Jane Reinheimer -- copyright 2008, all rights reserved

August 27 --

I am so glad I'm not a reporter who's been assigned to cover the convention in Denver. I'm not sure I'd ever want to be in the same place with that many liberals. They can't hold their side of a conversation once they get away from scripted talking points.

Instead, last night we watched the rest of the Black Adder series that we hadn't seen. Tonight we're going to watch the guy that plays Henry VIII doing Elvis. I've heard reviews that he's pretty good too. And he's doing his own singing. That way I won't have to watch Biden the Bloviator make his encyclopedia speech. Someone will provide a ten sentence recap later on this evening.

Biden's a lawyer, so the adage applies: Never say in ten words what you can say in 50.

Quint is busy replacing sashes in a few windows today. He found video instructions and walking-through-instructions with audio explanations. He's done it before in his old house so this is a kind of refresher course.

And I have tomato sauce cooking and will can quarts and pints when I get back from the dentist.

I did read on Free Republic that some of the peace protesters got after Michelle Malkin, a FoxNews contributor on her way into the convention center. The crowd was chanting, "Kill Michelle Malkin" over and over and over. Isn't it against the law to threaten to kill someone like that? That whole bunch should have been sent over to that chain-link warehouse jail, if you ask me. Does that sound like a peaceful bunch to you? They are anarchists, not peaceniks.

I wonder how long the peace protesters/peacenik anarchists would last in a closed culture where freedom of expression is not welcomed. Or allowed. They could ask McCain about the horrors of a prison in a place where the words "cruel and unusual punishment" are not in the vocabulary of the local sheriffs.

But back to freedom of expression. Obama, for instance, won't participate in more than a smithering of town hall debates that McCain invited him to attend.

By now the world knows that Obama can't deliver an impromptu response that's worth a darn. And sputtering doesn't look cool for someone who wants to be king of the free world. Oh, wait. He's a citizen of the world and he wants to be king or atlas or something.

And all those records from that organization he headed up that was somehow involved with that Weather Underwear guy, Bill Ayers, have been released. Some 140 file boxes full. It was an Annenburg Challenge Project or something like that. The records were conveniently stored over at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Conveniently where Ayers teaches. They weren't going to release the records. Something about the funding coming from a private donor and they didn't have to if they didn't want to.

See what happens when you're not a protester, like Ayers, and you have a little bit or power. You get to be just like the people were whom you protested against back in the old days.

Times don't change. People do. New people move in and out of old scripts.

But then, where are all those super dooper investigative reporters who poke their noses into the lives of private people under the guise of "people have the right to know." Well, enough people screamed and yelled for the records that they were made public. Yay! Strike one for the right to know. Finally. But why did it take all this heavy pressure from the public to make it happen? Why didn't the newsies do it in the beginning? Because the big shots shut them down, that's why. Or so they thought.

But enough of that. All this pondering stuff and info from the Annenburg files will be made public soon enough. And Obama will probably regret the information not being available from Day #1. And we'll be able to see for ourselves just how good a community organizer Obama really was.

Well, it's a beautiful beautiful day here at home. We're thankful that we are able to keep the windows wide open to let all that fresh air in. And I'm especially thankful that Quint and I see eye to eye on that. Little things like that make a big difference in marriage. It doesn't seem like much in the beginning but if I preferred air conditioning to his fresh air preference, it would matter after some twenty years or so.

But this year will be our thirtieth anniversary. And it's been a hoot! Each and every second and our wonderful life together.

August 26 --

And just in case you may be wondering whether or not I have a life, I'll have you know Quint and I have been at church since early this morning painting the new Sunday School rooms, closets, bathrooms, and hallways in our new building addition.

Then errands to run on our way home.

Now I have some haus frau chores to do, and weed edging in the front yard by the sidewalk coming to the front door.

So I won't have a long article today. We haven't watched much of the Democratic convention. The Democrats seem to be taking credit for everything except creating the world. And, of course, they are managing to blame the Republicans for everything that hasn't worked.

Can't watch Michelle Obama without being reminded of her speech in which she made some off the wall comment about not being proud of being an American until her husband started winning the Democratic primary.

Can't watch Ted Kennedy without being reminded of the part he played in the the death of Mary Jo Kopechne at Chappaquidick.

Can't watch Nancy Pelosi without being reminded that she thinks she can tell the Pope what the Catholic church means in its position about abortion. Pope Benedict says from Rome that politicians who are in favor of abortion should be denied the Eucharist.

