Bush : what a joke.

[Martin]

This guy should be a comedian instead of a president. Doesnt he understand by now that noone is listening to him anymore? Especially when he has press conferences and speeches. I was just watching one now on TV where he was speaking at a college. It was like he was preaching some sort of religion to all of us about terrorists.

The situation in iraq is at its worst ever. And he's acting like everything is peace and harmony / improving.. And that he is going to get arid of every single terrorist in the world. Its like trying to exterminate cockroaches from earth. Good luck with that.

There are suicide bombers going off and killing people in Iraq almost EVERY single day. Yet it is barely being mentioned anymore in our U.S. media. Is our media ignoring it now because its such negative and sad news?

When the war first started, A suicide bomber in Iraq would take up a whole days news on CNN.

We seem to be more worried about getting arid of all our illegal immigrants, instead of our soldiers and innocent people dying everyday in Iraq.

On another subject.. Gas prices look to be higher this year then last :

http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/14273515.htm

Posted on Thu, Apr. 06, 2006

Gasoline heading to $3 - or more
Drivers will face big increases again this summer as changes to regular and diesel fuel add to refiners' costs.

By Harold Brubaker
Inquirer Staff Writer

Spring is barely here, but gasoline prices already have begun climbing toward - perhaps to beyond - $3 a gallon for the summer driving season.
There is more at play than the usual anticipation of increased demand from vacationers. Oil refiners are working through major changes to the composition of gasoline and diesel fuel.

With crude-oil prices already $9 a barrel higher than a year ago, analysts expect the formulation changes will contribute to a fourth consecutive summer of record fuel prices.

In the last month, average gasoline prices in Philadelphia and the Pennsylvania suburbs have climbed by 30 cents a gallon, or 13 percent, to $2.60 a gallon, AAA Mid-Atlantic reported yesterday. In South Jersey, the three-day average was $2.42, a gain of 36 cents, or 17 percent.
Mark Braverman of Jamison has noticed the upturn. Because of it, he parked his 12-miles-per-gallon Lincoln Aviator in favor of his Saab 9-3 convertible, which gets 24 m.p.g. "If I have a vehicle that gets better mileage, it's economics," Braverman said Tuesday after gassing up at a station in Warminster.

The federal government reported yesterday that gasoline inventories had declined for the fifth straight week, maintaining upward pressure on prices.

It is going to be "another summer of very volatile prices, with $3 within reach," predicted Ben Brockwell, editor in chief of Oil Price Information Services.

The Energy Information Administration said that both formulation changes had the potential to cause "regional supply disruptions with periods of increased volatility."

The first hurdle is the phaseout of MTBE - methyl tertiary butyl ether - which has been added to gasoline in Philadelphia and certain other areas of the United States to reduce air pollution.

MTBE causes gasoline to burn more cleanly, reducing toxic emissions from cars. But it has come under fire for contaminating groundwater. Because the federal Energy Policy Act of 2005 failed to shield oil refiners from water-contamination lawsuits, and an increasing number of states are banning the substance, refiners decided to stop using it.
However, refiners must still meet clean-air regulations, and can do that only by replacing MTBE with another clean-burning component. Federally subsidized ethanol - which is also being touted as a renewable fuel that can help reduce dependence on oil - is the only viable choice, industry experts said.

Ethanol has been used as a clean-burning additive for years in some parts of the country, especially in Midwestern markets, but the massive shift to ethanol this spring in the Northeast and in Texas could strain the supply chain, even if there is enough ethanol to meet demand. Plus, ethanol costs more than MTBE, putting further pressure on prices.
Valero Energy Corp., the largest U.S. refiner, estimated that removing MTBE from gasoline will reduce U.S. supplies by about 145,000 barrels a day - or about 1.5 percent of total U.S. supplies.

"That is like losing the gasoline production of three 100,000-barrel-per-day refineries - just as we head into summer driving season," said Mary Rose Brown, spokeswoman for the San Antonio, Texas, company.
Michael J. Hennigan, Sunoco Inc.'s senior vice president for supply, trading, sales and transportation, said he believed logistics were the challenge. "Can you get Midwest ethanol to the coasts?" he asked, referring to the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts.

The federal Energy Information Administration estimated that as much as 2.5 times more ethanol will have to come to the East Coast this year as last year, prompting questions about whether enough railcars and barges will be available.

Spokesmen for CSX Corp. and Norfolk Southern Corp. said the railroad operators, which bring much of the ethanol east, are up to the challenge. CSX's ethanol-shipping business was up 50 percent last year, and this year it is up even more, spokesman Bob Sullivan said.
While Sunoco started using ethanol in the Midwest in 1996 and in other places more recently, the Philadelphia company plans to start supplying gasoline blended with up to 10 percent ethanol in the Mid-Atlantic and in New England in the middle of this month.

