[pup55]

The all-time flame war was between Savinar and JayHMorrison. I think it is archived. I am not at all sure that anything since then has been quite as intense.

Also, in an effort foreshadowing the current "expert" designation, it was thought for awhile to have a separate subforum for "approved posters" only. There was such an outcry that the idea never was implemented.

[Carlhole]

SpecOp and BiGG were big on the war, boy! And they'd pretty much tell ya to suck a big red, white and blue dick if you weren't on board against the terrists too! George W. Bush was KING!

America was going to kick ass and take no prisoners.

But BiGG got banned for cursing someone out, I think. Damn it! What happened to that oldtime Freeper element we used to have around here? SpecOp_007 hides out in the gun thread. Don't know why... He should poke his little redneck head out more often.

n July 2004, I broke a beer-bottle over my head, named myself "Carlhole" and commenced to arguing the Mike Ruppert position on 911 and Peak Oil. Ruppert had just finished writing "Crossing The Rubicon". And when it was finished, he announced that he would no longer argue the 911 stuff. Instead, he wanted to concentrate on the approaching catastrophe - our impending energy cataclysm. So, I decided to carry on - at least here on PeakOil.com.

I met with a whole lot more hostility to the 911 thing than now - and I miss it - 'cause I like a good argument, being a contrary-minded so-and-so. I would go 'round and 'round with PhilBiker who eventually left PeakOil.com after one such row.

Now, even if I could find someone to tangle with, the arguments have all been made and it's all mostly just repetition. But now, when someone posts a 911 poll the results show that 2/3 of everyone here pretty much smells a rat with regard to 911. Back in 2004, I don't think it was even a third who thought that way - people on these forums regularly trashed Mike Ruppert as a blemish on the Peak Oil crowd's reputation.

I wish FromTheWilderness.com was still churning out all those lovely polemics. They were great. So off the wall and different but such food for thought.

[Barbara]

When I joined, oil was about $27. Everybody here thought that $50 would be TEOTWAWKI. We were usually about 20-30 users online, and when oil price jumped we used to hit the 100 users record and the server always crashed .
Many people used to tell me I was just an EU socialist, there were just a few europeans here those times. But Specop was my friend so everything went smoooooth .
I remember an old member from Saudi Arabia or some Gulf State, he was very smart and his sign was "My father rode a camel etc...". It was the first time I've read that saying.

[yull]

I remember the good ole days. Never posted much, but always lurked. I fed up of waiting for peak oil eventually, thinking it wouldn't happen until 2009 or so, and a few years later til the proper effects start to hit.
Things certainly seemed to have gone faster than I expected. Peak now looks to be in 2006 and the effects are starting to hit now. It's gone from 7-8 years away to past history.

I remember oil being $25-30 and OPEC worrying that it was going out of their $20-28 price target. LOL! Now it's $93 a barrel. I never thought that $50 would be TEOTWAWKI - I thought $100 or so would be the point where recession would start to kick in, and still am confident about this.

I read obessively from about 2004-2005, got tired of waiting, and put it at the back of my mind while I got back to daily life. Now however, the recent prices, the indications of peak already, growing awareness and increasingly dire predictions has got me obessed about it again.

I think perhaps due to be a bit wiser and older, and reading more and more deep down into the rabbit hole of the whole issue, I've become considerably more pessimistic than a few years ago. I really do think we are now facing catastrophe within a matter of 10 years or so.

[Roy]

I remember being shocked at the new, daily revelations on this site.

It took a while to sink in. I took a proactive stance on Peak oil, and have taken the advice of some posters here, for the good.

At that time, I was still pretty freaked out by the implications of PO, and having just completed The Oil Age Is Over, I was sure I'd be riding a bike and growing potatoes by now.

Well, I am, but only because I choose to, not because I have to.

I have learned a tremendous amount from this forum. There are some great members here who do some great work put a lot of effort into their posts for the benefit of those of us with different talents.

