Top oil economist: Pipeline would increase gasoline prices in the upper Midwest 5 to 10 cents a gallon.
Amidst the mind-numbing array of hollow political promises to lower U.S. gas prices, there’s one really important point everyone should know: the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline, which supporters say will “bring down prices at the pump,” wouldn’t be built until 2014.

And that’s if everything went forward today without a hitch.

http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2012/03/02/436254/empty-promises-experts-say-keystone-xl-wont-do-anything-for-gas-prices/

Can we all take a step back and look at the big picture.......?

When we first discovered microwave potato chips four years ago, it was nothing short of a revelation. Even now, the fact that a short spin in the microwave can transform slices of potato into crispy (truly crispy!) chips without needing a drop of oil still seems like magic. Here's how to make them.

http://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-crispy-potato-chips-in-the-microwave-166718

If you are a fan of chips like I am, you will really enjoy this recipe.....

February’s spectacular planetary show continues. After Venus and Jupiter lined up in the night sky last week, the distance between Earth and Mars is now shrinking to its smallest in more than two years.

On March 3 Mars will be in opposition to the sun, providing excellent opportunities for viewing the Red Planet.

The celestial event known as Mars opposition occurs whenever Earth passes between the sun and the Red Planet, approximately once every two years and two months. This makes Mars visible opposite the sun in the Earth’s sky, which is a great time to view the Red planet because the sun’s rays illuminate the full face of Mars. Because the two planets’ orbits regularly bring them close together, it also provides a good time to launch Mars missions such as the recent Mars Science Laboratory.

Mars and Earth will actually be at their closest on March 5, so you have a decent chance to catch the Red Planet anytime in the next few weeks.

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/03/mars-closest-approach/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+wiredscience+%28Blog+-+Wired+Science%29

Since I was a child, I have been fascinated with the planets,,,,,,,

Gregory (right), who is from Haiti, and Samuel, who is from the U.S., stand in the intense Costa Rican, sun sharing their agricultural expertise. In the middle of the tropical rainforest, they describe the organic farm they work on, detailing everything from the benefits of its beautiful garden's mandala design to why worm composting makes good sense.

Gregory and Samuel aren't typical farmers. They're college students at EARTH University in Guacimo, Costa Rica, getting a hands-on education in sustainable agriculture.

Instead of churning out grades and papers, these students churn out real-life produce, and they hope to use what they learn to reap a better, more sustainable future across the globe. You may already have tasted the fruits of Gregory's and Samuel's labor if you shop at Whole Foods Market (WFM), which sells EARTH-branded bananas, pineapples, coffee, and fresh flowers from the farms of the campus -- and funnels a portion of the profit back to the school.

http://www.dailyfinance.com/2012/03/02/could-this-radical-college-change-the-world-economy/

An idea way too long overdue..........c'est formidable....

The former governor is against the legalization of medical marijuana and has applauded Big Pharma, but his views are otherwise unclear.

As our friends at Stop the Drug War have pointed out, Romney has done his best to avoid establishing a clear drug policy. But despite his best efforts, a review of his actions as the Governor of Massachusetts and his statements on the 2008 and 2012 campaign trail have established one for him -- which might best be summed up by the chorus of En Vogue's hit "My Lovin' (Never Gonna Get It)." As in, "never gonna get" legal medical marijuana, "never gonna get" a true end to the drug war, and "never gonna get" a distinctive or ideologically coherent overall policy.

http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2012/03/what-would-president-mitt-romneys-drug-policy-look-like/253547/

Thank you Lord, the title President will not be bestowed upon this man's name......

NEW YORK—Oil futures retreated after Saudi Arabia denied reports of a major pipeline explosion, easing fears about an imminent supply disruption.

Light, sweet crude for April delivery fell 95 cents, or 0.9%, to $107.89 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude on ICE Futures Europe traded $1.38, or 1.1%, lower at $124.82 a barrel.

Futures declined after Saudi officials said late Thursday that reports of an explosion at a main pipeline in the country's oil-rich Eastern Province were untrue. ...

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203986604577256720551953632.html?mod=rss_whats_news_us&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+wsj%2Fxml%2Frss%2F3_7011+%28WSJ.com%3A+What%27s+News+US%29

and the rest of the story......when a Saudi oil prince farted, the traders on wall street panicked......

Source: NYT

KABUL, Afghanistan — Five American service members and an Afghan-American linguist were directly involved in the burning of Korans at a NATO base, an event a week ago that plunged Afghanistan into days of violent protests, according to the preliminary conclusions of a joint military investigation.
.
“All six will be referred to the proper U.S. authorities for further action,” said an official familiar with the joint Afghan-American investigation into the Koran burnings, who was not authorized to speak about it publicly.

Significantly, the five service members found responsible so far include military “leaders,” according to the report. While it was unclear whether that meant any senior officers would be held to account, it was taken as a sign here that the investigation was focusing more on decision-making along the chain of command rather than simply focusing on soldiers who may have been carrying out orders with little understanding of their potential impact.


Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/03/world/asia/5-soldiers-are-said-to-face-punishment-in-koran-burning-in-afghanistan.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss

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One part of the Afghan's response was this.....

The preeminent religious authority in Afghanistan, the Ulema Council, said Friday that those responsible for the burning of the Korans and other religious texts should be put on trial and punished. And it called for the American-led coalition to respond by handing over all Afghan prisoners in its custody and ceding control of its prisons.

which is really tooo incredulous a cognitive jump for me to make......

And nobody should be surprised. It has been obvious all along ... that the politicians shouting loudest about deficits are actually using deficit hysteria as a cover story for their real agenda, which is top-down class warfare. To put it in Romneyesque terms, it’s all about finding an excuse to slash programs that help people who like to watch Nascar events, even while lavishing tax cuts on people who like to own Nascar teams. ...
Is there any way to make the G.O.P. proposals seem fiscally responsible? Well, no — not unless you believe in magic. Sure enough, voodoo economics is making a big comeback, with Mr. Romney, in particular, asserting that his tax cuts wouldn’t actually explode the deficit because they would promote faster economic growth and this would raise revenue. And you might find this plausible if you spent the past two decades sleeping in a cave somewhere. ...

http://economistsview.typepad.com/economistsview/2012/03/paul-krugman-four-fiscal-phonies.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+EconomistsView+%28Economist%27s+View+%28EconomistsView%29%29

New research explores how power can fuel overconfidence and negatively impact decision-making.

Case in point: the 2009 Gulf of Mexico oil rig disaster. British Petroleum (BP) executives had downplayed potential risks associated with their oil well, claiming that it was virtually impossible that a major accident would ever occur.

That same oil rig exploded, killing 11 workers and causing a massive oil spill that is costing BP an estimated $100 billion.

Nathanael Fast and his co-authors say the BP case represents only one example that illustrates a fundamental truth in the world of business: unconstrained power can hinder decision-making.

http://psychcentral.com/news/2012/03/02/power-tends-to-corrupt-decision-making/35498.html

Rush, are you listening.......?