What in the News

[Cloud23465]

Well, I though this would be a good topic... anything you see that catches your eye, attention, good or bad (which it's rarely good from what I've seen.)
Post it.

Truckers Protest Fuel Prices Through A Shutdown

Posted: April 1, 2008 06:33 PM EDT

Truckers across the country are trying to send a message to Capitol Hill.

They say diesel fuel prices are too high!

Truckers circled Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and blared their horns.

But in New Jersey, truck drivers put on the brakes and held a protest along the Jersey Turnpike.

The call for a nationwide shutdown is reaching independent truck drivers right here in Hampton Roads.

Truckers say it costs anywhere from $0.65 to $0.80 a mile, just in fuel, to operate their trucks.

"It takes $800 every time I fill this truck up," Clair Stoops.

Stoops joined other independent truck drivers on Tuesday, who took a stand by sitting idle.

He says he will not run his big rig for three or four days to protest high diesel fuel prices. Stoops says add to the high gas prices the highway taxes and freight rates, many truckers are spending more money than they're bringing in.

But we found many independent truck drivers who were not participating in the shutdown.

"It's no use. All you do is lose revenue by shutting down," Richard Wingeier said.

Wingeier has been an independent truck driver for 40 years.

"I've been through strikes, shutdowns, shooting at each other, tearing up each others equipment and slowdowns, and nothing has ever, ever been settled by it," he said.

He adds there's only one way a shutdown can make enough noise to make a difference at the pumps.

"It needs to be unified if anything is going to happen."

The Owner Operated Independent Drivers Association is an advocacy group for truck drivers. The organization did not encourage Tuesday's shutdown, but says it heard from drivers who were participating in the shutdown on March 31 and April 1.

Sadly this will have no effect unless it's national and it gets at least 70% or more of all truckers to do this.

[campy]

As a sometime proofreader for KP fanfic authors, I got a smile out of this story.

[lunchmeat]

One of my favorite punctuation errors stood on a billboard, for many years, in Arizona along I - 10. A filling stop and restaurant combination long advertised
"Diesel Fried Chicken" in letters ten feet tall.

[TransWarpDrive]

One of my favorite punctuation errors stood on a billboard, for many years, in Arizona along I - 10. A filling stop and restaurant combination long advertised
"Diesel Fried Chicken" in letters ten feet tall.

...I wonder how that would taste?

[lunchmeat]

Do you really want to know

[TransWarpDrive]

Do you really want to know

Not really....

[Cody MacArthur Fett]

Well, this morning I was watching "Fox and Friends", and they had this story about this 13 year old girl who got attacked by a red-tailed hawk while visiting Fenway Park. The girl's name: Alexis Rodriguez (Correct me if I'm wrong about the spelling). Now I just have one thing to say to that.

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Wow, you guys down south really take your baseball seriously; even the hawks are Red Sox fans!