COLLECTIVE MADNESS


“Soft despotism is a term coined by Alexis de Tocqueville describing the state into which a country overrun by "a network of small complicated rules" might degrade. Soft despotism is different from despotism (also called 'hard despotism') in the sense that it is not obvious to the people."

Sunday, October 21, 2012

Best way to protect US troops in foreign wars is to bring them home.



America’s Drone Terrorism
America's drone policy is hardly calculated to win friends for the United States.
Sheldon Richman | REASON October 21, 2012

In the United States, the dominant narrative about the use of drones in Pakistan is of a surgically precise and effective tool that makes the U.S. safer by enabling “targeted killing” of terrorists, with minimal downsides or collateral impacts.
This narrative is false.
Those are the understated opening words of a disturbing, though unsurprising, nine-month study of the Obama administration’s official, yet unacknowledged, remote-controlled bombing campaign in the North Waziristan region of Pakistan, near Afghanistan. The report, “Living Under Drones,” is a joint effort by the New York University School of Law’s Global Justice Clinic and Stanford Law School’s International Human Rights and Conflict Resolution Clinic.
The NYU/Stanford report goes beyond reporting estimates of the civilian casualties inflicted by the deadly and illegal U.S. campaign. It also documents the hell the Pakistanis endure under President Barack Obama’s policy, which includes a “kill list” from which he personally selects targets. That hell shouldn’t be hard to imagine. Picture yourself living in an area routinely visited from the air by pilotless aircraft carrying Hellfire missiles. This policy is hardly calculated to win friends for the United States.
Defenders of the U.S. campaign say that militants in Pakistan threaten American troops in Afghanistan as well as Pakistani civilians. Of course, there is an easy way to protect American troops: bring them home. The 11-year-long Afghan war holds no benefits whatever for the security of the American people. On the contrary, it endangers Americans by creating hostility and promoting recruitment for anti-American groups.
The official U.S. line is that America’s invasion of Afghanistan was intended to eradicate al-Qaeda and the Taliban, who harbored them. Yet the practical effect of the invasion and related policies, including the invasion of Iraq and the bombing in Yemen and Somalia, has been to facilitate the spread of al-Qaeda and like-minded groups.
U.S. policy is a textbook case of precisely how to magnify the very threat that supposedly motivated the policy. The Obama administration now warns of threats from Libya — where the U.S. consulate was attacked and the ambassador killed — and Syria. Thanks to U.S. policy, al-Qaeda in Afghanistan spawned al-Qaeda in Iraq, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, and al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.
If that’s success, what would failure look like?
Regarding Pakistani civilians, the report states,
While civilian casualties are rarely acknowledged by the U.S. government, there is significant evidence that U.S. drone strikes have injured and killed civilians.… It is difficult to obtain data on strike casualties because of U.S. efforts to shield the drone program from democratic accountability, compounded by the obstacles to independent investigation of strikes in North Waziristan. The best currently available public aggregate data on drone strikes are provided by The Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ), an independent journalist organization. TBIJ reports that from June 2004 through mid-September 2012, available data indicate that drone strikes killed 2,562–3,325 people in Pakistan, of whom 474–881 were civilians, including 176 children. TBIJ reports that these strikes also injured an additional 1,228–1,362 individuals.
The Obama administration denies that it has killed civilians, but bear in mind that it considers any male of military age a “militant.” This is not to be taken seriously.
The report goes on,
U.S. drone strike policies cause considerable and under-accounted-for harm to the daily lives of ordinary civilians, beyond death and physical injury. Drones hover twenty-four hours a day over communities in northwest Pakistan, striking homes, vehicles, and public spaces without warning. Their presence terrorizes men, women, and children, giving rise to anxiety and psychological trauma among civilian communities. Those living under drones have to face the constant worry that a deadly strike may be fired at any moment, and the knowledge that they are powerless to protect themselves.
It’s even worse than it sounds:
The U.S. practice of striking one area multiple times, and evidence that it has killed rescuers, makes both community members and humanitarian workers afraid or unwilling to assist injured victims. Some community members shy away from gathering in groups.
How can Americans tolerate this murder and trauma committed in their name? But don’t expect a discussion of this in Monday night’s foreign-policy debate. Mitt Romney endorses America’s drone terrorism.


112 comments:

  1. There is no way to determine the exact percentage of civilians killed by US drone attacks. Common sense dictates a number that is too high. We would not tolerate Mexican or Canadian police departments killing US citizens accused of crimes against Mexico or Canada.

    Why do we expect others to accept this kind of terror?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I guess it goes back to the "If you won't kill the rattlesnakes on your property, we'll do it for you" philosophy.

      Delete
    2. .

      The rattlesnake on your property?

      Under Obama, justifying the collateral damage is easy. You merely define the victims as rattlesnakes.

      .

      Delete
    3. I guess you like Bush's invasion of Iraq better.

      Delete
    4. Do you suppose the strategy might be to keep the assholes beat down as best we can while we try to get our troops the hell out of there?

      Delete
    5. The Brits had a little episode on the Khyber Pass that you might be interested in reading about.

      Delete
    6. .

      I guess you like Bush's invasion of Iraq better

      Lord, you are losing it.

      Do you suppose the strategy might be to keep the assholes beat down as best we can while we try to get our troops the hell out of there?

      Yeh, those Pakistani toddlers need a time out, a real long time out. They done been getting a little uppity.

      The Brits had a little episode on the Khyber Pass that you might be interested in reading about.

      I guess my history is little rusty. What does the Brits invasion of Afghanistan in the 1800's have to do with the indiscriminate killing of Pakistani women and children today?

      First question. Is it doing us any good?

      Debatable. Upside, there is no question we are taking out al Queda capos and also making it hard for them to stay in any one place. It also minimizes U.S. casualties.

      Downside, it makes war easy and acceptable. As in Libya, the terrorism threat metastisizes and spreads. Al queda is decentralized now and has numerous affiliate operations and the capos can be replaced. The drones polarizes entire populations against the US. To the affected populations, there is little difference between the drone attacks and the WWII bombing of Britian by V2's. The program is a vast expansion of presidential powers. Obama picks who gets assassinated. He chooses the suspected terrorists. As the article pointed out in an Orwellian twist any male in the general area of the bombing is considered a terrorist. But it goes beyond that. Any man, woman, or child in the area is considered a 'supporter' of terrorists and therefore subject to extreme predjudice. And if the US hits the wrong target? Well, let's not talk about that.

