need to become energy independent. And not Middle Eastern oil, many have this notion that we import the majority of our foreign oil from that region. Its more on the numbers we get from Venezuela and Canada of all places. It's just not wise to ever put such a critical economic life blood of a resource in the hands of another country, no matter how warm the relations might be. Plus, if the dollar ever did tank, the last thing we need to purchase is over 50% of our oil with not so friendly exchange rates. Do I hear runaway inflation?

I used to live in lower manhattan and the place was always vulnerable to flooding. There was a shallow flood once a year or so. To be more exact, I lived for two years off 'water street' and harbor was just 1,000 meters away. The whole place got swamped by the Sandy this year but thankfully I didn't have to venture there.
Ughh, small inconveniences, and yes, many MANY had it worse but with that said the traffic must of been a nightmare. With some of the video reports I was watching the week after, people were stuck in traffic for hours upon hours just to get to work via car or bus. Heck, some people walked into Manhattan, quicker
Well, good to hear that you haven't been affected too much. Any fav food joints of yours still shut down due to the strorm?
Ahahaha, did she really create that thread?
Either she is the most clueless individual around here or Level 90 master troll
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I wrote that during the day of the storm. The effects of the storm were uneven (most were ok, others had more problems) lasted for more than a week before everything went back to normal. Some of offices and places of business that I rely on lost one or all of their utilities, and had to resort to backup generators or had to do without something for a few days. Falling trees or poles did some damage, as well. etc.etc.

Babs did absolutely wonderful for her first time appearance at the VSFS. Her walk was inline. Outfit done perfectly for my taste, festive yet sexy and daring - even though some didn't like the hooker boots
And I loved her playful energy on the catwalk...tad reminiscent of Lima's derp moves though
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Ughh but those STALKERS...I knew it was a possibility and sure enough it came into fruition. What really exaggerated it all was the fact she was spotted with the Beibs. And some of those Beib fans are absolutely bat-shit crazy! Luckily her thread has cooled down since. But the amount of exposure she gained from the VSFS and the Beiber publicity has her out there more then ever before. So I await the inevitable nut jobs that will visit her topic
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And precious wouldn't be the word I would use...but heck...why not
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^ To answer your question above....NOPE!

Thought you just might fall in love with this pic...


^
Those long beautiful golden locks. Those gorgeous sun kissed freckles. I think I'm going to...


Justin Bieber - Baby ft. Ludacris
801,507,918 views almost 3 years.
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PSY - GANGNAM STYLE
762,547,876 views 4 months 2 days

Love your new set pretty it looks amazing ![]()
And go gangam style ^.^

^ I second that. Can't wait to see what Taylor has in store in the years to come, such a beautiful women
762 million and still going strong

Justin Bieber - Baby ft. Ludacris
801,507,918 views almost 3 years.
---
PSY - GANGNAM STYLE
762,547,876 views 4 months 2 days

765,192,337 Views as of when I went
The video is: 4:13 minutes long or 253 seconds
If you times 253 seconds by the number of views that I had when I went, then divide by 60 for minutes, then 60 for 1 hour, then 24 for 1 day then 30 for one month, then 12 for one year then 10 for one decade etc.. etc... this is what you end up with if I did the math right:
193,593,661,261 seconds = 3,226,561,021.016666 minutes =53,776,017.01694444 Hours = 2240667.375706019 Days = 74688.91252353395 Months = 6224.076043627829 Years = 622.4076043627829 Decades
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^
And you thought songs were annoying after a good day of playing straight!

Heyyy Dave
Just keeping it plain and simple ![]()