[Vwdiesel] lowering gasoline prices

[Scott Kair]

    >>I could go on, but I don't want to start a war with the more
left-leaning
list members who may be here.<<

    One of the neat things about this group is that conventional labels of
left and right don't apply.  If we weren't capable of independent thought
and  skeptical analysis, we'd be a (gasp!) Gas Guzzling SUV Driving
Conformist list.

   >> Please take your politics elsewhere. This is a diesel list and you are
way out of line.<<

    We've had a lengthy tradition of tolerating, generally enjoying, and
even encouraging
politically oriented rants.  To my knowledge, none has resulted in anyone
demanding an interview at dawn with pistols; ain't nobody even gone to
talkin bout somebody else's mama, neither.  Nor is there any requirement
for gracious and decorous debate while ranting, although one might make a
convincing argument that "crooked politicians" is redundant.
    We seem to be an unpretentious lot.
    The fact is that what we drive, and the entire reason for this list's
existence, is a type of internal combustion engine that some in the
political arena have sworn to see phased out.  Naturally, we oppose this
proposition, and many of us see advanced compression ignition engines
running on bio-derived fuels as a logical and practical solution to a number
of environmental issues.  That puts us, willingly or not, into the political
arena, where the cars we drive are Incorrect and the thinking that led us to
them is also Incorrect.

    >>because of all the
farm welfare, we currently have absurd mountains of excess soybeans<<

    >>Not all
farmers
are paid by the government.  Most do their best not to be bankrupted by
it!<<

    We're comparing apples and soybeans.  Perhaps the neatest
thing about this list is that it's brought together people from diverse
geographical areas and done wonders to dispel regional prejudices, whether
it's between regions within the US, or beyond.
    Had it not been for reading Loren's posts over the years, I'd have a
hard time believing that there really are Americans in agriculture who stay
in business without a subsidy.  It ain't done around here; most of the
family farms went belly up over the last 30 years, and government subsidies
around here have indeed become corporate welfare- they've grown as corporate
farm ownership increases.
    I think we all hope that the growers out Loren's way can hang in there;
the bitterness that some of us express towards subsidized corporate
sharecropping- and the US government in general- obviously comes from
scrambling to make an honest living while the crooks prosper in ease.  We
can all identify with that.
    There's much more common ground than grounds for dispute.  Apples ain't
soybeans, and Baird's Orchard ain't run by ConAgra from our tax money.
Somehow, I suspect that should one of us hit the right lottery numbers and
sponsor a little bash for the list, the hit of the party would be setting up
a milk crate to let anyone preach who takes a (beer fueled) notion to it.
    Take care,
    Scott Kair