Brainlocked Market Design Leads To Brainlocked "Reporting"

The NY Times continues to probe the vast power of Wall Street with an article an tradeable ethanol credits (aka 'RIN'), which are tied to the blending of ethanol into gasoline. Their gist - Big Oil lacked the market power and political savvy to fend off the predators of Wall Street and now needs our help as they stick up the little guy stick-up for the little guy at the pump. I kid you not.

Careful readers of the story (a group that seems to exclude Times editors) will learn that the real problem is a poorly designed market for ethanol credits. Apparently, blame can be assigned to Bush and Congressional Democrats, although I note that Bush has been gone for a while and someone new is at 1600. The Department of Energy chimed in last June with a very different take from the Times as well. Interested folks might also peruse this Bloomberg story or this Biofuels Digest long look at the politics of reform or repeal.

Let me try to extract the key bits from the Times story:

The federal government created the market in special credits tied to ethanol eight years ago when it required refiners to mix ethanol into gasoline or buy credits from companies that do so. The idea was to push refiners to use the cleaner, renewable fuel, or force them to buy the credits.

The market design barely nodded to the laws of chemistry and physics:

As a result, refiners this year began hitting what is known as “the blend wall,” meaning that the amount of ethanol the government is requiring them to use is close to the maximum amount that can be blended into gasoline without creating problems for gas stations and motorists.

Distributing gasoline with greater levels of ethanol is more costly and corrodes gas station pumps and tanks. Raising the ethanol level in gasoline, therefore, would require gas stations across America to install new systems. Therefore, refiners have turned to RINs to meet their government obligations rather than blend more ethanol into gasoline.

So there is a practical limit to the maximum amount of ethanol that can be blended into gasoline, and that will depend on the total amount of gasoline consumed. And since RINs are created by blending physical ethanol with physical gasoline, if less blending occurs fewer credits will be generated.

So how did the bright lights in Washington handle that?

The RINs story began in 2005, when the Bush administration joined Democrats in Congress to pass an energy bill mandating renewable fuel standards. That law was broadened in 2007 to establish requirements for the amount of biofuel to be blended into gasoline annually through 2022. This year, refiners and importers are required to blend 13.8 billion gallons of ethanol, up from 13.2 billion last year. For 2014, the figure is 14.4 billion.

But the estimates Congress used about how much gas Americans would keep buying were wrong. When the biofuel credits were created, gasoline consumption was projected to grow 6 percent by 2013. But thanks in large part to the recession and more fuel-efficient cars, consumption has actually fallen.

So gas consumption is down, which seems like a win for the Green Team. But the law is written as if reduced gasoline consumption is a defeat, since it requires refiners to mix in a total amount of ethanol that would only make sense if aggregate gas consumption was much higher. The result is a predictable combination of higher prices for the credits and squealing from the market participants seeking regulatory relief. The Times has a graph of the price action here; the prospect of regulatory relief for 2014 has brought prices down. The E.P.A. seems to grasp the problem:

Officials at the E.P.A. do not see excessive influence by financial speculators. They suggest the price spikes in RINs this year reflect the expectation of a shortage of the credits because rising renewable fuel mandates are occurring as consumer demand for gasoline is falling. “The market is expecting this future scarcity as the statutory mandates continue to increase,” Mr. Grundler said.

Most of the article blames Wall Street for this and that, because we all know that Big Oil is a pitiful, helpless giant whose players are fundamentally motivated by philanthropy.

Even beyond the likely rise in gasoline prices, critics of the RINs market say it is deeply flawed, and they do not share Ms. Oge’s optimistic takeaway of this year’s market frenzy.

First, by allowing anyone to trade, including those with no real interest in energy, the E.P.A. encouraged speculation, the critics say. Second, the market operates largely in the dark, leaving it vulnerable to manipulation. Third, and perhaps most significant, the federal requirement for ethanol in gasoline means oil companies are captive buyers — meaning they are required to buy the credits when they do not or cannot blend their own fuel — a fact that savvy traders use to their advantage.

First, what is "speculation"? Anyone, including Wall Street firms and energy market participants, could have foreseen a problem when gasoline consumption fell well below projections without an offsetting reduction in ther requirement for blending credits. A shortage of credits was utterly predictable, from which it followed that price hikes, complaints of hoarding, and lacklustere reporting were all utterly predictable.