Valero, which operates refineries in Paulsboro and Delaware City, Del., has been phasing out MTBE since last month, and received an air permit last week to begin storing and blending ethanol in Delaware City.
Buckeye Partners L.P., which operates a terminal in Malvern supplied by Valero's Paulsboro refinery, is converting a tank in Malvern for ethanol blending, said Jim Scandola, senior manager of transportation at Buckeye, of Emmaus, Pa.

Scandola said the second big change this year, switching to diesel with a much lower sulfur content, was a greater challenge for the fuel-transportation industry.

The regulation on ultra-low-sulfur diesel - 15 parts per million compared with 500 in the current formulation - is unusual in that the sulfur specification has to be met at the fuel nozzle, not at the refinery gate, as is typically the case.

The reason for this is that new diesel truck engines - starting in model year 2007 - must use ultra-low-sulfur diesel in order for new pollution-control equipment to work.

It is a challenge for pipeline companies because a single pipeline carries gasoline, diesel, home-heating oil, and jet fuel, one after another. That creates the potential for sulfur from fuels such as home-heating oil to contaminate the ultra-low-sulfur fuel as it makes its way through the pipeline.

To prevent such contamination, pipeline and terminal operators are spending hundreds of millions of dollars on monitors and on other equipment to segregate ultra-low-sulfur diesel from heating oil and other products, Scandola said.

The regulation goes into effect for refineries on June 1, and must be met at retail by Oct. 15, with some allowances for higher-sulfur diesel for the next four years.

All these complications add up to a market that has plenty of reasons for commodity traders to jump at the least sign of trouble, driving prices higher, said Brian L. Milne, an editor with DTN, a business information company. He said: "They climb the wall of worry."

[Free-range Toilet Roll]

The Iraq thing... it is old news, that is why we hear little of what goes on in the media... I can't see why people think we are losing, it is us in their country, we have destroyed their military and now they are fighting a guerilla war and taking many more casualties than we are... in what way are they winning? The only way I see them coming up on hte winning side is exploiting the negative vibes that sweep through america every time war is declared

And the gas thing... it is not a result of Bush's stupidity, it is a result of his administration doing something right for once! He is taking action on climate change, and if that costs around a hundred dollars a year more for each driver so be it, at least the big rigs aren't doing as much damage to the environment

Fearless W changin' strategy...

Bush shows willingness to change
Bush shows new willingness to reverse course; Realities in Iraq, Middle East 'becoming more apparent' to President
March 4, 2007

He was against it before he was for it. The same president who mocked the idea of talking with Iran and Syria as recently as two weeks ago is now sending emissaries to a regional conference to talk with Iran and Syria.

For President Bush, last week's decision was the latest of several reversals on issues on which he once refused to budge. Since Democrats captured Congress, Bush has fired Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, authorized direct talks with North Korea, sent more troops to Iraq, agreed to discuss the contours of a Palestinian state in Middle East peace negotiations, and even proposed a tax increase for millions of Americans — all ideas he rejected earlier.

"It's not really surprising to me that they're beginning to change," said former congressman Lee H. Hamilton (D-Ind.), co-chairman of the bipartisan Iraq Study Group, whose report in December recommended opening talks with Iran and Syria. "The realities of the situation are becoming more apparent to them. . . . Presidents begin to focus very much on their legacy, and he recognizes that insufficient progress has been made on some of these international issues."

More http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17445847/

See also:

Musharraf not gonna like the change...

"Crack down on Al Qaeda now, or let US do it", Musharraf told
Monday 5th March, 2007 : The United States seem to be mounting intense pressure on Pakistan to launch an immediate crackdown on Al Qaeda, or let it do the job. Yesterday, US Vice-President **** Cheney reportedly delivered a tough message to Pakistan, saying that Islamabad should act to destroy Al Qaeda hideouts in the tribal zone, or let the Americans do the job.

A senior member of the US Senate Intelligence Committee, Dianne Feinstein said that Cheney had told Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf, when he met him in Islamabad last week, that "the Pakistanis either have to let us go in or go in themselves when they have intelligence." Feinstein, the number two Democrat on the Committee, criticised measures so far taken by Pakistan, terming them "half-hearted". He also urged Islamabad to do more, the Dawn reported.

Taking seriously Al Qaeda and the Taliban's threat to launch fresh attacks in Afghanistan, she said: "There's no question that there's going to be a spring offensive in Afghanistan, that they're trying to reach out, that training is going on, recruitment is going on." Asked to comment on Pakistan's efforts to fight terrorism, she said: "I think the kind of half measures that the Pakistanis have taken in that particular area don't stand us in good stead."

Ms Feinstein, who as a senior member of the intelligence committee and is privy to the classified information, also indicated that the US might have launched a campaign to persuade Pakistan to take some drastic measures for uprooting the reported terrorist hideouts in tribal areas. "I think there's an ongoing campaign. More than that, I can't say," said the senator in reply to a question "Is something going on?"