      In Libya, when accused of killing innocent civilians NATO's usual response was "We have no confirmation of that." The truth was that the only confirmation NATO would accept was their own and they weren't about to investigate.

      The drone war carries the potential for massive unintended consequences. When we aren't losing drones in Iran, we and the Israelis are selling the technology all over the world. The last I heard there were about 20 countries that had drones and many more countries and groups were trying to get them. We are the baddest dude in the valley. As you pointed out, we spend more on the military than the next 15 or 17 countries combined. Drones are in a sense an equalizer. They are cheap and easily replaced. They are not an existential threat at this point but they have the potential to create a whole world of shit.

      As for keeping people pinned down so we can get out of Afghanistan. It's not al Queda killing our people in Afghanistan. It's the Afghans. As for getting out, there is a real simple way. Get out.

      .



      Delete

  2. America's drone policy is hardly calculated to win friends for the United States.

    Concerning 'friends', we've never had any 'friends' in north Pakistan anyway, before the drones, now, and will not after, either.

    This fact doesn't necessarily argue for the current policy.

    Flipping over, we could shower them with gifts and they wouldn't like us either. In fact we have. They don't like us. We are infidels.

    They support the Taliban. They were hiding bin Laden.

    I wouldn't worry much about the 'friend' deal. Or the 'innocent' deal much either. Our policy, whatever it is, ought to be based on our best interests, whatever the hell that is.



    ReplyDelete
  3. I'll say it again. Close all 700 of the overseas bases, relocate them to a belt from San Dog to El Paso, with a mile or two between each one, and let the boys look for Democrats sneaking north over the border at night.

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  4. :)
    ....


    O/T - Sorry but can't help it. Don't you just love the last name 'Fluke'? I do.

    She's campaigning in front of the Sak 'n Save there in Reno, for Obama. Drew 10 people. This is an omen. Reno is ground zero in Nevada.


    http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-TV/2012/10/20/Less-Than-Dozen-Show-For-Sandra-Fluke-Obama-Rally

    Read the comments for an early morning belly laugh! Start the day off right! Watch her video, too!

    heheheheh

    ReplyDelete
    Replies

    1. RU14ME2C

      How dare you call that confused little boy Fluke a Lesbian? I'm gonna tell Fluke's Daddy Rachel Madcow on you !



      Jessica Drake-Artz

      HAHAHAHA!!!!!!! Madcow looks like the love child of Roy Orbison and Howdy Doody, mixed with a little Pinocchio because she is a liar and "wants to be a real Boy"!


      avgjoe

      Now thats funny!!!!!!

      Delete
    2. the love child of Roy Orbison and Howdy Doody

      I must be losing whatever I have left cause that got me rolling.

      Delete
    3. phmgra

      I was there! I am the one the light purple shirt, filming her on my iPhone. I went there to change some minds, but there were no minds to change. There were 3 reporters, 6 Obama campaign staff, one other guy and me! They had only 1 legitimate constituent show up! She had the audacity to comment on how Obama is winning the ground game.........okay, if this is winning then we have no worries for Nov. 6th! Let me know if you want the full video, because she sounded like an idiot several times!!!!

      Delete
    4. johndoenj

      Nope, 10 people, honest.
      1 from ABC
      1 from NBC
      1 from CBS
      1 from CNN
      1 from MSNBC
      1 from CurrentTV
      1 from Buzzfeed
      1 from Politico
      1 from New York Times
      1 from Washington Post

      Delete


    5. I think that Sandra Fluke is worse than Kim Kardashian. Kardashian may think she's beautiful and important but Sandra Fluke comes off as sanctimonious and self-righteous, a person who knows what's better for society, what's better for the all of us. The kind of Liberal that has created the nation we now have of people who are dependent on the government for some unearned benefit.



      lakermike

      at least kardasian gave us a decent video.



      GOTP_54

      She's had gang bangs bigger than this.

      Delete
  5. Hey, you'd be in a good mood too, if your team had kept Louisiana Tech under 100 points.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Solar has gotten so cheap that a 3rd party (Sunpower) was able to go in, install a solar farm, and sell the electricity to the China Lake Naval Research Station for $13 Million/Yr Less than they were paying the local utility. (link on previous thread)

    ReplyDelete
  7. There was a request made in another thread for this information.

    The complete list of faltering or bankrupt green-energy companies:

    Evergreen Solar ($25 million)*
    SpectraWatt ($500,000)*
    Solyndra ($535 million)*
    Beacon Power ($43 million)*
    Nevada Geothermal ($98.5 million)
    SunPower ($1.2 billion)
    First Solar ($1.46 billion)
    Babcock and Brown ($178 million)
    EnerDel’s subsidiary Ener1 ($118.5 million)*
    Amonix ($5.9 million)
    Fisker Automotive ($529 million)
    Abound Solar ($400 million)*
    A123 Systems ($279 million)*
    Willard and Kelsey Solar Group ($6 million)*
    Johnson Controls ($299 million)
    Schneider Electric ($86 million)
    Brightsource ($1.6 billion)
    ECOtality ($126.2 million)
    Raser Technologies ($33 million)*
    Energy Conversion Devices ($13.3 million)*
    Mountain Plaza, Inc. ($2 million)*
    Olsen’s Crop Service and Olsen’s Mills Acquisition Company ($10 million)*
    Range Fuels ($80 million)*
    Thompson River Power ($6.5 million)*
    Stirling Energy Systems ($7 million)*
    Azure Dynamics ($5.4 million)*
    GreenVolts ($500,000)
    Vestas ($50 million)
    LG Chem’s subsidiary Compact Power ($151 million)
    Nordic Windpower ($16 million)*
    Navistar ($39 million)
    Satcon ($3 million)*
    Konarka Technologies Inc. ($20 million)*
    Mascoma Corp. ($100 million)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You're an idiot. Don't you Ever use your brain?

      Your list includes Johnson Controls, one of the biggest, most profitable companies in the world,

      and Sunpower, the very self-same Company that installed that Solar Farm at China Lake (also, btw, the same company that installed the solar at Newscorp's Corporate Headquarters.