The utter opacity of the market is not helpful and the EPA ought to address that. One wonders whether a formal futures market could be sustained; my guess is that this RIN market is too artificial and subject to regulatory whim, but who am I?

As to "the federal requirement for ethanol in gasoline means oil companies are captive buyers", well, yeah. The link between total gasoline consumed and total ethanol blended ought to be rethought. Having a target based on projections from 2007 that are already obsolete seems to be sub-optimal. Unless part of the goal was to assure the ongoing vakue of the professional politican fix-it class.

And help may be on the way, based on this recent rerport:

 In contrast, in 2014, EPA acknowledges that the carryover credits likely will not be sufficient to avoid the blend wall, as the statutory volume requirement increases significantly.[4]  EPA states that it will propose adjustments to the 2014 volume requirements, and that it believes it has the “authorities and tools needed to address these challenges.”[5]  However, EPA does not specify the measures it will take.  In addition to EPA’s authority to reduce cellulosic and advanced biofuel volumes, and the resulting total renewable fuel volume, EPA has statutory authority to grant a waiver of the total renewable fuel requirements themselves, if EPA determines there will be severe economic hardship.[6]  EPA has denied prior petitions for waivers with language that sets a high bar for making the hardship determination.  In light of that precedent, the increasing volumetric requirements of the statue and continuing decrease in gasoline demand, it is not clear how much relief EPA will be able to provide without overriding its own precedent.

And this is kind of funny, for those who find this sort of thing funny. Note the orderly market regulation (my emphasis):

Last week EPA finalized the Renewable Fuel Standard (“RFS”) levels for 2013.[1]  Although EPA missed the statutory deadline of November 30, 2012, for setting levels for the 2013 RFS, EPA notes that the statute does not provide any penalty for missing the deadline, nor does it remove the general requirements of the RFS if the deadline is missed.[2]  In light of the significant delay, EPA has extended the deadline for obtaining sufficient credits for gallons of ethanol equivalent fuels (known by the term Renewable Identification Number, or RIN) from February 28 to June 30, 2014.  EPA also intends to meet the statutory deadline of November 30, 2013 for the 2014 standards, and therefore will have released the 2014 standards well in advance of the 2013 compliance deadline.  This will allow obligated parties to make informed decisions about their 2013 compliance strategies, such as whether to use banked RINs, or save certain RIN categories for 2014 compliance.

So by August 2013 the EPA had finalized the rules for 2013, a mere nine months late. Whatever.

Comments

[Cecil Turner]

Looks like the main "green" thing about this program is the money they bilk from it. Which, come to think of it, is true of most such.

[jimmyk]

I have to believe Al Gore has his fat, sweaty palms on this somewhere.

[peter]

Let's do away with all ethanol, and just pay a Jizya to the people of Iowa, since their caucus starts the Presidential election process.

[Ignatz]

--The federal government created the market in special credits tied to ethanol eight years ago when it required refiners to mix ethanol into gasoline or buy credits from companies that do so. --

Anytime the government has to "create" a market that didn't already exist you're going to have a problem; usually a very corrupt, unnecessary and expensive one.

[pagar-----]

" Although EPA missed the statutory deadline of November 30, 2012, for setting levels for the 2013 RFS, EPA notes that the statute does not provide any penalty for missing the deadline,"

Of course, there are never any penalties for programs written by leftists to harass working Americans.

[henry]

Peter, reserve the ethanol for human consumption -- DO NOT GET RID OF IT!!! With 3 1/2 years of the JEF to go, we need all the ethanol we can pour down our throats.

[Ignatz]

Stupendous pieces, clarice.
I either didn't know or had forgotten many of the Red Witch's spells as detailed by you.
That takes some doing after 20 plus years of non stop exposure to the Hydra of modern American politics.

I did get a kick out of all the brackets you needed to excise JOM slang from Rick's comment to make it coherent to anyone else.
I'm afraid your bracket key would probably start smoking if you quoted CH or narc very extensively.

[Captain Hate on an iPhone]

Do the donks send out that ambulatory turd Van Hollen to FNS to shill for every one of Gaylord's incredibly bad ditherings? I'm really tired of looking at his smarmy face.