To their response to my fellow pro-life Republicans and me who, they say, should get over it and go on with my life, I say that I don't have to tolerate their positions when such expressions insult the very core values of my heart and soul. I don't need their approval for my point of view. One day they will be standing before God Almighty and they will have to explain their actions to him, not the voters in their congressional districts.

Those are ten commandments that God gave all mankind, through Moses. They are not suggestions. And if we intentionally disobey them we do so at our eternal peril.

Well folks, the Democrats have had control of both houses of Congress for the last two years and they haven't accomplished much, if you ask me. And they certainly have done nothing to stop the skyrocketing price of gasoline. When this, the 110th congress was seated, gasoline was $2.97 a gallon. It's just starting to come down from a record $4.00+.

August 25 --

Oh how would we ever be able to lead our simplistic little lives without the likes of all those superior intellectual politicians who think they know much better than we do as to how we ought to live our lives.

“...Saul Alinsky philosophy at its easiest. Some call it “bait and switch”..... others line their pockets...”

And if you watched the Joe Biden clip above where he brags about his IQ, you’ll also hear him talking about changing attitudes as a precursor for setting goals to achieve after the attitudinal change (I’m paraphrasing).

But somewhere between an attitude change and the goal setting is this reality check of taking stock.

Well, attitudes are changing. And parents are taking stock with wondering why they can do a better job homeschooling their children than teachers. First comes the question: why are homeschooled children better off academically when they head off to college?

There’s also a deeper attitude of change swirling beneath the surface of America’s psyche. That is, how is possible for a congressman/woman to come riding into Washington, D.C. in the first year of the first term living in a house back home that looks a whole lot like the neighbors, nestled into a neighborhood. Then, in the matter of only a term or two, that very congressional moves up to greater digs. Pretty soon he/she is living in a luxurious manor house that would make any English Lord or Lady proud.

Taking stock: we don’t have a two-tiered form of government up on Capitol Hill; rather, these people we have elected to take care of our govenmental business have changed their congressional districts into little duchies. This is no longer tolerable. That’s an attitude change that’s growing all right. One day here in the not too distant present, it’s going to spill over into the election rhetoric.

And it’s going to start with the realization that politicians lie. Joe Biden was never in the top half of his class. In fact, he graduated 76th out of 85.

And Obama picked him to be vice presidential candidate. And that’s what they are until election day — just candidates.

Here's the link to Biden's bragging video of his IQ: http://moneyrunner.blogspot.com/2008/08/i-think-i-have-much-higher-iq-than-you.html

And here's how smart Obama is. When he was asked about the latest Zogby poll that showed McCain leading him, here's what Obama had to say: "I have support from every corner of the globe. My opponent’s backing comes almost exclusively from the 58 states that make up the continental United States.” (read more: http://www.azconservative.org/Semmens1.htm)

I did not know that there are 58 states now in the U.S. Silly me for not keeping up.

Oh well. The Democrats are rounding up all sorts of stories out there in Denver. Maybe getting too much of the mile-high air.

There's even some speculation about Hillary's name being placed in nomination. For what? President or Vice President? That would take a tricky procedural maneuver but it's nothing that the Clintons couldn't manage. They are surrounded by sycophant attorneys who know how to do such intricate procedural things.

I'm not so sure she'd stand for it though. Far more likely, in my opinion, that she would quietly (through her appointed ones, mind you) move her support over to McCain's camp to make sure he gets elected. Then, when he runs for re-election in 2012, she'd throw him under the bus.

But have a care there, Hillary. McCain didn't fall off the turnip truck yesterday. He knows how the game works.

And for all the nonsense about his age being a liability, just keep in mind that it was Benjamin Franklin who was the oldest member of the Continental Congress when the U.S. Constitution was being written. Franklin was 81 or 82 at the time.

My recall fails me at this moment, and no, I was not there.

August 24 --

This will be brief because I'm practically on my way out the door to go to church.

My question is: what exactly do lobbyists get when they give politicians cashola? Biden, for instance, has taken in some $200,000 from registered lobbyists. His PAC (Unite Our States) has received $120,500 this year. Is this influence peddling, or what?!!

Or are lobbyists just giving him money because they like him. A lot!

Is this how the son of a car salesman rises to riches so that he can support a multimillion dollar lifestyle?