      Delete
    2. Your list also includes First Solar, the number one Solar Company in the world, and Vestas, a company that's providing, literally, tens of thousands of Wind Turbines around the world.

      Also, Babcock and Brown, and Navistar.

      How does anyone reach your age, and manage to remain so totally ignorant of the world around them?

      Delete

    3. Solargate: Have you heard about the SunPower controversy?
      October 15, 2011
      tags: corruption, economy, LightSquared, policies, President Obama, scandal, Solyndra, stimulus package, SunPower

      Have you heard about the latest controversy about to rock the Obama regime? It is much the same as the Solyndra and LightSquared scandals, only much worse. For those of you unfamiliar with the Solyndra scandal I will give you a brief synopsis from a post I wrote on it earlier this year:

      Solydra was a green energy company that Barack Obama wished to make the centerpiece of his new green jobs initiative, and the owner just happened to be a major donor to the Obama campaign, so he fast tracked a review into the solvency of the company in order to present Joe Biden with the needed backdrop to announce the initiative. By doing so Barack Obama ignored the warning signs and granted Solyndra a $500 million loan in stimulus funds. Predictably the company went bankrupt and because Barack Obama changed the rules agreed to in the stimulus bill the campaign donor was granted priority over the American taxpayer for any funds recouped in the bankruptcy. The campaign donor was protected and the American taxpayer is on the hook for the entire $500 million.

      Here is a little background on the LightSquared scandal:

      A company called LightSquared which is run by a major Democrat donor, Philip Falcone, was developing a new technology which the Pentagon feared would interfere with the military’s GPS system and the Congress was beginning to hold hearings about the Pentagon’s worries. A four-star Air Force general, William Shelton, was set to testify in front of the Congress but his prepared testimony was leaked to the White House. The White House was unhappy with the testimony because it was unfavorable to a major Democrat campaign donor, so they asked the general to change his testimony when he appeared before the Congress.

      What could be worse than wasting $500 million in taxpayer money on a company that was going bankrupt so that 1,000 jobs could be saved for a couple of months while the taxpayers got screwed and the share holders were protected, all in an attempt to push the Obama regime’s green energy initiative as the future of manufacturing in America? And what could be worse than pressuring a General to change his testimony to help a company with a tie to a major Democrat donor at the expense of national security?

      How about giving $1.2 billion to SunPower–a corporation inundated with fraud lawsuits by the company’s share holders and over $800 million in debt, which almost certainly will end up going under–so that the company could build a new plant in Mexico while creating just 15 permanent jobs (that comes to $80 million per job) in America if the company somehow does manage to survive? Oh, and if that wasn’t bad enough there is the little fact that the company donated to Democrats and is in Democrat George Miller’s district, and George Miller’s son just happens to be a lobbyist for SunPower?

      We now have three burgeoning scandals revolving around Barack Obama’s green energy initiative and the stimulus bill; this proves to me that Barack Obama’s ideology has blinded whatever common sense Barack Obama might have had. But what the hell does he care because it isn’t his money he is wasting, it is (was) our money.

      Delete
    4. Ouch: SunPower to close solar cell factory

      By Ucilia Wang
      3 Comments

      SunPower, whose fight for survival forced it to find a new owner and embark on a significant cost-reduction plan, said on Monday that it will stop producing cells at one of its factories to save money.

      Solar cell giant SunPower, whose fight for survival forced it to find a new owner in oil firm Total, said on Monday that it will stop producing cells at one of its factories to save money.

      The San Jose company is shutting down the 125 MW factory in the Philippines and looking for tenants to occupy that space, SunPower said. The factory, which SunPower calls Fab 1, occupies 215,000 square feet and began production in the fall of 2004, according to the company’s 2011 annual report. That leaves Fab 2 that opened in 2007 in the Philippines, and Fab 3, a joint venture with AUO Optronics, in Malaysia. Fab 3 began production in October 2010 and had 600 MW of capacity as of January 1 this year.

      The factory closure is part of SunPower’s larger plan to cut costs and stay competitive in a market downturn. The company makes silicon cells and assembles them into panels, and its products can absorb and convert more sunlight into electricity than any other silicon solar cell and panel makers in the world. But it’s been hit hard financially in the past year when supply far outstripped demand in the global market and prices for solar panels overall fell by around 50 percent.

      Just about every solar manufacturer has lost money, and many closed factories and filed for bankruptcies. SunPower, which is also a power project developer, had to line up a financial backer to help it out, and it sold 66 percent of its common stock to French oil giant Total last year. SunPower’s CEO, Tom Werner, told financial analysts in February that the company will be going “on the offense” in 2012.

      Part of the offensive strategy is to roll out a technology to make more efficient solar cells. The company announced last month that it had started incorporating the new technology to make the third-generation Maxeon cell that can convert as much as 24 percent of the sunlight into electricity. In comparison, when SunPower opened Fab 3 in 2010, it was producing cells there at just over 22 percent efficiency.

      SunPower has started to convert all 12 production lines at Fab 2 to make the new Maxeon cells, and it expects to complete the conversion by the end of 2012. Fab 2 had 575 MW of annual production capacity when SunPower filed its 2011 annual report, but the figure should go up since more efficient cells can produce more watts of power. But efficiency improvement will not completely make up for the loss of the 125 MW production capacity at Fab 1, the company said.

      SunPower said it plans to transfer employees from Fab 1 to Fab 2 or help them line up jobs with the new tenants who will take over the Fab 1 space. It didn’t disclose the number of employees that will be affected by the Fab 1 closure. The company also will move some factory equipment from Fab 1 to Fab 2 to save money.

      Delete
    5. SunPower’s plan for survival

      By Kirsten Korosec | April 16, 2012, 3:56 PM PDT
      0Comments
      more +

      SunPower will stop producing solar cells at one of its factories in a continued effort to cut costs and ultimately survive the tough market conditions that have already claimed other manufacturers in the industry.

      SunPower calls this a consolidation of its operations. And while technically true, it doesn’t quite express what it means or the severity of the measure. The San Jose, Calif.-based company announced Monday it will shutdown operations at its 125-megawatt capacity factory in the Philippines. SunPower plans to lease out the factory to tenants.