[Account Deleted]

The shocking failure of our central planning modelers to properly ascertain the predicate (total gas consumption) upon which Govgas regulations are based has to be evaluated in the context of the complete and utter failure of the central climate planners to guess scientifically determine the effect of increased CO2 (very similar to Sarin) emissions.

If the forecasts of a vast consensus of highly credentialed complete morons scientists can be so pathetically wrong, how can we possibly expect our central planners to do any better?

It's almost as if Marx missed a comma somewhere...

[centralcal]

The brackets were fun - very JOM insider-y.

[MarkO besotted]

Clarice,

That was the very definition of journalism. Well crafted, well done.

[narciso]

Well he was properly against the Syrian incursion, yet he still managed to jump the shark, in overpraise, from last night, 'Night of the Undead 9/11 commission' about what one expects.

[pagar-----]

No wonder she doesn't want anyone except leftist propaganda spreaders listed as reporters.

http://sistertoldjah.com/archives/2013/04/26/shock-and-surprise-diane-feinsteins-husbands-company-lands-big-high-speed-rail-contract/

[Captain Hate on an iPhone]

Outstanding Pieces, C; even a life-long HMS Pantsuit detractor didn't realize her fat caboose was fired from the Watergate gig. Why have the gutless Repukes not made this common knowledge? I'd suggest that you forward that to the RNC but they'd find a way to squander your work.

[Bob Smetters]

I blame Senator Grassley and his ethanol lobby.

[narciso]

Since we are discussing scams and other artefacts of the absurd;

http://twitchy.com/2013/09/15/snit-fit-twit-gun-grabbing-pivot-president-douche-tweets-critics-of-raising-mccain-gets-schooled/

[narciso]

Iowa gave us Jimmy Carter, why did we not learn from the mistake?

[Danube on iPad]

Goodness, Clarice. Absolutely essential reading.

[peter]

Sorry, Henry, I do not drink corn based ethanol. Grape and rye, (and whatever they make Tangeray from) yes. Corn no.

[Threadkiller]

Excellent Pieces Clarice.

In 1978 she turned a $1,000 cattle commodity trading account into $6,300 overnight and within 10 months into a $100,000 profit. [...] The odds of this happening except by design (and preferential treatment ) were calculated at one in 31 trillion.

Odds couple:

Entire books have been written about the problems with the “birth certificate” that was released by the White House purportedly documenting Barack Obama’s birth in Hawaii.

Computer imaging experts have found it to be fraudulent and the conclusion of an official law enforcement investigation assembled by Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio is that it is just not real.

But it wasn’t until now, through the work of the Christopher Monckton of Brenchley, that the world was informed just exactly what the odds are against all of those anomalies occurring naturally.

One in 62,500,000,000,000,000,000. (That’s 62.5 quintillion)

Or, if one prefers, the chances are 0.0000000000000000000016 that those curious developments happened by accident.

What difference does it make?

Not enough, I guess.

[Threadkiller]

w nd.c om/2012/09/obama-eligibility-odds-1-in-62-5-quintillion/

[Danube of Thought]

CNN:

A Syrian minister declared "victory" for his country on Sunday, thanking Russia for orchestrating a chemical weapons deal to avert U.S. military action, Russia's state-run news agency RIA Novosti reported.

"We welcome these agreements. On the one hand, they will help Syrians come out of the crisis, and on the other hand, they prevented the war against Syria by having removed a pretext for those who wanted to unleash it," National Reconciliation Minister Ali Haidar was quoted as saying.

He called the deal an achievement of Russian diplomacy, and "a victory for Syria won thanks to our Russian friends," RIA Novosti reported.

[daddy]

That was the very definition of journalism.

True MarkO,

But since the new definition of who is a "Journalist" is being ironed out by Chuck Schumer, Dianne Feinstein, and Dick Durbin, my guess is that they might make a special exemption so that Clarice doesn't qualify.

[Jane-Rebel Alliance1]

Obama gives a speech interview Stephanopolus. Watching it was my JOM sacrifice)

His major points: 1. What he inherited on the economy was worse than the great depression and he has done a great job fixing it, despite the evil republicans, and 2. He's been working with Putin for years and the chaos in his decision making should be evaluated next to President Bush's clear and concise planning as his method is so much more successful.