Another point that surfaced since yesterday is a report in Town Hall that this Biden/Obama ticket is the first time in 68 years that a ticket has no military experience. So how does Obama purport to even remotely qualify to be Commander in Chief?

here's the article: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2067091/posts

August 23 --

So Joe Biden it is for Obama's vice-presidential pick. Biden, the bloviator, and man of a thousand words. Uhhhh, make that 50,000 words. He's abridged his acceptance speech from his hoped-for presidential acceptance speech of 200,000 words.

Uhhhh, that would be one day or evening when I'd definitely want to be anyhere else. 50,000 words comes to 416.6 minutes at the conversation speaking rate of 120 words per minutes. Divide that by 60 and you get 6.94 hours. But then, you have to add in at least a hundred hoped-for standing ovations. That would bring his time at the podium to about 7 1/2 hours.

Used to be that a good mystery would be about 60,000 words. Here's hoping the Bloviator will have someone else edit his speech down to listening size. I mean, even pastors operate under the truism of "No souls saved after 20 minutes."

And that's about it for the big news of the day/night. I know some of you count on me for these little newsicals so I opened this "emergency article" on a Saturday.

Now comes the real mudslinging.

In the days to come you're going to hear a lot about William Ayres, the co-founder of Weather Underground. Remember them from those anarchist days of yore in the late sixties? He met and married fellow anarchist Bernadette Dohrn and they fell in love and got married. He's now teaching at the University of Illinois at Chicago. (She's operating some children's program at Northwestern University.) When he was asked about his Underground days when his group of radicals were focusing on blowing things up, he says "I didn't do enough." (watch this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZ52cE1OwH8&NR=1)

But old friends and neighbors don't seem to be Obama's biggest problem right now. There's a mad dash to the deadline here with an attorney, Philip J. Berg, making the claim that Obama was actually born in Kenya. That would make him ineligible to serve as president of the United States. (read more: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2066624/posts)

Just wondering. If that's true, can he even be a U.S. Senator? Legallly? Or is he an illegal alien?

But back to the story of where Obama was born. Rumors abound. There are two hospitals in Hawaii that are listed as his birth place. Truth is, Obama's birth certificate/s are carefully guarded secrets. He did put one of them up on his web site but there's been lots and lots of speculation about whether they are real or forged.

So, if Obama is declared ineligible, just keep in mind that Hillary didn't really call her campaign quits. She only suspended her campaign. She'd end up being the candidate. Or would she? Biden used to be a candidate, but he did call it quits. But if he gets the nomination for vice-president and Obama becomes ineligible, that would put the Democratic National Convention in a real pickle, wouldn't it?

And who is this Philip Berg anyway? Maybe a friend of Hillary's? The perfect timing practically on the eve of the convention for his suit against Obama's eligiblity just sounds so superbly Clintonesque.

August 22 --

People often do things not in their best interests. It's kind of like visual bragging. So here's a guy riding his bicycle through a parking lot that's flooded with three feet of water. The thought has probably never occurred to him that water moccasins often swim in flood waters too. They're just trying to swim away from the flood looking for dry land. They're not particularly looking for something to bite and they're not looking for your house number. But if you get in the way, which would be anywhere in the same block as they are, they will bite you. They don't like to be crowded. In fact, do you remember a couple of waders in New Orleans in the aftermath of Katrina getting bit? Mother Nature and all her untamed creatures follow different rules during times of thundering crises.

http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-63456

Same goes for getting hit by lightning. Old rule still applies. If you can hear thunder you're at risk for being struck. So stay indoors every chance you get during thunderstorms, or even approaching thunderstorms. Unfortunately, eight irons make pretty effective lightning rods.

So if big, bad snakes would keep a person out of the water, would raw sewage do it? That's a new problem in Orlando in the aftermath of Fay. (see this: http://www.local6.com/weather/17259004/detail.html)

Or how about alligators swimming down the streets? (see this: http://www.local6.com/weather/17244086/detail.html)

County health officials have already said they've gotten the meanies out of the neighborhood streets when they could. Now they're relying on people to use good sense and stay out of harm's way of the deadly stuff. At least until the flood waters recede.

And then there's politics. It's turning dangerous out there too. First the state chairman in Arkansas got shot dead last week. Now it's McCain who's had two of his campaign offices attacked by someone trying to undo the senator's campaign with anthrax. Oh, the officials are not saying it's anthrax. At least not yet -- just a "mysterious white powder." Here's hoping it's baby powder or anything less deadly than anthrax. (read more: http://apnews.myway.com/article/20080822/D92N40101.html)

This is that time in every presidential election campaign when the politically unstable moments intersect with the mentally unstable.