      Employees working at the 215,000-square-foot factory known as Fab 1, will be transferred to its Fab 2 factory, which is about double the size and located some 20 miles away. Fab 1 employees also could end up working for the tenant. SunPower didn’t officially name the new tenant. However, the company did say it was is working with chip packaging startup Deca Technologies, which it holds a minority interest in, on the use of the factory.

      The closure will obviously reduce capacity. However, improvements in yield and equipment efficient at its No. 2 and No. 3 cell fabrication plants will offset some of that reduced capacity, SunPower President and CEO Tom Werner said in a statement. Those plants are now running under a new process that reduces the number of steps to make solar panel, which should, in turn cut operating expenses and hopefully boost productivity.

      SunPower has already gone through a round of cost cutting. Last November, the company said it would restructure in the fourth quarter and shuffle around executives in a move aimed to reduce expenses by 10 percent in 2012. This latest cost-cutting measure will reduce expenses 15 percent by the end of the year, SunPower said.

      The end-goal is a solar cell that can be made cheaply enough to be competitive in a market where prices have fallen by half. SunPower says the factory closure combined with improvements in yield and equipment at its other two plants will allow it to to achieve a cost goal of $0.86 per watt exiting 2012.

      Despite SunPower’s struggles, the company has fared better than other solar cell and panel manufacturers. Numerous companies have been forced to close factories, layoff workers and even file for bankruptcy. SunPower has the backing of oil giant Total, which holds a 60 percent-stake in the company. And SunPower continues to improve its technology to boost the efficiency of its solar cells. SunPower’s solar panels already have a better sunlight-to-electricity conversion rate than others on the market. And its third-generation solar cell, which is now in production at its Fab 3 plant, has a sunlight-to-electricity conversion efficiency of up to 24 percent.

      Delete
    6. SunPower, First Solar Reorganize as Prices, Demand Decline
      By Ehren Goossens and Christopher Martin on November 17, 2011

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      (Updates with China Sunergy from third paragraph.)

      Nov. 4 (Bloomberg) -- SunPower Corp. and First Solar Inc., the two largest U.S. solar manufacturers, will reorganize as increased competition from China drives down prices and pushes weaker companies into bankruptcy.

      SunPower is seeking to cut operating expenses as much as 10 percent next year, it said yesterday in a statement. First Solar said it will consolidate its manufacturing in response to weak demand. They’ve both cut their forecasts since last week, as did MEMC Electronic Materials Inc, the second largest U.S. polysilicon maker.

      Three U.S. solar companies including Solyndra LLC have filed for bankruptcy this year as a surge in manufacturing capacity in China cut margins across the industry. The Chinese companies are hurting too, with China Sunergy Co. today reporting its gross margin turned negative in the third quarter.

      “The Chinese guys are building out capacity hoping the customers will come and that’s caused this huge oversupply situation,” said Hari Chandra Polavarapu, an analyst at Auriga USA in New York “What we need to see a focus on is more market development, and to layer in capacity to meet that demand.”

      Sunergy Slump

      China Sunergy, updating its guidance today, said its gross margin will be “around negative 14 percent,” compared with its previous forecast of positive 4 percent to 5 percent. It cut its expectation for shipments to 115 megawatts for the quarter from its previous plan to sell at least 140 megawatts.

      SunPower expects a net loss of 5 cents to income of 20 cents a share for 2011, on sales of $2.40 billion to 2.45 billion, the San Jose, California-based company said in the statement. It said in August it expected income of 75 cents to $1.25 a share for the year.

      SunPower also reported a writedown of goodwill, of $349.8 million, related to “the change in public market valuation of the solar sector,” according to the statement.

      That led to a third-quarter loss of $3.77 a share. Adjusted net income, excluding the charge, was 16 cents. Analysts had expected income of 5 cents, based on data compiled by Bloomberg.

      SunPower CFO Leaving

      As part of the restructuring, SunPower will eliminate redundant positions and prioritize “where we invest our resources,” Chief Financial Officer Dennis Arriola said yesterday in a conference call with analysts. “These activities are expected to reduce our non-manufacturing operating expenses by as much as 10 percent in 2012.”

      Under the plan, Arriola will leave the company in March and Jim Pape, president of SunPower’s residential and commercial unit, will leave this month.

      First Solar, the world’s biggest thin-film solar company, will delay completion of a factory in Vietnam “until global supply and demand dynamics support the additional capacity.”

      The company said yesterday that its plant in Frankfurt an der Oder, Germany, has reached full capacity, producing as many as 500 megawatts of panels a year.

      First Solar ousted its Chief Executive Officer Rob Gillette Oct. 25. Chairman Mike Ahearn stepped in as interim chief and the following day reduced the Tempe, Arizona-based company’s forecast. It expects full-year profit of $6.50 to $7.50 a share, down from an Aug. 4 forecast of as much as $9.50, and sales of $3 billion to $3.3 billion, compared with the earlier forecast of $3.6 billion to $3.7 billion.

      Delete
    7. Football game is starting...

      Delete
    8. So? The market got tough, and they wrote down "expectations." Companies do that all the time. Microsoft, and GE disappointed this week, and Pandit got fired from Citibank. Does that make Software, Manufacturing, and Banking bad industries?

      Get a grip.

      There were, in the early days, hundreds of auto manufacturers; most of them went bk. Did that mean that there was no future in automobiles?

      Delete
    9. And, just for an ex. That first link stated that Sunpower was going bankrupt. Except, it didn't. Get your head out of the far-right, bullshit talking points websites, and learn something.

      Bob, those people get paid for writing that nonsense - You don't get paid a penny for reading it.

      Delete
  8. I'd rather be in a Romney binder than in an Obama embassy.

    ReplyDelete
  9. If Sandra Fluke hit up each one of her rally attendees for $11, it'd pay for one year of birth control pills at Target.

    --
    April 18, 1865, the 13th Amendment banning slavery was passed...with 100% GOP Support, and 63% Democrat OPPOSITION.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sure, that's when the Northerners were all Republican, and the Southerners were Democrat.

      Now, the Northerners are Dem, and the Southerners are the party of ignorant (also known as Republican.)

      Delete
    2. And, if you were a woman you'd realize that a high percentage of gals cannot take the pill, and must use more expensive methods, most commonly, the IUD.