He is just creepy.

[Old Lurker test]

That we idolize scum like Hillary while we have treasures like Clarice available to us instead will be our downfall.

[narciso]

Of course, they don't follow up, what do you have to show for genuflecting I mean
cooperating with Putin.

[Danube of Thought]

ABC News:

After 2½ years of civil war in Syria, President Barack Obama's larger policy is in disarray even as his administration, with help from Russia, averted a military showdown for the time being....

That simple message belies a hodgepodge of often contradicting goals and strategies unlikely to be resolved by the new international effort to get Assad's government to relinquish its chemical weapons or by any U.S. military action, if diplomacy fails.

These include Obama's vacillations on providing military assistance to rebels as part of a peace strategy and his repeated demand that Assad relinquish power but still retain a veto over any replacement government.

Wonder if they ran that by Stephanopoulus.

[Danube of Thought]

Wash. Examiner:

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told reporters that -- under the agreement negotiated with Secretary of State John Kerry -- Russia would have veto power over the use of military force to punish Syrian dictator Bashar Assad if he uses or retains some of his chemical weapons stockpiles.

"And of course, in these approaches agreed on, there is nothing said about the use of force, not about any automatic sanctions we – as I said, all violations should be approved in the Security Council convincingly," Lavrov said in his opening statement during a press conference Saturday with Kerry.

"Of course, it does not mean that every violation that will be reported to the Security Council will be taken by word," Lavrov said when a reporter asked for clarification on the threat of force.

[Jane-Rebel Alliance1]

Dot you don't get it. Confusion and vacillation is a plus.

[MaryD]

Best Pieces EVAH,Clarice!

[Frau Einhorn]

Hillary! and her major life accomplishments got the exposure she deserves. Thank you, Clarice, for the review which needs to be circulated widely.

[Clarice]

Thanks, Iggie and Frau.

[Clarice]

Golly, I was reading bottom up--thanks also to maryD and Dot and anyone else I missed upthread, The editor indicates lots of readers are also clicking on the print version which suggests they mean to pass it around..that makes me very happy.

[Clarice]

Gosh, pagar --looks like before their terms in the Senate are over, Nancy Pelosi and Diane Weinstein and their families will own what's left of California.

[Frau Einhorn]

I noticed the banshee got her hair cut and styled for her latest award. My college disgraced itself by creating an award to give to her as its first recipient. Clinton Yale classmate Nancy Bekavac had become first female president and pushed for an award honoring accomplished US women. For years thereafter no other medal was awarded until, almost as an afterthought, Sandra Day O'Connor was chosen. It has been told that Bekavac's class notes saved Bent Willie from failure while he was off practicing his lecherous moves his political moves.

[Captain Hate on an iPhone]

Clarice, I wish somebody would forward a copy to Jeb Bush.

[sbwaters]

And don't forget the emailed copies, Clarice. Well worth forwarding.

Or is that: For war (D) ing?

[DebinNC]

Excellent piece, Clarice. Travelgate is probably little remembered now, but it reveals the venality of Hillary more than anything else to me.

Wish Steffy had asked BOzo if Biden is alive and well in his secret location.

[Frau Einhorn]

College alum Gaby Giffords will receive the award this month.

"Giffords is known nationwide for her consensus-building leadership in Congress and resilience in the face of violence."

I think I'll submit Patty "Sneakers" Murray's name.

[narciso]

A look at a review of one of the novels I recommended long ago, reveals this interesting passage from a collection of Private Eyr's pieces

Well, a useful idiot, anyway. "I am concerned by the speeches made by the Prince of Wales … On two occasions he has made public speeches which have political implications. In my presence in Cardiff he referred to the cultural and political awakening in Wales. This is most useful for the Nationalists."

[caro]

You are spectacularly courageous, Clarice. Let us know if you get any blowback in DC.

Your Pieces should be memorized by all on our side. And the RNC, too.

[OldTimer]

After reviewing Clarice's brilliant compendium of Hillary's most note-worthy uber-machiavellian achievements and waiting in vain for an effective counter-torpedo to Vlad's hubristic scolding, and as we endure the thousands of malicious paper cuts, foreign policy insults and financial disasters inflicted upon us by the Washington elites; ISTM we need a strong, spiritual antidote:

A Prayer for God to Punish the Wicked - Psalm 58

58 Do you rulers ever give a just decision?
Do you judge everyone fairly?
2 No! You think only of the evil you can do,
and commit crimes of violence in the land.