People who have hobbled on into their young adulthood without ever having found their voice, pick up protest banners and attach themselves to a candidate. And they are just as strongly attached as if some kind of emotional umbilical cord connected them to their favorite candidate.

This is where each of the campaigns gets so loud and so boisterous and so vehement that the anti-campaigners show up just for the recognition of being in the protest. If you ask them what they like about the candidate, you get a lot of sputtering that sounds like, "Change, I want change."

"Okay, what exactly is it about America that you'd like changed," I'd ask. "You're standing here with protest buttons on, wearing silly hats and just generally being ugly in public, screaming your lungs out to the point of laryngitis giving full vent to your right to freedom of expression."

Some people tried to get into China with wheelbarrows filled with Bibles. See, back here in the good old USA, they had the freedom of religion. That only works as long as your little tippy toes are planted on US soil. These folks were allowed to leave the airport. "Well, we're not going until you give us back our Bibles," they said. (read more: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1104ap_china_bibles_confiscated.html)

And when they got their moment of fame by staring down the barrel of the Chinese rule-makers, guess who got put on the next plane to Los Angeles?

Losing that freedom would be a big change.

I can't go through their rants, point by point, mainly because I don't truly know what's so upsetting to the protesters. And I'd be the first to admit that I don't understand them and I don't "get it" when it comes to their plight.

But I do have one curiosity when it comes to their rant about the US outsourcing all their good jobs. Just maybe we'd be able to get the job done here in the US if the best and the brightest of our young people would go to work instead of marching round and round on the sidewalks all day.

After all, we can't all be vice president of the car wash. But maybe that's the one job that they all want and if they can't have that one, they just won't go to work. And the rest of us have to listen to their infantile little chants that parrot the words of some politician who is telling them what to think and believe.

In a way, they're like the cyclist riding the bike through flood waters. No one told them they couldn't and they've yet to garner the notion that it's a personal responsibility to stay away from danger.

Poisonous snakes swim underwater. And just as dangerous, in every big protest march they're are dangerous people who fly just under the radar. They rise to the surface with deadly intent when some psychological impulse gets triggered. Until that time, they give no clues.

August 21 --

This is an in-between day. It's as if people are holding their breaths, maybe planning a quick shopping trip to pick up last minute stuff before they head off to Denver where the Democratic National Convention will begin on the 25th.

The invitations are in the mail. Mine hasn't arrived yet, so I guess I won't be going. And I won't be going to St. Paul either when the Republicans get together for their big hoohah. That one I'd actually like to go to. Not since Ronald Reagan changed his party affiliation from Democrat to Republican has there been the likes of the possibility that Joe Lieberman, the independent from Connecticut who was dumped by the Democratic party may be announcing that he's going to join the Republican party.

Wow! That is a really huge big deal. That would be just enough to tip the majority in the Senate over to the Republican party.

Poor Harry Reid, senate majority leader. Whatever will he do between now and January when all the new congressionals get sworn in.

If Lieberman's party switch is a precursor to his being named vice president, then I'll tell you one thing. We had all better pray really really hard for the health of both McCain and Lieberman. Both of these gentlemen qualify as elderly statesmen.

Now don't misunderstand me. You can bet that we need all that wisdom in the Oval Office, and I'm not being sarcastic. With the way the world is right now, we don't need some junior senator from Illinois clogging up the process while he's getting fitted with a cloak of statesmanship and patriotism.

But with McCain at the age of 71 and Lieberman (if he were vice president) at age 66, nothing about life can be taken for granted. And God forbid, if anything should happen that would incapacitate both of these gentlemen, there sits Nancy Pelosi, poised and ready for action and the third heartbeat away from the Oval Office.

If that isn't enough motivation to make each and every Republican precinct captain in this country get out there and start walking the beat, I don't know what would.

Let's all get together and make taking back the House our November surprise!

August 20 --

Under the general category of "What were they thinking?" comes my question of why the leader of some 385,000 Catholics in the Denver area -- Archbishop Charles J. Chaput -- was not invited to deliver the opening prayer for the Democratic National Convention next week.