      Delete
  10. Replies
    1. Hydro? That harms the salmon. Windmills kill 11 birds per gigawatt hour. Solar cells block sunlight from reaching lichens. Besides, power already comes from the outlet. Food comes from Safeway.

      Delete
  11. When the World's largest Fossil Fuel Exporter says This, you might want to take note;



    Saudi Arabia recently revealed that it is planning to be powered 100% by renewable and low-carbon forms of energy.

    One of the state’s main spokesmen, Prince Turki Al Faisal Al Saud, said that he was hoping that Saudi Arabia would be powered completely by low-carbon energy within his lifetime. He made the groundbreaking statement during the Global Economic Symposium in Brazil. He did acknowledge, though, that it was likely to take longer, as he is already 67.

    Clean Technica (http://s.tt/1qApz)

    Sell the Oil to the Suckers

    ReplyDelete
  12. The Secret Service is going to hire Candy Crowley. Anyone who can move that fast to protect the President should be training their agents.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Vehicle Miles Traveled increased by 1.2% YOY in August.

    VMT - pretty chart

    Meanwhile, Gasoline Supplied was Down 2.3% YOY.

    EIA Petroleum Status Report

    We continue to adapt.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Five tracking polls show movement towards Mitt Romney today (Ras,Gallup,RAND,Ipsos,PPP).

    One shows movement towards Barack Obama (IDB/TIPP)

    ReplyDelete
  15. Thanks, T, for calling Rufie's BULLSHIT in my absence.
    ...I'm sure you understand why.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Is that classic, or what?

    Captures at least 10 percent, possibly more, of what a chickshit, scumbag, glib, superficial phoney, 100 percent ASSHOLE Rufie's Hero is.

    ReplyDelete
  17. "chickenshit"
    ...that would be POTUS.
    For Now.

    ReplyDelete
  18. The US had a Predator drone over its consulate in Benghazi during the attack...I wonder why they were wasting that asset on a spontaneous demonstration of Muslim outrage over a You Tube video.

    ReplyDelete
  19. The IBD/TIPP Poll has been the Most Accurate poll in the last two presidential elections (actually hitting the last one "dead on the head" to the 1/10th of a percent mark.

    Gallup has been Way, Way off the last two elections - missing by six, and seven, respectively.

    That said, when Any poll starts getting five or six away from the average you had better start taking it with a grain of salt.

    Today, we have NBC/WSJ coming in at dead even, gallup coming in at Romney +7, and IBD coming in at Obama +6.

    I'm going with "dead even, with a slight tilt toward Obama."

    But, "electorally," it's a significant edge to Obama. Ohio, Ohio, Ohio.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. A tie in a lefty poll is 8 points for Romney in a real poll

      Delete
    2. "lefty poll?"

      You mean the one the Wall St. Journal has its name on?

      gimmee a break.

      Delete
    3. Or, the poll that those despicable commie bastards, Investors Business Daily, have their name on, the IBD/TIPP poll that has Obama Up 6?

      Delete
    4. I'm talking about the Rufus Moving Average poll, "dead even, with a slight tilt toward Obama," which is actually obtained by a doctor with a flashlight.

      Delete
  20. OUCH OUCH OUCH!!!!!

    Romney: "I will begin my term with a JOBS tour. Obama started his with an APOLOGY tour."

    ReplyDelete
  21. Poll: What was the Obamateurism of the Week?
    posted at 9:31 am on October 21, 2012 by Ed Morrissey

    Time once again to cheer for your favorite Presidential gaffe this week! This poll is as big as anyone’s, I’d guess, but not so big as to tax our attention spans. Just remember in these last few days that we can’t always rely on others to provide the answers — sometimes, we can only rely on Us to provide them.

    Thank you for voting!
    Obama says “the media’s attention span is fairly short,” while avoiding news reporters and chatting on sports talk radio 4.48% (255 votes)

    “I’ve been here so much that I’m a professional Ohio State cheerleader.” 1.02% (58 votes)

    Refuses to talk to reporters about Benghazi, but grants interview to Us Magazine 40.39% (2,300 votes)

    ”There are millions of women all across the country who rely on Planned Parenthood for mammograms ..." 32.17% (1,832 votes)

    "I don't look at my pension. It's not as big as yours so it doesn't take as long." 21.94% (1,249 votes)


    Total Votes: 5,694

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The last four years totals 1.6% of Americas total history, but produced 33% of it's National Debt.

      Delete
    2. Read it again. The last FOUR years.

      Delete
    3. You read a bit; it was the Bushies that came within an inch of totally destroying the entire World Economy, and putting us into a recession just one half of a degree removed from Great Depression II.

      Delete
  22. http://www.redstate.com/2012/10/21/inside-obamas-disastrous-foreign-policy/

    1. Get a Strategy.
    2. Get some decent managers.
    3. Get some people who actually know something.
    4. Get out of the bubble.
    5. Get a backbone.
    6. Get rid of the jerks.

    For starters......

    I'd add it's all impossible with a moslem sympathizer in the White House.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You mean the guy that "Did Move Heaven and Earth" to get Bin Laden?

      Delete
  23. Rufus, your trouble is, and we all do it, your trouble is that you read selectively. I know I read selectively. It makes me feel good. You read selectively, blank everything else out, and think you are on to the inner truth that escapes everyone else.

    Except on religion. Where you don't read at all, by your own account.



    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bob, I mostly present facts. You're the one that babbles on about "Cherokees, and Swedes, and Moslems, and Jews, and Christians, and Blacks (to clean up your language a bit,) and various, and assorted other groups that you like to conveniently divide the human race into."

      Of course, you're right about "religion." I don't care for it at all. It tends to do the same thing you do - ie. divide people into "us v them" groupings, and spread hatred, and mistrust, eventually ending up in wars, and suffering.

      Delete
  24. Obama invited the UN to monitor OUR elections.

    The plan: when Romney wins, Obama will use the UN to make a fuss

    ReplyDelete
  25. I wish the U.N. would monitor our elections. Maybe we'd get embarrassed enough to fix them.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. In 2004 people stood in line in the inner-city in Ohio for up to 12 hrs to vote. They attempted to fix that by adding early voting.