3 Evildoers go wrong all their lives;
they tell lies from the day they are born.
4 They are full of poison like snakes;
they stop up their ears like a deaf cobra,
5 which does not hear the voice of the snake charmer,
or the chant of the clever magician.

6 Break the teeth of these fierce lions, O God.
7 May they disappear like water draining away;
may they be crushed like weeds on a path.
8 May they be like snails that dissolve into slime;
may they be like a baby born dead that never sees the light.
9 Before they know it, they are cut down like weeds;
in his fierce anger God will blow them away
while they are still living.

10 The righteous will be glad when they see sinners punished;
they will wade through the blood of the wicked.
11 People will say, “The righteous are indeed rewarded;
there is indeed a God who judges the world.”

[narciso]

You know even Allen Drury would have been hard preseed to describe this;

http://freebeacon.com/cnns-crowley-do-we-really-care-that-russia-got-the-diplomatic-edge/

Walter Dobious was a model of ethical behavior

[narciso]

You know this is just being too grateful to the Al Thanis'

https://now.mmedia.me/lb/en/nowsyrialatestnews/sidelined-france-still-determined-to-go-after-assad

[DebinNC]

AP reports on Biden in Iowa today for a Harkin fundraiser where anti-war Dems will be in attendance: LUN

AP mentions Biden's likely prezzy run in 2016 but provides no quotes and gives no indication of Biden's position on Syria and BOzo's handling of it. I bet he was against any strikes, intending to position himself as the anti-war candidate in contrast to bellicose Hillary, and that's why he's been noticably sidelined lately.

[narciso]

Well he was against the surge, the Bin Laden raid, on balance he was as wrong on as many issues in the 80s without being Ted Kennedy.

[matt]

Went to breakfast yesterday at a place we like. Cheap, good food and the people who work there are great.

It has become a favorite of the hipsters.60-70% of the customers yesterday were tatt'ed up,30 something progeny of the new economy reeking of groupthink and relativism if they could in fact think for themselves at all.

I think we will have to start doing takeout. The breakfast burritos are amazing.

[Frau Einhorn]

Even with all the repeated therapy a person can have, who can forget Shrillary!'s

I am sick and tired of people who say that if you debate and you disagree with this administration, somehow you're not patriotic, and we should stand up and say, "We are Americans and we have a right to debate and disagree with any administration!"

April 28, 2003 at the annual Democratic Party Jefferson-Jackson-Bailey Day fund raising dinner in Connecticut.

[Account Deleted]

Clarice,

A fun followup to today's excellent Pieces could start at the National Archives with some questions as to the whereabouts of the Starr Report and other data pertaining to the impeachment of William Jefferson Clinton.

They seem to have mislaid most documents relating to Clinton but they make up for it with a huge Watergate collection.

[MarkO besotted]

I'm told by some who went to Yale with her that Hillary is as smart as she is beautiful.

[narciso]

Ah Nixon, the Saruman of the 20th Century, the way they paint him, he did tear down their idols, like Hiss, and that is punishable by reputational death.

[MarkO besotted]

And, Billy. Billy, Billy.

Discussing the Starr Report (Ken is great guy, by the way.)

"For example, the document includes the transcript of Lewinsky’s August 1998 sworn deposition by Starr investigators. At one point, the ex-intern was asked, “On that date did you gratify him in some way other than performing oral sex?” While Lewinsky’s answer to that question--“Yes"--was included in the transcript, six follow-up questions (and Lewinsky’s answers) were excised from the transcript.

However, Lewinsky’s description of how she gratified Clinton can be gleaned from the transcript’s unredacted digest, which includes an alphabetized list of all key words that appear in the Lewinsky deposition. Next to each entry in the digest appears the deposition page and line in which the word appears.

After Lewinsky acknowledged the other-than-oral-sex gratification, she was asked a question (page 20, line 3) that included the words “anus,” “mouth,” “orally,” and “stimulate.” A follow-up question (page 20, line 12) included the words “anus” and “orally.”