After all, Catholicism is identified as the religious affiliation by a majority of members of the 110th Congress. (www.senate.gov/reference/resources/pdf/RS22555.pdf) Great profile, by the way. It includes careers, educational levels, and other interesting demographic data of the 110th Congress.

According to this site, there are 130 representatives and 25 senators -- or 29% of the 110th congress -- who identify themselves as Roman Catholic. (here's the complete list: http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/faithfacts/2007/01/religious_affiliation_on_capit.html)

So why wouldn't the majority party of the 110th Congress invite the local representative of its majority religious affiliation?

Could it possibly be that the Democrats might be in a snit because the Vatican's Highest Court has made a statement that when it comes to pro-abortion Catholic politicians, "the minister of the Eucharist has the obligation to deny it [communion] to him." (http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/aug/08081904.html)

Oh my! In that same article, Archbishop Raymond Burke of St. Louis who by the way is the Prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura (that's the highest judicial authority of the Catholic Church, second only to Pope Benedict) says that "...pro-abortion Catholic politicians should be publicly corrected and told not to receive [communion], and, if they persist, they should be denied."

Archbishop Burke says that abortion entails the taking of innocent and defenseless human lives. "As person who commits sin in this way should be publicly admonished in such a way as to not receive Communion until he or she has reformed his life. If a person who has been admonished persists in public mortal sin and attempts to receive Communion, the minister of the Eucharist has the obligation to deny it to him. Why? Above all, for the salvation of that person, preventing him from committing a sacrilege," he said.

And Raymond Flynn, the Democratic mayor of Boston for 10 years before being named Ambassador to the Vatican by former President Bill Clinton, says that this is a "serious oversight" not to invite Archbishop Chaput and it ought to be corrected. (read more: http://www.orthodoxchristianity.net/forum/index.php?action=printpage;topic=17138.0)

So let me see. Hmmmmm. If Obama loses Colorado by about 300,000 votes, can we make an assumption that the Colorado Catholics don't approve of his pro-abortion position? That is one huge block of votes. The very least the Democrats could do would be to invite Archbishop Chaput to deliver the opening and closing prayer. But then, maybe it would pose a conflict to the archbishop, what with so many pro-abortion people running around the convention halls in Denver.

It seems to me that we are getting closer and closer to an intersection of political life and spiritual values. If the congressionals want to keep religious leaders out of the political limelight, they need to step back to get a better perspective. Our spiritual being defines who we are. It should be a guiding beacon for all political activities.

And until the time comes when members of congress welcome faith practices back into their lives, including letting unborn babies live, then the approval ratings will continue to plummet.

But the Democratic National Convention seems to be avoiding any confrontation with faith practices by way of Communion. It's as if they are saying, "Oh, we aren't going to do it that way this year. We're going to offer up a big diverse platter from all kinds of different religions from all over America. We're going to have an opening and closing prayer every day of the convention. And we're going to have lots of interfaith opportunities."

It seems to me that the pro-abortion Catholics in congress are about to get an overhaul of their faith because their Pope has strongly denounced their position on abortion and has sent Archbishop Burke out from the Vatican with the strongest message yet about abortion.

Just remember that people excommunicate themselves when they deny the tenets of their faith.

August 19 --

Originally I wasn't going to get into that whole commentary about the Rick Warren forum between the presidential candidates at Saddleback. But -- since McCain outshined Obama and the Obamanites started screaming foul because (they say) McCain answered so quickly that he must have had some forewarning of what the questions would be. That way, he could cram for the exam.

The first thing that strikes me is that people will often accuse other people of doing something that they would have done.

The second thing is that the reason for McCain's quick responses could be based on two points that make his answers more real: (1) his answers reflected his core beliefs and values, and (2) his answers brought in experiential material embedded in his psyche.

Neither of those two points require rehearsals or foreknowledge.

For instance, he does not need to rehearse or know the question ahead of time that has to do with his opinion of when life begins: "At the moment of conception," was McCain's answer.

Whether we all admit it or not, we know that's when life begins. A woman knows when she's pregnant. And if it's a life she's looked forward to bringing into this world, she's very excited when she knows she's pregnant. She gets on the phone to share the joy of her news with everyone she loves.

On the other hand, if pregnancy is not news that brings her joy and she is bent toward abortion, another woman still knows she's pregnant. In that instance, she'll start looking for an abortion clinic so that the new life within her can be snuffed out.

Different core values for two different women.

