FOD 2014.03.31

Two separate and, on the surface, totally unrelated stories today. The common thread linking them is that they both illustrate how out of touch with reality the obama administration is.

White House looks to regulate cow flatulence

As part of its plan to reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, the Obama administration is targeting the dairy industry to reduce methane emissions in their operations.

This comes despite falling methane emission levels across the economy since 1990.

The White House has proposed cutting methane emissions from the dairy industry by 25 percent by 2020. Although U.S. agriculture only accounts for about 9 percent of the country’s greenhouse gas emissions, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, it makes up a sizeable portion of methane emissions...

“Cows emit a massive amount of methane through belching, with a lesser amount through flatulence,” ... “Statistics vary regarding how much methane the average dairy cow expels. Some experts say 100 liters to 200 liters a day… while others say it’s up to 500 liters… a day. In any case, that’s a lot of methane, an amount comparable to the pollution produced by a car in a day.”

No word from the administration on exactly how they propose to reduce burping and farting from the nation's cattle herds. Corks, maybe? Or perhaps they'll institute a buy-back program to get the cows that emit the most methane off the roads pastures; a bovine version of the cash-for-clunkers program that worked so well.

The second story is a little more serious. As the obama administration implements sanctions against Russia intended to punish it for annexing Crimea, it at the same time is giving military gear to the once and future USSR free of charge.

Despite the Russian annexation of the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine, the United States is sending Russia a laser system used in force-on-force training free of charge...

As Russia has consolidated its grip on the Crimean peninsula, President Obama has levied sanctions against certain Russian and Ukrainian officials, and the Pentagon has cut off military-to-military ties with the Russian Federation.

But the Department of Energy’s FY15 budget request for the National Nuclear Security Administration includes funding to provide the Russian Federation with the Multiple Integrated Laser Engagement System (MILES) “to support effective protective force performance testing.”

MILES is essentially an advanced “laser tag” system, which uses a system of lasers and blank cartridges to simulate battle, especially for direct-fire force-on-force training...

The MILES gear is admittedly a small piece of a much bigger picture. It's not highly advanced technology. It's not like we're giving them billions of dollars worth of high-tech equipment. But it does show how ineptly this administration is run.

And why the hell is a DOE subsidiary giving military gear to Russia in the first place?