[DebinNC]

They seem to have mislaid most documents relating to Clinton

Who knows how many bulging britches trips Sandy Berger made before being caught?

[narciso]

Like the Mad Hatter's tea party, in the twitter response, except for Satloff;

http://legalinsurrection.com/2013/09/blaming-zionism-for-lack-of-two-state-solution-all-thats-fit-to-print-at-ny-times/#comments

[Clarice]

There's no doubt there was corruption inside the Archives, Rick..

[narciso]

Facepalm wth an Old One

http://twitchy.com/2013/09/15/skynet-laughs-nefarious-job-stealing-atms-at-it-again-jonah-goldberg-others-shred-obama/

[Jack is Back (Again)!]

I've done my part to get the Clarice indictment of the Red Witch global distribution - I posted it on my FB page and sent it out to the local vet's distribution list.

This needs to go big time viral and especially into the LIV and Indy markets. Don't know the best way to do that? Do soap opera's, The View and Oprah fans have special blog or two where they hang out?

[MarkO besotted]

Don't forget to read the footnotes.

209. Lewinsky 8/26/98 Depo. at 20. They engaged in oral-anal contact as well. Id.

[Frau Einhorn]

Watch out, MarkO. Your quote could be misunderstood and force me to post my favorite Hillary! at Wellesley photo, the one with the psychedelic britches which will be seared, seared in your memory.
Be very afraid...

[MarkO besotted]

Frau,

Please. No. I'll do anything. Please.

[Frau Einhorn]

There's a lot of love for Clarice and her latest Pieces over at Lucianne's.

[Frau Einhorn]

MarkO - for now and because of Caro's fondness for you (or was it your legs?)

[narciso]

A nominally apolitical site like TWOP, or even Pajiba, which I used to frequwnr seemingly eons ago, is more Stakhanovite then even the mere news pages.

[MarkO besotted]

Frau,

Caro adores you. I think her reference to my legs was based on her surprise that I didn't need a cane or a walker.

As to those pants, well, thanks. The pants were cool in the day, but she never was.

[narciso]

And Douthat tries on the Dowd hat;

http://hotair.com/headlines/archives/2013/09/15/call-me-vlad/

[caro]

Go for it, Frau. I need something to clear my mind of the eeeuuuw inspiring words in that MarkO quote.

[MarkO besotted]

Very soon, our Government Family will come to our doors to help us measure our health. The Thirst Lady has warned us:

http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/09/why-drink-more-water/279591/

"Generally if you drink enough fluid so that you rarely feel thirsty and produce 1.5 liters (6.3 cups) or more of colorless or light yellow urine a day, your fluid intake is probably adequate."

"Excuse me, Mr. narc, do you have your six cups handy?"

[Jack is Back (Again)!]

Back at the Black Pussycat Cafe, W. C. Fields orders a bourbon and is asked by the bartender if he wants water with it?

"Never drink the stuff, fish make love in it:)"

[rse]

The Bioregionalism movement with ties to Agenda 21 wants to define regions not by countries but by watersheds. All that coverage of water drinking primes students and adults to worry about pollution and where the water comes from and lots of other politically useful matters to manipulate students and adults about.

Part of the now tight relationship between Coke and Greenpeace goes back to getting CC to exercise its monopsony power as a bottler in regions globally to lobby for legislation and regulation about the watersheds.

[DebinNC]

Pres. BJ in 6/04 CNN interview:

But in an interview published in this week's issue of Time magazine, [Bill] Clinton said his anger over independent counsel Ken Starr's investigation, coupled with his battles with Republicans after they took over Congress in 1994, figured into his behavior.

"It's not good for a person to be as mad underneath as I was. I think if people have unresolved anger, it makes them do non-rational, destructive things," he said.

"So I was involved in two great struggles at the same time -- a great public struggle over the future of America with the Republican Congress, and a private struggle with my own demons.

It wasn't BJ's fault - it was the Republicans'!

[Jeff Dobbs]

The RINs story began in 2005, when the Bush administration joined Democrats in Congress to pass an energy bill mandating renewable fuel standards.

I vividly remember all the good will Bush engendered by cozying up to one of the left's pet issues.