For the two presidential candidates, the same question could not have posed more polarized core values. When does life begin? It's at that point that a new baby has the constitutional right to live his or her life.

The other point has to do with how McCain could answer a question so quickly about the meaning of Christianity to him that was wrapped around his prisoner-of-war experiences. All those experiences of life as a POW, especially when the experiences brought him face to face with the very real thought that each day might just be his last, or each moment for that matter.

Anyone who confronts mortality comes away from that experience with a deepened spirituality. When it's just you facing God, you can believe that nothing on earth matters except your relationship with God. It's a mountaintop experience that leaves you forever humbled.

It's an experience that makes you realize that all the toys and all the fun and all the life engagements we enter into can be over in a flash. And whatever we are not willing to walk away from in life becomes an idol of sorts. Because in one nanosecond, you become one with your Maker again. And you take nothing with you.

And if God blesses you with another day, or another decade, then you are truly blessed. And changed forever.

So the difference in how these two men answered the questions that Warren gleaned from hundreds of thousands of questions sent in to him from across the country, comes down to very real differences in how they have experienced themselves against the backdrop of their lives.

It seems to me that Obama is still on stage.

McCain, on the other hand, is out there in the audience where life plays out.

August 18 --

How precious is your Bible to you?

We, here in America, take so many of freedoms for granted. Freedom of the right to worship as we choose is one of the biggest. That often translates to not going to church at all even though 86% of us confess our Christian faith.

So it is with not a whole bunch of shock that I read this morning that the Chinese confiscated some 300 Bibles that a group was trying to bring into China. The Chinese government said that each member of the group could bring a personal copy into the country with them, but not 300. So the group said they aren't leaving the airport until they get all 300 copies of the Bible back.

So much for China's promise to have bilingual Bibles available for the Olympic Games. Read the story here: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,405187,00.html

This story serves as a reminder to me that I need to get back to writing the Bible studies on this web site. What started off with the intent of a brief break turned out to be a summer vacation.

And in another really big story that's trotting its way around the globe this morning started out in Pakistan. President Pervez Musharraf is resigning. He's already announced his resignation. Says he doesn't want to get into an impeachment fight. So I guess he and the missus are busy packing up their stuff back in the palace. Wonder where they'll move to? London maybe? New York? He could make a ton of money in the United States on the rubber chicken circuit. Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,405221,00.html

And he could write a book that would probably sell more than Pelosi's aggrandizing about power, how she got it and how she keeps it. (Wonder if she's sold more than 3,000 copies yet. Her book's been out at least a month now.) Silly Nancy. She probably thought she was going to be a best-selling authorette and have millions of adoring fans rushing to get autographed copies on her book-signing tour. Actually, Ms. Nancy, We the Peoples are pretty aggravated with you for going off on a summer vacation trying to sell your book when you should have stayed in Washington under The Dome and passed some legislation that would allow offshore drilling.

What's it going to take for the politicos to get the idea that the American peoples don't approve of what they're doing? An approval rating of 5%. Would 3% make them change? How low will the approval rating go before the election conventions?

Just watch these politicos parade around during the conventions. It's as if they truly believe that We the Peoples don't really mean what we say. Or, maybe they just figure we can't do anything about it anyway since we don't have term limits in the United States.

Oh, but we do have term limits. We the Peoples can set term limits every time we go to the polls. The problem is, we always (in about 98% of the time) re-elect our own congressionals but we have somehow become convinced that it's those other guys from other districts who are causing all the problems. ("Guys" is meant to be mankindly all of them.)

The congressman from my district, for instance, is still in Washington, continuing to meet and discuss the energy crisis and demanding that Nancy get back to The Dome and call her partisan cronies back with her so that they can debate the energy package. Well, if they sit there long enough, she'll give in because the end of their summer recess will be over. She's already talking about "perhaps some limited offshore drilling might be okay." In my opinion, that little pea-brained idea of hers will depend a lot on what her old pal, T. Boone Pickens, tells her to do. Or her counterpart over in the senate, none other than Harry Reid. The three of them are holding We the Peoples hostage with high gasoline prices while they insist that offshore drilling won't help one bit in bringing down the price of fuel.

And Nancy and her friend Harry are holding We the Peoples hostage by tying up the very legislative process that they are bound to protect. In fact, they swore on a Bible that they would uphold the Constitution. It's our Constitution that brings legislative guarantees through debates and up-or-down-votes in the two chambers of our government.