For that I'm grateful. I've said it before and I'll say it again: This is the best forum I've found on the internet in the 10 years or so that I've been 'surfing'. It may not be the most technical or scientific, but it does offer a unique combination of skills, intellects, and outlooks.

Posters from 04 that stand out in my mind for various reasons:

Pops, SpecOp_007, DantesPeak, Pup55, John Denver, Aaron, JayHMorrison, Barbara, GG3, PeaJay, Jato, Ayoob, Hawkcreek, Smallpoxgirl, and many others that I can't remember right at this moment.

I think the 'stew' created by the diverse viewpoints here makes it a great place that I never seem to get tired of visiting.

Thanks to everyone here, and of course the creators and mods as well.

[roccman]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('yull', 'I') remember the good ole days. Never posted much, but always lurked.

[Specop_007]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Carlhole', 'S')pecOp and BiGG were big on the war, boy! And they'd pretty much tell ya to suck a big red, white and blue dick if you weren't on board against the terrists too! George W. Bush was KING!

America was going to kick ass and take no prisoners.

But BiGG got banned for cursing someone out, I think. Damn it! What happened to that oldtime Freeper element we used to have around here? SpecOp_007 hides out in the gun thread. Don't know why... He should poke his little redneck head out more often.

[sjn]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('roccman', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('yull', 'I') remember the good ole days. Never posted much, but always lurked.

[roccman]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('sjn', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('roccman', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('yull', 'I') remember the good ole days. Never posted much, but always lurked.

[Andrew_S]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('yull', '
')I remember oil being $25-30 and OPEC worrying that it was going out of their $20-28 price target. LOL!

[eastbay]

Always check in here. Except when I'm on vacation.

I was booted from a few sites in mid-'04 for ranting away about PO. Motorcycle buffs generally didn't, and still don't, want to hear about such a horror.

LATOC was the first hard-hitting essay about PO I ever read causing a major shift in my views on oil. Afterwards, reading a ton of material, I was happily surprised there existed a place where one could discuss PO related topics without being accused of all sorts of nasty stuff; PO.com. And happily, it's where a great diversity of political and social perspectives were welcome.

With only a few exceptions, everyone here has been very nice and civil demonstrating wonderful social graces. That's what makes this place pleasant.

[Tyler_JC]

I've been a member since August 2004.

Does anyone else remember when Savinar gave out free copies of his book before the 2004 election?

[stu]

Who remembers this site going crazy when Hurricane Katrina smashed into New Orleans?

All the comparisons being made about the lawlessness in NO and how a future post-peak world would look.

[seahorse2]

I never checked out and, to this day, am still impressed with Pups assimilation of data to predict "peak Wal-Mart", which, I assume, still stands the test of time.

Peak Mart

[uNkNowN ElEmEnt]

I remember the Katrina fuss. Man that was unreal! Do you guys remember a user from the south US who used to tell us how to do all the cool home-made hot water projects etc.

I can't remember his name right now, I had it the other day when I was thinking back, He came up with the coiled black hose on his roof to make solar hot water etc. I think he and Ludi were the two that really got this how-to stuff started here.

[gnm]

I recall many of us hanging out in peakspeak on a nightly basis also... There was often 4-6 on at once.

-G

[Ludi]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('uNkNowN ElEmEnt', ' ')I think he and Ludi were the two that really got this how-to stuff started here.

[Bas]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('stu', 'W')ho remembers this site going crazy when Hurricane Katrina smashed into New Orleans?

All the comparisons being made about the lawlessness in NO and how a future post-peak world would look.

[strider3700]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Bas', '
')I wondered how that was (I was without a home internet connection at the time) as the all time record for users online is from that period (at about 8 times our typical traffic these days).

[Jack]

I've been here since 2004...

My favorite cornucopian post advocated sending spaceships to Jupiter to extract the methane for consumption on Earth.

I've searched often since then and never found it again. Too bad...