The media adored him for it, the Dems in Congress lavishly praised him for it, the lefty blogs and pundits couldn't stop themselves from wishing they had leaders on their side so determined to forge bipartisanship like Bush was doing -- in no universe that ever existed.

No, no - that would come after working with Ted Kennedy on the prescription drug bill. Or wait, was it No Child Left Behind? Surely it happened after immigration reform.

At some point or another, Bush's efforts paid off for reaching across the aisle, right?

Right?

[Sue]

Hit,

I think Bush reached across the aisle because that was where he could get the votes for his own views. He authorized the windmill farms in West Texas while governor and built the most Eco friendly home in Crawford that any environmentalist would have been proud of. He and his administration while governor pushed the in state college tuition that was Eventually passed after he was elected president and eventually Perry was beat up for. Bush was not really a conservative. Which is why they had to come up with compassionate conservative to define him.

[Captain Hate on an iPhone]

So was Slick the salad tosser or tossee? Just remember, feminist icon Cankles would have been on board with Sid Vicious to slime Monica in defense of the red nosed predator were it not for the DNA soaked blue dress. Sisterhood is powerful, right Muffer?

[Sue]

I don't know if it is my tv or if the Vikings have changed their uniforms. They are so purple they are ugly.

[Danube on iPad]

That pic is already seared - seared! - in my memory, Frau.

[Neo]

For lighter reading ...

In a paper posted last week on the arXiv preprint server1, Afshordi and his colleagues turn their attention to a proposal2 made in 2000 by a team including Gia Dvali, a physicist now at the Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich, Germany. In that model, our three-dimensional (3D) Universe is a membrane, or brane, that floats through a ‘bulk universe’ that has four spatial dimensions.

Ashfordi's team realized that if the bulk universe contained its own four-dimensional (4D) stars, some of them could collapse, forming 4D black holes in the same way that massive stars in our Universe do: they explode as supernovae, violently ejecting their outer layers, while their inner layers collapse into a black hole.

In our Universe, a black hole is bounded by a spherical surface called an event horizon. Whereas in ordinary three-dimensional space it takes a two-dimensional object (a surface) to create a boundary inside a black hole, in the bulk universe the event horizon of a 4D black hole would be a 3D object — a shape called a hypersphere. When Afshordi’s team modelled the death of a 4D star, they found that the ejected material would form a 3D brane surrounding that 3D event horizon, and slowly expand.

The authors postulate that the 3D Universe we live in might be just such a brane — and that we detect the brane’s growth as cosmic expansion. “Astronomers measured that expansion and extrapolated back that the Universe must have begun with a Big Bang — but that is just a mirage,” says Afshordi.

[matt]

Whatever he might have been aiming for, Bush never had a chance with the media except immediately after 9/11 for 2 years. After that it all turned very negative, as it was before and during the election.

Al Gore did more damage to this nation's credibility than he has ever been held to account for with his challenge. The man simply has no honor. he gave the Left the intellectual free rein to use any means necessary to gain and hold power.

The Clintons are the superstars of the party despite Hillary's loss to Obama. Obama is now fading fast. The question is how to drive a stake through the heart of the dark Left and how to negate the media spin.

[Jack is Back (Again)!]

Watching NFL Red Zone and there are some wild games going on this Sunday. Colts and Miami tied at 17 each. Dallas up on KC 13-7. Buffalo driving on Carolina to make it 7-6 Panthers. Da Bears and Minnesota started off with a 105 KO return then Hester ran the ensuing KO back 75 yards.

But the best one for me is San Diego on top of Eagles 20-7. Way to beat Chip Kelley and his new wrinkle is to keep his offense off the field by eating up time with your own offense. Ken Whisenhut calling a great game.

[Danube on iPad]

But the Chargers - being the Chargers - have fumbled at the Eagles' 1 and the Eagles' 10.

[Jack is Back (Again)!]

The Deadskins are back under the same old ownership, coaching and Heisman trophy winner. Pathetic. The only saving grace here is if the 'Boys, Eagles and later the Giants all lose also.

[narciso]

A derivative piece from the Chris Hughes's etch sketch;

http://www.newrepublic.com/article/114676/syrias-chemical-weapons-assad-not-blame-say-truthers

[Threadkiller]

Talk about brainlock...

Ouch.

[Threadkiller]

Good grief.