More http://feeds.bignewsnetwork.com/?sid=232004

Fearless W not happy with the situation...

Bush calls Walter Reed conditions 'unacceptable'
6 Mar. 2007 - President Bush, responding to a growing outcry from the public and Congress, said today that medical treatment for some wounded soldiers is "unacceptable" and appointed former Sen. Bob Dole and former Clinton cabinet member Donna Shalala to head an independent inquiry into military health care. The announcement came as the Senate opened its own investigation today into reports of soldiers facing poor medical conditions at some facilities and excessive red tape.

"Some of our troops have experienced bureaucratic delays and living conditions that are less than they deserve," Bush told an American Legion gathering in Washington. "It is unacceptable to me, it is unacceptable to you, and it is unacceptable to our country and it is not going to continue." The Senate investigation comes one day after a House panel grilled top Army officials over conditions at the outpatient facility at Walter Reed Army Hospital. The lawmakers also heard emotional testimony from wounded vets and their families about their conditions at the facility.

The president said the bipartisan commission will undertake a comprehensive review of medical care for wounded soldiers from the time they leave the battlefield to the moment they return to civilian life as veterans. He also announced the formation of a separate task force, made up of seven Cabinet members, that will determine the "immediate needs" of the military health care system, which has been overwhelmed by injured troops from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"We have a moral obligation to provide the best possible care and treatment to the men and women who have served our country," the president said. "They deserve it and they are going to get it." Dole, as a young Army officer during World War II, was severely wounded in action in Italy. He spent years in treatment and underwent numerous surgeries. He went on to become Senate majority leader as a Republican lawmaker and later ran unsuccessfully for president.

MORE

[waltky]

Oops, uh-oh...

White House Pressured Agency to Go Easier on Polluters, Audit Says
WASHINGTON Dec 12, 2007 - EPA Pushed to Lower Reporting Standards; GAO Report Criticizes EPA Changes in Toxic Chemical Reporting by Industry

The White House pressured the Environmental Protection Agency to weaken requirements that companies annually disclose releases of toxic chemicals, congressional auditors say. In a study scheduled to be released next week, the Government Accountability Office says the changes mean that industry will have to file 22,000 fewer reports each year, reducing an important public monitoring tool on industrial emissions. The EPA rushed to complete the changes because of "pressure" from the White House Office of Management and Budget to reduce the regulatory burdens on industry, says the report obtained by The Associated Press. The White House overstated the cost-savings to industry of making the changes, it added.

"The EPA administrator expedited the process in order to meet a commitment to OMB," which had pushed to reduce the paperwork burden on industry by the end of 2006, said the GAO. For more than two decades, industries and businesses have had to disclose to the EPA the amount of toxic chemicals they produce, store and discharge into the air, water and ground. Communities, watchdog groups, local neighborhoods and even the Internal Revenue Service have used the information

Last December, the EPA reduced the amount of information that needed to be disclosed in the Toxic Release Inventory Report, or TRI, process. Companies were allowed to use shorter, less detailed forms if they used less than 5,000 pounds of toxic chemicals or released less than 2,000 pounds. Previously more detailed information had to be provided in longer forms if there was as little as 500 pounds, a threshold that the new rule maintains only for some of the most dangerous chemicals. Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee, said the GAO report "confirms the serious flaws" in the reporting requirement." The public has a right to know about toxic pollution in local communities," she said in a statement.

MORE

[waltky]

We'll play ball if ever'body else follows the same rules...

US to set 'binding' climate goals
Monday, 25 February 2008, The US will accept "binding international obligations" on climate if other nations do the same, say officials.

The comments came in a news conference in Paris given by James Connaughton and Daniel Price, environmental and economics advisers to President Bush. The US hopes the world's major economies will conclude a "leaders' declaration" before the July G8 summit. There was no indication of how much the US might be prepared to cut emissions. But the Bush administration is clearly looking for some kind of binding commitment from major developing countries such as China, India and Brazil.

"The US is prepared to enter into binding international obligations to reduce greenhouse gases as part of a global agreement in which all major economies similarly undertake binding international obligations," said Mr Price, the president's deputy national security adviser for international economic affairs. "Europe and the US could turn out the lights today, and come 2030 or 2050 we would not have addressed the problem of climate change" - Daniel Price

The United Nations climate process emphasises that different countries have "common but differentiated responsibilities" for climate change, which in practice has meant industrialised nations promising to cut emissions while developing countries do not. But the US officials suggested the phrase should mean something different - supporting the poorest nations, while expecting those that are developing successfully to take on some kind of obligation to cut emissions.

"An effective framework requires the participation of all major economies, developed and developing alike," said Mr Price. "Europe and the US could turn out the lights today, and come 2030 or 2050 we would not have addressed the problem of climate change." Some countries might commit to firm emissions targets while others promised energy efficiency gains, he suggested. Commitments could cover a country's entire economy, or just certain sectors.

Shuffling the decks