Well, all this is interesting to me, anyway, and that's what matters here. The Internet is a terrible thing for someone like me, who finds almost everything interesting.
I saw the original ad. If you take out the excessive God references, it does strike a chord in your Nebraska heart.
Nevertheless, it is what it is; Dodge trying to sell pickup trucks. And farming is like any other working-class occupation: busting your ass so SOMEBODY ELSE can get rich.
On a side note, for many years I avoided high fructose Coca-Cola like cyanide. Then I found Coca-Cola imported from Mexico (made with REAL sugar). It's got that nice, crisp taste like the Coke I drank when I was a little kid. It ain't cheap, though. So I drink it sparingly.
Speaking of "fun with grain," what are your thoughts on Ethanol? I know it's a hot-button issue with a lot of people. I've used Ethanol for many, many years. I've never had any adverse problems with it. My reason for using Ethanol is a practical one: I don't want to risk my fuel line being frozen at a critical moment during one of our occasional Nebraska cold-snaps.
I use ethanol sometimes in the winter, Jeff - not all the time, but occasionally.
My biggest problem with it is that it's not an environmental issue. Rural-state politicians support corn-based ethanol entirely for economic reasons. They don't care what it does or doesn't do to the environment.
Nothing infuriates me more than a politician pretending to be an environmentalist because he supports corn-based ethanol - and that goes double for right-wing politicians who complain constantly about government spending (and who oppose real environmental protection proposals).
In Nebraska, and other rural states, this is entirely a matter of keeping corn prices high - and using federal tax money to do it. Government spending is great as long as it's someone else's money that's coming to your state, huh?
Given the fact that all states get two senators, no matter how low in population they might be, farm subsidies have far more political backing than they should have. And that definitely shows up in the ethanol industry (and in the absurd power of the NRA, too, among other things).
Of course, state governments also give ethanol producers tax breaks, sending money from their cities to rural areas. (Meanwhile, farmers complain bitterly about all those 'urban' welfare recipients.)
The whole thing makes me angry. I don't know if corn-based ethanol is good or bad for the environment, overall. But the hypocrisy of it always makes me mad.
I saw the original ad. If you take out the excessive God references, it does strike a chord in your Nebraska heart.
ReplyDeleteNevertheless, it is what it is; Dodge trying to sell pickup trucks. And farming is like any other working-class occupation: busting your ass so SOMEBODY ELSE can get rich.
On a side note, for many years I avoided high fructose Coca-Cola like cyanide. Then I found Coca-Cola imported from Mexico (made with REAL sugar). It's got that nice, crisp taste like the Coke I drank when I was a little kid. It ain't cheap, though. So I drink it sparingly.
Speaking of "fun with grain," what are your thoughts on Ethanol? I know it's a hot-button issue with a lot of people. I've used Ethanol for many, many years. I've never had any adverse problems with it. My reason for using Ethanol is a practical one: I don't want to risk my fuel line being frozen at a critical moment during one of our occasional Nebraska cold-snaps.
I use ethanol sometimes in the winter, Jeff - not all the time, but occasionally.
DeleteMy biggest problem with it is that it's not an environmental issue. Rural-state politicians support corn-based ethanol entirely for economic reasons. They don't care what it does or doesn't do to the environment.
Nothing infuriates me more than a politician pretending to be an environmentalist because he supports corn-based ethanol - and that goes double for right-wing politicians who complain constantly about government spending (and who oppose real environmental protection proposals).
In Nebraska, and other rural states, this is entirely a matter of keeping corn prices high - and using federal tax money to do it. Government spending is great as long as it's someone else's money that's coming to your state, huh?
Given the fact that all states get two senators, no matter how low in population they might be, farm subsidies have far more political backing than they should have. And that definitely shows up in the ethanol industry (and in the absurd power of the NRA, too, among other things).
Of course, state governments also give ethanol producers tax breaks, sending money from their cities to rural areas. (Meanwhile, farmers complain bitterly about all those 'urban' welfare recipients.)
The whole thing makes me angry. I don't know if corn-based ethanol is good or bad for the environment, overall. But the hypocrisy of it always makes me mad.