The Citizen needs money. We use about $450 dollars a month to keep going. Our bank account is down almost to that amount. So, please donate something, either by using the links provided for electronic donations or send a check to me at SCP-IJP, P.O. Box 156, Hillsboro, NM 88042.
Make the check out to SCP-IJP. That stands for Sierra County Public-Interest Journalism Project, which is 501c3, tax-exempt corporation with the IRS ID Number 85-2131780. Your donations are tax deductible.
We have always presented ourselves as promoters of public discourse and discussion of issues of political and social import, focused locally, of course, but including state, regional, national, and international issues as seen from a local perspective. We assume that local issues are not distinct from larger issues. At base, we think of ourselves as providing food for thought because without thought public discussion is just repetition of the commonplace, regurgitation of what everyone says. That means that we endorse speculation and individual thinking and argumentation.
Here is a bit of speculative thinking which I offer as food for thought in exchange for your donation. You have heard that Our President has made a “deal” with the Russian President to sell us diesel. We can all imagine that this is to relieve the extraordinarily high price of diesel for truck drivers, who are major supporters of Our President. And, the fact that the diesel will be released now and then again in November suggests that this “deal” is to better his party’s chances in the November elections. But, ask yourself, or ask AI, where this diesel comes from.
Here is a link to suggest an answer: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/10/7/has-russias-fuel-crisis-given-iranian-oil-an-opening-in-central-asia.
Central Asia has been getting 80% to 90% of its diesel fuel from Russia, and if Russia sells that fuel to Our President, Central Asian countries will turn to Iran for its diesel. That is some deal.
Our President attacks Iran, starting a war. Iran closes down its maritime deliveries of oil which increases the global price of fuel (the oil companies make a mint since they raise their American prices just to keep up, even if their supplies are not affected; that is how a market economy works). Our President blockades Iran so Iran can’t sell its oil on the world market either (tit for tat), driving the market price of oil even higher. Now, Our President has made a great deal which opens up Central Asia to Iranian oil, so that our truckers can use “Russian” diesel. I think this means that our truckers will be using “Russian” diesel, which, in accounting, is the same as “Iranian” diesel. The deal has made our national enemy into our national benefactor. That is great.
The circular logic of this deal is something that only Our President and his like-minded business associates understand. We endure it because we think business is king.
It has been reported in credible outlets that 40% of the US (that Permian Basin sourced crude oil)) diesel is being exported to the US forces in the Middle East and the Israeli Armed Forced (IDF). So that is true, all that needs to be done to enhance the available supply of diesel in the US is to STOP EXPORTING DIESEL!
A further positive step would be to bar BIG OIL companies from raising their prices when there is no shortage of production in American and what is charged in Europe has no direct bearing on US supplies.
Thanks, John, for that bit of information. The great thing about this “deal” is that it circles the square. Like an ideal business deal, this one claims, “everybody wins.” Of course, like all great business deals the real winners are the owner/dealmakers. The rest of us are simply the exploited workers, the cheated consumers, and the body counts.
For some unknown reason, we seem to like it that way. You’ve heard of that great, old American saying, “What’s good for General Motors is good for the nation.” These proud dealmakers and their supporters really believe that.