      In 2008, Obama benefitted greatly from the early voting, and this year the Republican AG in Ohio is going to Heroic lengths to try and cut it back.

      In Pa the minority suppression efforts are breathtaking, even to the extent of posting inaccurate information on websites, and in gov. sponsored mailers.

      Delete
    2. They're already "fixed" that's precisely the problem.

      Delete
    3. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete

    4. In Ohio, voting started BEFORE THE DEBATES. In person, or absentee.

      How cool is this! BEFORE THE DEBATES EVEN!!

      Didn't someone once say something about an informed electorate being necessary for the functioning of a proper democracy?

      I have read the Ohio voting procedures. You can still sign with an X, in the Ohio absentee procedure. If you can't fill out your ballot, one will be filled out for you.

      And on and on znd ol' Ruf goes, blah, blah, blah, BLAH.

      Delete
    5. Ohio Secretary of State's Office


      Jon Husted & the Office | Elections & Voting | Campaign Finance | Legislation & Ballot Issues | Businesses | Records | Media Center | Publications


      Ohio Military Votes



      Contact Us
      (614) 466-2655
      (877) SOS-OHIO (767-6446)
      TTY (614) 466-0562
      Toll-free TTY (877) 644-6889
      E-mail The Office
      180 E. Broad St., 16th Floor
      Columbus, Ohio 43215

      [Download Adobe Acrobat Reader]

      Home / Profile Ohio / Voting in Ohio
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      Voting in Ohio



      VotinginOhio

      Although there are more than 8 million Ohioans registered to vote, there are many citizens who remain ineligible because they have not registered.

      You are qualified to vote in Ohio if:

      You are a citizen of the United States;
      You are at least 18 years old on or before the day of the general election. If you will be 18 on or before the day of the general election, you may vote in the primary election for candidates only, but not on issues;
      You will be a resident of Ohio for at least 30 days immediately before Election Day;
      You register to vote at least 30 days before the election;
      You are not incarcerated (in jail or prison) for a felony conviction under the laws of this state, another state or the United States;
      You have not been declared incompetent for voting purposes by a probate court; or
      You have not been permanently disenfranchised for violations of the election laws.



      Registering is easy and can be done at:

      Any county board of elections or the Secretary of State's office;
      Branch registration offices or locations established by a board of elections;
      Any public high school or vocational school;
      An office of the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles;
      Offices of designated agencies providing public assistance or disability programs;
      Public libraries; and
      County treasurers' offices.



      You may request a registration form from a board of elections or the Secretary of State's office by mail, e-mail, telephone, in person or by having another person obtain it for you. You may also download a voter registration on our website. After completing the form, return it to the board of elections or Secretary of State's office by mail or in person.

      Click here to learn more about the voting process and information on registering.

      Delete
    6. Who has the hardest time of all voting in Ohio?

      Probably the military.

      Delete
  26. Replies
    1. Pundita argues that the efficacy of nonviolent resistance to tyranny is vastly overstated.

      "Consider Malala Yousafza, “a 14 year-old Pakistani girl who idolizes Barack Obama and became famous in Pakistan and the U.K. as a critic of the Taliban and advocate for girls’ rights in her country — and received a national award for bravery for her effort”.

      She also got a bullet from the Taliban for her troubles. She has survived the initial attack and is being treated in the UK but a “spokesman for the Taliban said that if she survives they’ll keep trying to murder her because she’s anti-Taliban and a secularist.” The Taliban are firm believers in the principle that “if at first you don’t succeed try, try again
      ”.

      Delete
  27. Replies
    1. You noticed, of course, that the FNA Release was dated Jan 21, 2012, right?

      Delete
    2. .

      U.S. intelligence services were able to pinpoint Osama bin Laden’s location and carry out the successful mission to kill him in May 2011 based on information yielded during waterboarding of 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, and information from Al Qaeda operative Hassan Ghul, who was captured in Iraq in 2004.

      Obama opposed both waterboarding and the Iraq War, without which bin Laden would not have been found...



      What pure bullshit.

      .

      Delete
  28. Voting in Ohio may be, what, 20% or more over before the candidates even talk about foreign policy in a national debate.

    I'd think Rufus would be upset about this, being that he's said foreign policy is an Obama strong point, and a reason to vote for him.

    To me, an Idaho rube, it seems logical to debate the issues, and then vote, but I wasn't raised in Missishitti.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Husted has gone all the way to the Supreme Ct. to keep the voting booths closed to all but the military (leans right) on the weekend prior to the election.

      This is when the Pastors take all the old men, and women that can't drive down to the polling place after Sunday Services (Souls to the Polls.)

      When the Federal Court forced him to leave the polls open, he made the hours as short, and inconvenient for the old folks as possible.

      The Repubicans are putting up billboards, in Spanish, in poor neighborhoods in Pa informing hispanics that they must show a photo ID to vote - They don't, of course.

      The National Republican Party hired a guy to do Registration, Nationally, that has a record of voter fraud. They asked him to change the name of his firm, due to its bad reputation.

      There IS a lot of voter fraud, alright. And, it's almost 100% on the Republican Side.

      Delete
    2. Yeah, that's why that young white kid that was encouraged to vote as Eric Holder w/o an ID released the video about it.

      Delete
    3. .

      If you are going by merely anecdotal info, Doug, you are wrong on this one. I have seen several instances of voter fraud reproted in the last month or so and in all cases it was Republicans involved.

      .

      Delete

  29. Ethanol spurring new cases of sad cow
    posted at 5:31 pm on October 21, 2012 by Jazz Shaw

    Hot Air

    Earlier this year we talked about the failure of the courts to knock down the increasing demands of this administration for more ethanol in gasoline. (And Erika followed up on it last month.) In addition to the risk of damage to the current fleet of vehicles, these policies have also been driving up the cost of corn to farmers. How bad has it gotten? Some dairy farms are closing up shop because they just can’t afford to feed their herds.

    Attempts to clean up our air and to ensure that the nation has enough milk to drink are on a collision course.

    As a result, the future of California’s dairy industry looks sour. Around 100 farms are expected to go bankrupt this year alone, and the trend seems likely to continue if nothing is done.

