"Terror-Free" gas station opens.

They claim to use oil that originates from countries that don't fund, support, or harbor terrorists.

I think it is a step in the right direction towards admitting that we rely too heavily on the Middle East to support our economy.

Brilliant marketing idea...only because people are too stupid to realize it's just marketing. You buy a gallon of gas anywhere, you have NO way of telling what wells it came from. That's "wells", plural - odds are that any gallon of gas is a blend of products from multiple wells. Exxon-Mobil can buy heavier crude from the Saudis, ship that to Singapore, trade it for lighter Indonesian crude, ship that to Venezuela, and refine that to gasoline with lighter fractions they buy from BP's North Sea fields...now is that "terror-free" or not?

Yes, I know the oil people out there are going to point out that the details of that example aren't quite right. The principle's the same: oil and petroleum fractions get shipped around, blended, refined, re-shipped, bought, sold, and generally used in such a way that it's nearly impossible to relate a point-of-sale product to a well. "Terror-free" gasoline as anything other than an empty marketing principle is a complete joke.

Next you're going to tell us that "organic" doesn't mean it's, well...organic, yes?
(where's the sarcasm button?)

Ps. Welcome back.

Had that argument with my sister-in-law over Thanksgiving, actually. She apparently thinks corporate America and the FDA lie and can't be trusted, unless they put the word "organic" on a package. I could put an "organic" label on my car, and it would mean as much.

80% of what people think is important turns out to be marketing, usually. ("Exporting Democracy™". "No blood for oil." "Fair and Balanced." "Bush lied!" "Meet my aide, his name is...uh...Macaca.") It saves people from the pain of trying to understand things.

So my business idea of selling "french-free" fries is not that brilliant, either?

How do you know the fairie isn't building model airplanes and sniffin' glue?

Oil is a friggin COMMODITY.



Idiots. Let's hope they give away a plate of freedom fries along with each fill up.

They're not idiots. They're brilliant marketers.

The people that pay a dime premium for the same gas they can get cheaper down the road are idiots.

What is wrong with avoiding Citgo for a few pennies?

Its association with Venezuela, Fenway and the Red Sox is enough to steer me down the road to either a Shell or SpeedWay...

Not to mention they are filthy and resemble a cesspool...

Absolutely nothing, because you know that a portion of the proceeds of every Citgo sale is going to Chavez. You can't say the same about paying extra for gas to ensure it's "terror-free"

I would rather run out of gas in a ghetto at 4 AM than to purchase Citgo.

The gas station at the Safeway store by me tried that with their power. They had ads at the pumps stating that the electricity they used was entirely from wind power. There is the second largest wind farm in the US about 15 miles from me in Altamont, CA, so they were playing on that. Once the electrons get in the wire, they go everyplace.

It's getting about as bad as trying to buy an "American Made" car.