He Stole It From Me

From a Glenn Beck interview with Ron Paul:

GLENN: What do you think about the idea that you gotta vote for the lesser of two evils, no matter what side it is, you've got to vote for the lesser of two evils because half a loaf of bread is better than no bread?

CONGRESSMAN PAUL: I think it's one of the dumbest ideas around. I think that that is a real wasted vote because the two parties have blended together and there's not any difference, nothing really ever changes. You elect a conservative Republican and the deficits explode. And you elect the Democrat to change foreign policy and they make the foreign policy worse. So I think if you really want your vote to be counted, you have to take a principle stand and vote for, if you are left leaning, take a stand for one of the alternative candidates who are left leaning. If not, if you tend to be libertarian, vote libertarian or for the constitutional party.

I Feel A Song Comin' On...

No, I'm not about to break into song but my head is churning with the rumblings of a new creation. This happens only about twice a year these days, contrasted with my late teen years when two songs a week was average. Giving birth to a ditty is an exciting but time consuming process that is immensely satisfying. Bear with me, beloved... when birthing is going on you'll see me a tiny bit less but I'll be more enjoyable to be around.

The Oil Post

On June 18 President Bush lifted the Executive ban on offshore drilling for oil and called on Congress to lift their ban. You may have noticed that since then, even though we are still in the peak summer driving season, that the price of a barrel of oil has dropped over 10% and the price of gas has fallen about 7%. Funny how the price of gas shoots right up when oil shoots up but then lazily drifts down in price when oil drops.

Incidentally this ban was imposed by his father. Remember him? Mr. Wishy-Washy? If the lesser of two weevils is elected we'll have another one! Just a cheery aside.

The liberal eco-freaks say we can't drill our way out of this energy conundrum but we certainly can't conserve our way out of it. This lifting -o-the ban is a good first step, causing the speculators to spaz out and sell which causes the price to drop. Speculators? Yeah, they're the traders that drive up the cost of oil, speculating that in X months or years there will be Y demand for oil and thus the price should be Z. No reality or market demand behind this, just edumacated guesswork. Until recently the only ones who could participate in the oil speculation market were those with vested interests: oil companies, airlines, small rocks and furry woodland creatures. There is an obvious interest in being able to keep prices low and reasonable so that they can sell their products at a lower and more reasonable price than their competitors. However in the past few years it's opened up and anyone and their brother's cactus can participate. If you have a 401k or mutual funds you are probably participating in this speculation... you bad boy, you.

This isn't the only reason oil has gone up. The weak U.S. dollar has less buying power when it comes time to buy those barrels, but that's another post.

Oh, and I'd like to state that the "windfall profits" of the big oil companies (the ones who arranged to buy the oil, have it shipped, refined it, arrange to have the gas delivered, all that mundane stuff called "work") amounts to about ten cents per gallon. Taxes on gas are around 18% of the price, currently 73 cents per gallon. What did the government due to earn such a hearty "windfall profit"? They allowed the companies to exist. And this ten cents per gallon profit is most certainly taxed again when it gets back to the company and when it is used to pay employees who pay sales tax out of the money that is left after they pay their income taxes out of that money that was generated ten cents at a time. Consider this - without taxes your gas would currently cost $3.27.

That's enough for now. Wake up! Class is over.

Happy Birthday Smoochypants!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY BEAUTIFUL, TALENTED, LOVING, PERFECT-FOR-ME WIFE!

Um, pay no attention to the "65" on the pictured cake. She's not 65. Not even close. I just liked the garish colors on this monstrosity.

From Some News Article

"Being African-American, you know, I do have some biases," said John Douglas, 67, of Villa Rica, Ga., an Obama supporter. He said the pride and thrill he feels about the possibility of the first black president "has been building up for my lifetime, it's been building up since the inception of our country."

"Being caucasion, you know, I'm not allowed to have biases," said Uvulapie, 37, of Indiana, a conservative candidate supporter. He said the pride and thrill he feels about the possibility of being able to vote for any Presidential candidate who might even remotely reflect his conservative Constitutionally-based values "has been something I've been longing for since I was first able to vote in 1989."

I may have posted this before (my brain has never been known for it's memory) but for years I voted for "the lesser of two evils" because I didn't want to "throw my vote away" on some third party candidate. But guess what? For twenty years I've been throwing my vote away on wishy washy candidates who refuse to support the Constitution. No more! I doubt that the Country Club Republicans will get the message when they lose votes this election... look at what happened during the 1992 election with Ross Perot and they just called it a fluke and gave us another lukewarm candidate in 1988. At least I will be voting my conscience. I had a revered professor in college who said that you vote based on a persons character because character dictates how they will handle the issues. That man was wise, but not wise beyond his years 'cause he was pretty old. Enjoy your retirement Hopalong!

Lake People

I just asked two guys I work with who have lake property and apparently the purpose of sand bars IS to stand around and drink. You might even get to stand in waist-high water and drink next to a guy who is making room for more drink! WHAT HAVE I BEEN MISSING MY WHOLE LIFE?!?!?!

Weathering Heights

A MAJOR UPSET! Based on recent weather predictions the previously lackluster WANE has now pulled into the lead with a slim 559 while Weather.com is at 575 with WKJG now trailing at 593. This is now based on about two full weeks of results so you know they're about as accurate as national polls.