    Because of the demand for grain to produce the gasoline additive ethanol – which was supposed to reduce air pollution – plus a nationwide drought, many of the state’s cash-strapped farmers are selling their cows for slaughter because they can’t afford to feed them. It’s a “perfect storm,” says Colin Carter, professor of agricultural economics at UC Davis, that could spell trouble for the county’s milk supply – 1 out of 5 glasses of milk consumed in the United States comes from California cows. And the increasing price of grain is hurting all livestock industries.

    And it’s not just sad cows. Family owned Zacky Farms just filed for bankruptcy protection. They raise millions of turkeys and chickens, and they can’t afford to feed their flocks either. The corn is going to ethanol and pricing them out of business. And in addition to jacking up the cost of feed corn, it’s hitting pretty much the entire spectrum of food.

    Cereal and bakery product prices have increased almost 77%
    Meat, poultry, fish and egg prices have increased 78%
    Fat and vegetable oil prices have increased more than 444%

    There is, as the first linked article notes, a provision in the existing EPA E10 rules – which mandate 10% ethanol in your fuel – that allows for the rule to be lifted during an emergency. Thus far six states have considered it enough of an emergency to petition asking for the rule to be lifted. The EPA’s response to date has been to stay on course to head toward E15 rules. This way lies madness.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. What bullshit. Do you believe EVERYTHING those yahoos write?

      Ex: Soybean Oil is $0.52 - Last year at this time it was $0.57

      Delete
    2. Wheat is Up 2% from this time last year.

      Delete
    3. Corn is up the most at 17%.

      I'll tell you what's up the most - the cost to process, and transport that food to market.

      Delete
  30. Old Bob has never been more right than when he announced that Rufus was a Goner.

    WTF has happened to your mind, Rufie?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's not MY mind, Doug. The Republican Party has gone plumb batshit crazy.

      When they throw the nutcakes out, and go back to being the party of reason, I'll take another look.

      Delete
  31. I FORGOT:

    Ethanol, and only Ethanol will save the World.

    Amen

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You saw that post up there of Bob's? Live cattle have gone from $1.25 to 1.26

      Now, you tell me about the party that gets its information from "redstate."

      Delete
    2. Now, about the ethanol: Do you know what the difference in the fuel system is between my Flexfuel Impala, and a non-flexfuel chevy?

      Nada.

      Zip.

      Not a damned thing.

      Period.

      You want to get your "news" from redstate, and hotair, and am thinker go right ahead. But, don't be insulted when intelligent people laugh in your face.

      Delete
    3. The difference between your Chevy and the Fleet of Older Cars, Trucks, Chainsaws, Generators, etc. Is that it evidently runs fine on ethanol, whereas the others have seals destroyed, rust problems, etc.

      I have never ever owned a car that got less than 30 mpg.
      Bet you can't say the same.

      I lived w/o ANY utilities for ten years, you haven't.
      I've used solar or wood heated water for decades, you haven't.

      I'm about to invest in a rooftoop PV System.
      (NOT Advocate for stupid centralized schemes where customers have to pay for electricity and related costs and losses FOREVER)
      You are not.

      You love centralized command and control of everything.
      ...believe in it to death.

      I hate it.
      Always leads to servitude.

      Delete
    4. I don't care if you lived in a cave; you still have your facts wrong. No car built since the 70's will have any problems, with seals, or anything else, with E15. In fact, those built before then would have already had problems with E10. The difference between the two are, for all practical purposes, nil.

      But, in a fit of "extreme" caution, E15 is only being approved for cars, model year 2001, and newer. I doubt there's a car in that group that has a fuel system not completely compatible with E85, much less E15.

      You are just, wittingly, or not, propagating API misinformation.

      And that is why, I will stand my ground This election, if a tornado comes through, to vote againt this horrible, lying bunch of oil-infested assholes.

      Delete
  32. Moron of the year

    FREEDOM, Pa. - Police say a costumed 9-year-old girl was accidentally shot outside a western Pennsylvania home during a Halloween party by a relative who thought she was a skunk.

    New Sewickley Township police say the girl was over a hillside and wearing a black costume and a black hat with a white tassel. Chief Ronald Leindecker says a male relative mistook her for a skunk and fired a shotgun, hitting her in the shoulder Saturday night.

    Leindecker tells the Beaver County Times ( http://bit.ly/QzCkxj) that the girl was alert and talking when she was flown to a hospital in Pittsburgh, about 30 miles away. Her condition was unavailable.

    Leindecker says the man hadn’t been drinking and he doesn’t know whether charges will be filed.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Beaver county is probly so overrun by Beavers that the poor guy is on edge and mistook:

      He's not gettin any, the tension builds, let me tell you.

      Delete
  33. 18% More 18-26 yr olds are covered by insurance since O'care took hold.

    Chart

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I guess I should have worded that "18% Less are uninsured."

      Delete
  34. George W. Bush strongly supported Wind Power, Solar, Ethanol, and Biodiesel.

    He, also, went to the mats to get a Prescription Drug Bill passed.

    He came within a hair of balancing the budget in 2006, while trying to make his party somewhat inclusive.

    I stood in the rain for an hour to vote for him in 2004. But, This Republican Party is bonkers. It's out to lunch. It's Nuts. I'll stand in line all day if I have to to vote against this bunch of crazy assholes.

    ReplyDelete
  35. Chavez, Castro, Putin endorse Obama...
    Drudge

    Amend: Chavez, Castro, Putin, Rufus endorse Obama...

    And, no, I am NOT calling you a traitor.

    ReplyDelete
  36. U of Idaho Athletic Director steps up to goal line, fires head football coach Akey.

    Last night's drubbing was fifth down.

    ReplyDelete
  37. Opps, I already posted that.

    ...and Rufie has no problems with it.

    It's Fox News,

    How dare they impugn a man who has never told one lie in his life:

    Our beloved, patriotic POTUS

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You are right. I don't trust a single thing that comes out of fox news. I'm sure "they" consider all kinds of strange, and unlikely things.

      Whether Obama releases this prick or not doesn't concern me very much. They gathered him up in that first push into Northern Afghanistan, and as far as I know . . . . . . well, the truth is, I don't know squat - and neither do you.

      As for what "Karzai" likes - puhleeze.

      Delete
    2. Better to stick with CNN. Trustworthy. Accurate.