[Jack is Back (Again)!]

He is in the hospital and alert. I cringed when I saw that hit.

Eagles back on top with 7 minutes left for Rivers to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat or more likely vice a versa. And just think, Norm's not there to watch it:)

[Jack is Back (Again)!]

If Eddie Royal is not the NFL player of the week I'll give my daiquiris for a week:)

[Jack is Back (Again)!]

.....give up.....

[maryrose]

clarice:
An absolutely superb "Pieces". I especially liked the repetition of the phrase"What difference does it make?" This is a must read for all voters. It shows her true colors through and through.

[maryrose]

JIB:
Eddie Royal has an interesting life story if I am thinking of the correct person.

[Threadkiller]

In the same manner that one does not take their eye off the toilet while throwing up, I am locked to yet another Charger game.

When will this end?

[rse]

Here's a reading alternative if you are not watching football. http://www.invisibleserfscollar.com/prescribing-how-we-frame-experiences-is-the-lynchpin-of-wholesale-unconscious-behavioral-change/

[narciso]

Isn't Huxley's Brave New World soft tyranny, a better model for what they are attempting res?

[Jack is Back (Again)!]

TK,

Get your head out of the toilet because it looks like the Bolts are going to win this on a FG.

[pagar-----]

" The man simply has no honor."

IMO, there is no honor in the active members of the leftist party. I am aware that there are some people who simply for the Democrats because they have always voted for them/ their father voted for them etc, but I don't consider those to be the active members. The active members are the ones who are jumping up and down screaming "America is not exceptable". Screaming we have to spend more money, screaming we have to kill more babies, we have to let every illegal immigrant stay and become eligible for every benefit legal Americans are eligible for etc.
---------------------------------------
Has anyone figured out why we have to have the the government reviewing all our credit card purchases?

[Cecil Turner]

No discussion of Hillary is complete without mentioning Citizens United. As every moonbat knows, the decision meant "money is speech" and "corporations have free speech rights" and the government was for sale to the highest bidder (okay, that last part might be right, but it's not because of the ruling). But it's worth reviewing the actual facts of the case:

In January 2008, appellant Citizens United, a nonprofit corporation, released a documentary (hereinafter Hillary ) critical of then-Senator Hillary Clinton, a candidate for her party’s Presidential nomination. Anticipating that it would make Hillary available on cable television through video-on-demand within 30 days of primary elections, Citizens United produced television ads to run on broadcast and cable television. Concerned about possible civil and criminal penalties for violating §441b, it sought declaratory and injunctive relief . . . [emphasis added]

And, as every fascist wannabe knows, that means they needed to be fined and jailed.

Hey, it works for Putin!

[Threadkiller]

What a mess.

[rse]

Narciso-I don't know how soft it really is. Anytime there has been a tragedy anywhere this devt/psychological model was pushed, no one stopped.

So the intention may be to do it softly but the reality is no one stops and says this is too much when hard reality bites. And the pedigree is definitely not found in soft states.

And the data flowing off of the gaming is alarming. It will be able to predict and guide behaviors in unseen ways. And radicals are practically foaming at the mouth about it.

The sex emphasis sure put that Chicago kindergarten wanting to teach sex ed into perspective. Mercy me.

[narciso]

Well in comparison to Oceania, which was Orwell's translation of Stalinism, along with his fears of Labourism,

[Frau Aussenministerin]

Caro, I would have done it for *you* but DoT reminds me that once a year is more than enough. I think men are more sensitive as far as a photo of Hildebeest is concerned.

[Jack is Back (Again)!]

Kein Problem, Frau, tue ich die Ehre,

But back to the future,

[rse]

There was a loaded gun incident at the area middle school intent on this psych model a couple of weeks ago that was badly handled with lots of deceit. No tragedy but having personnel focussing on the new world ed can create and promoting naive and life inexperienced people because they are willing to push this means that there is just not enough experience in the building to deal with the world as it is, not the wished for version.

Lots of these principals had very little teaching time before moving into being an AP and then Principal. Lots of inexperienced people caught up in using ed for social justice doesn't fit well with kids and guns. Probably a matter of time and then district wants to spend taxpayer money to cover up what really happened knowing they can just pay for confidentiality that the administrators are so naive.