i say stay out

[acroyear]

The Libya situation is (thus far) a strictly internal affair. 

There is no direct threat to anybody outside of the country, and no undo influence from any other country on one side or the other of what is effectively a civil war.

If we get involved, oil prices will continue to rise.  If we DON'T get involved, oil prices will continue to rise.

Occam's Razor would therefore suggest staying the hell out is our best course of action.

Comments

[sestree.livejournal.com]

It's concerning. You cannot compare this situation quite as easily to the situation in the 80s. Often in that area of the world, we are viewed as the bad guys. Right now it's all in upheaval and to go in could easily band them together and cause on helluva mess.

Plus - while I'm all for keeping innocent people from being killed, I agree - stay the hell out. We have no business in there.

You're correct on the oil prices. We're paying the piper on that one though. For many years we had reasonably affordable gasoline - damned cheap by many countries' standards. Automobile companies had no reason to make energy efficient cars because nobody wanted that - they wanted big SUVs. Because gasoline was easily available and affordable.

Sorry - that last one is my personal soapbox. My bad :(

[thelongshot.livejournal.com]

I already addressed the latter with a fuel-efficient vehicle. Unfortunately, the price of diesel is going up a lot more than the price of gasoline, so it is all a push.

[blueeowyn.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't say that "nobody" wanted gas efficiency, I would say that Too Many People didn't want gas efficiency and bought into the corporate mind-set lock, stock & barrel. I know people who are convinced that you can't put a child's car seat in a car, you HAVE to have an SUV or a mini-van (well, the latter is true if you have more than 2 kids because the seats are large enough you can't fit 3 of them in the back seat of a car OR SUV). My SIL bought an SUV before she was married (might have been before they were officially engaged) so that she would have room for the kid. I think they got rid of that vehicle within a year of when the kid was eventually born.

[sestree.livejournal.com]

You're quite correct. I'm the first person to bitch at 'blanket statements' and look that's exactly what I did.

I drive an SUV - a jeep wrangler. It's not for status but it was because pyllgrum didn't realize I'd be able to handle the snow out here. heh after the ice storms of Kansas?

I would have been quite happy with a front wheel drive no frills car. We chose the Wrangler my second year here...and it's been paid off for a while. Believe me, when pyllgrum's malibu is paid off, my lil monster is getting traded in for something that's more gas efficient.

I had a 1979 Ford F150 most of the time Robert was little. That was in the mid 80s. Car seats fit in those just fine though it's not recommended. I also had a 1967 Chevy Impala 4 door. 2 carseats fit in the back of that just dandy with room to spare.

Miss those two vehicles. Good gas mileage/easy maintenance.

[faireraven.livejournal.com]

If I could have gotten the minivan in a hybrid variety, I would have. My other car gets 32-37 miles to the gallon. We have one car that guzzles because we need the space, not for kids (yet) but for everything else we do, and one car for gas mileage (which from what I understand from parents out there, is not the best car for cramming a car seat into. You *can* put one in this car, but you have to have the front seat *way* forward, which makes the person in the front very uncomfortable if they have long legs).

The thing about the minivan is that we actually use the space in it, kids or not, and it's 4WD, which we actually *will* use. Then again, you know we used to use the space in the mini SUV, *without* kids. But it doesn't mean *both* of our cars need to be guzzlers!

[thelongshot.livejournal.com]

Well, that's why I got the Jetta Wagon TDI and bought a cartop carrier, so that we could make the trip to Pennsic with the boy and all of our stuff. Unfortunately, wagons are a dying breed. Too bad too, because I don't really want a minivan or an SUV.

As for 4WD, in the almost 8 years I've owned my TDI, I've only wished for 4WD once, and that was the last big snow storm which I got stuck in. Otherwise, my car has been great in the snow. Most people don't need 4WD, particularly since it eats gas mileage.

[faireraven.livejournal.com]

Too many places we go where the parking is off-road in the rain (faire being a notable one, we have seen WAY too many people have to get pushed out), and the HOA is notoriously *bad* at getting us plowed out (when we had the 28" of snow last year, they *never* plowed our cul-de-sac, we had to band together as neighbors to shovel a single route out, and it got nasty fast). Yes, it eats mileage. It also means I can get to work.

[wildwose.livejournal.com]

Joe,
I am so glad to see someone else posting this. I can't tell you how odd it seems to me that we would consider going into Libya. Very odd. Imagine if it was here, and another country intervened. Seems so dumb. I feel for the people of Libya, and certainly don't support the regime there, but come on, do we really need to step into other people's civil wars?