      I'll have you know, Motel 6 does not have Fox News in any we have stayed at during our travel east. I have complained through their suggestion box.

      We no longer will be staying at Motel 6.

      Delete
    3. This is a tough decision, as Motel 6 always has a place right off the exit ramps, with a McDonald's nearby. :(

      Delete
  38. A bunch of weird religious freaks that don't watch either Fox or CNN live in the house pictured here. They are not hooked on arab oil. They are fuckin' slackers, farm with horses, and drive round and round in idiotic buggies.

    They do however make great doughnuts.

    ReplyDelete
  39. Russian pre-emptive strike.


    Russian forces kill 49 militants in North Caucasus

    Russia's top anti-terrorism agency announces deaths days after Vladimir Putin led meeting of country's security council



    Reuters in Moscow
    guardian.co.uk, Sunday 21 October 2012 08.30 EDT


    Russian security forces have killed 49 militants in an operation across the North Caucasus region, where rebels are fighting to carve out an Islamic state, Russia's top anti-terrorism body has said.

    The agency, which serves as a mouthpiece for law enforcement agencies operating in the region, gave no time period for the operation, which was launched days after the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, led a meeting of the country's security council.

    Putin has pushed the North Caucasus insurgency, rooted in two separatist wars in Chechnya, back to the forefront of national politics.

    He has told security forces to ensure that militants do not launch attacks on the 2014 Winter Olympics and other high-profile events planned in Russia.

    "A series of co-ordinated measures allowed for the suppression of the activity of a number of notorious leaders, members of bandit groups and associates, and allowed for a significant disruption of the bandits' supply system," Interfax quoted an agency statement as saying.

    Operations, which can often take place in residential areas in the patchwork of regions that make up the North Caucasus, can last between a few hours and a number of weeks with the involvement of local police and special forces.

    The Caucasus Emirate, which leads the insurgency, has vowed to attack the Olympic Games to be held in Sochi, west of the predominantly Muslim region where it wages nearly daily violence against local authorities and law enforcement officers.

    The anti-terrorism agency said nine local leaders were among those killed and 30 militants had been detained. It said 90 militant bases had been destroyed along with 26 weapons caches.

    Putin has promised to hunt down Russia's most wanted man, the self-styled Amir of the Caucasus Emirate, Doku Umarov.


    Ensuring a safe 2014 Winter Olympics.

    ReplyDelete
  40. Wait, has Ahmadinejad already endorsed Obama, and we just missed it, or have forgotten it?

    Read, watch, decide for yourself....

    http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/daily/2012/07/31/romney_s_trip_has_been_so_successful_mahmoud_ahmadinejad_endorsed_obama

    ReplyDelete
  41. Latest polls from around the world show 4 out of 5 dictators backing Obama.

    ReplyDelete
  42. Early voting is one thing but it looks like they are already counting the votes in Nevada --

    http://battlegroundwatch.com/2012/10/21/did-democrats-really-have-a-good-first-day-of-early-voting-in-nevada-maybe-not/

    ReplyDelete
  43. Ah shit, one more -- Rufus fits the profile -

    http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/21/us-usa-campaign-mccain-poll-idUSBRE89K02120121021

    McCain voters defecting to Obama are older white males.

    Waltrip also believes Romney is out of touch with lower-income Americans, and he mistrusts the candidate's religious convictions.

    "I've always felt like the Mormon Church was more of a cult," Waltrip said. "I'm sort of afraid that his interests are going to be strictly for the Mormon Church."

    Overall about 34 percent of likely voters said they would be less likely to vote for a presidential candidate if he or she were Mormon, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted during the week ending October 21.


    There it is....the religious prejudice!

    Violators of the UN Charter on Human Rights they are.....or, just plain addled.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. veggiedude wrote:

      Romney was no ordinary Mormon. He was a Bishop in that Church. That means he believes native American Indians are Jews.


      Rufus is a Jew?

      Dig deep in the comments for a laugh before bedtime.


      Delete
  44. Off Topic, but posted for your pleasure, at least be sure to click the last link below:

    At BC, I replied to

    #44. Fail Burton:

    In 1959, the people of Hawaii voted overwhelmingly to become a State.

    Now some take Hawaiian Activists seriously when they say that their Sovereignty was stolen by the evil USA.

    ---

    My view, given WII, and all that, is that they would be servants speaking Japanese, or simply cleansed from their Paradise, but for the USA...

    But Hawaii's public and missionary schools were excellent in 1959, producing productive, highly literate graduates.

    Today's unionized public schools...

    ...I'm sure you know the rest of that story.

    ---

    Luckily, two of the most successful activists, the Trask Sisters, have now been bought off by some evil rich interests and now support, rather than oppose Geothermal Energy, which could easily power the entire state.

    Unfortunately, near the source, Kilauea, lies the quaint little town of Pahoa, Hawaii, which looks exactly like the Pot growing communities in Northern CA did in the Seventies, as portrayed in the Movie, Humboldt County.

    The Residents there are convinced the Sulfurous Fumes resulting from power generation would kill their children, unlike the healthy fumes that emanate naturally from the Volcano. (They smelled them when a small exploratory generation facility was built several decades ago.)

    How could any outsiders, much less Mainlanders (haoles) know better?

    Haoles:

    (A word used mainly in Hawaii to describe a white person. Depending on how you say it, the word can mean either an insult or just a fact.

    1. fact: "me, my flip fren, my jap fren, and my haole fren went go smoke some batu over up in Nalo"

    2. insult: "GO BACK TO THE MAINLAND YOU F....... HAOLES!")

    Our Haole son was hit in the head by a rock thrown from a passing car in Lahaina when he was Five.

    Now he's a strapping Local Boy who paddles an outrigger canoe from Molokai to Oahu for fun and frivolity. Things Still Don't Always Go Well.

    ReplyDelete
  45. Forgot:
    Rufie may well wish for King Kamehamea to come back from the dead Via the Mighty Ethanol God, to reclaim Paradise for the peace-loving descendants of his brutal and bloody fucking Warriors.

    Who knows what Miracles the Ethanol God Can Bring.

    Believe it when you see it.

    ...a little direct, personal action by true believers in the Ethanol God would make believing easier, I might add.

    ReplyDelete