They took an oath to do just that. They aren't doing it. They lied. Instead, they try to blame each and every ill in this country on President George Bush. Well, Bush signed an executive order rescinding his father's ban on offshore drilling. That should give them a really clear idea of what he would do with legislation approving offshore drilling.

If econometrics is true love and your heart palpitates with number crunching, then here's the web site for you: http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/

The site features a kind of meta-analysis of combined poll data, leaners, people who actually go to the polls on election day, and combinations of all sorts of demographic data.

It is so named because there are 538 members in the electoral college who, in the final analysis, meet in December to name the president of the United States. There is one elector for each representative and for each senator plus 3 for Washington DC. I believe that elected officials are specifically excluded from being an elector, so it isn't the actual congressmen/women -- but rather a number total that equals the number total of members of congress.

Here's a FAQ page all about the electoral college: http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/faq.html#qualifications

August 15 --

Not a joke -- Nancy Pelosi is set to deliver the Democrat's response to President Bush's weekly radio address. No doubt she will take every opportunity in between the commas and periods to blast the president without offering any counterplan.

In the meantime, according to my representative, John Shimkus (R-IL), there still are Republicans -- about 105 of them, I believe -- sitting in the House chamber waiting for Speaker Pelosi to return to Washington and call her Democrat buddies back with her so that the "fair and honest debate" that she promised can take place. The lights have been dimmed in the chamber and the C-Span cameras are turned off. On her instructions, I'd wager.

Changing the subject, Russia is really ticked off that the U.S. is going to be placing weapons and anti-missile devices in Poland. This is just in case Russia follows through on its threat to go on the attack against Poland. Take a look at this article: http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives2/2008/08/021251.php

President Bush denounced Russia because of its bullying and intimidating tactics against the Poles. But would Russia really go nuclear? And how far could you ever trust the KGBigness of Mr. Putin?

Time for all sides to cool down and back up ten yards to get a bigger perspective.

And as for you, Mr. Russia Person, you can't have the Arctic Ocean just because you said so. And you'll be really really sorry if you actually bomb Poland. Besides, if you can point your missiles at Poland, it seems only fair that they can point their missiles at you. Well, okay, so Poland's missiles are actually made in the USA. Your point is what? So Poland has friends in high places. And these friends over on this side of the pond don't want them to get wiped off the planet.

Just "play nice." It's just a war game, right? No? Uh oh.

The other big deal is that Obama is not happy at all about Corsi's book, The Obama Nation, being such a huuuuuuuuge success. It's already hit the New York Times bestseller list. I'll bet the book stays there for quite some little while. Like through the November elections.

Obama's yelling foul because Corsi's book, says the Obama camp, is filled with lies. But Corsi says he used the mainstream media material and also Obama's own statements in his books for a lot of the anecdotal stuff.

Here's an interesting piece published on World Net Daily. http://worldnetdaily.com/

And then there's this blooper made by none other than Howard Dean, chairman of the Democratic National Committee. Dean goes on and on about how wonderful the Democratic party is because it provides for opportunities to minorities, unlike the "white -- uh excuse me, the Republican party..."

You can hear Dean in his own words in this audio tape: http://www.blogsforjohnmccain.com/democratic-chair-howad-dean-calls-gop-white-party-audio-81508

Just keep in mind, folks, that it was the Repubican party that abolished slavery in the United States. I, for one, will always be proud of that fact.

August 14 --

One of the beautiful gentlenesses of growing old together is that Quint and I can schedule our blood work appointments at the same time. And then, our big date is to go out for breakfast.

It's a big change from our dates of yore when going out to dinner was the big event of the day. But hey, that's what happens when you get into your 60s and 70s. We moved over to life's slow lane. And we're perfectly happy to be here.

It helps to be able to take lots and lots of breaks during the day. It's also wonderful to be married to your best friend. Quint and I have been best friends since 1976. We've had a continuing conversation ever since.

Back to the energy crisis.

Ever heard of the Clean Energy Fuels Corporation? It's run by none other than T. Boone Pickens. Remember him? He's that guy who promises in his TV ads to give us answers and solutions to the energy crisis.

Check this out: http://dontgomovement.com/2008/08/12/the-rabbit-hole-goes-deeper/

Seems like Mr. Pickens wants some $5 billion in tax support for his company from California and $5 billion from the feds (that would be We the Peoples tax money).

Here's another source: http://dontgomovement.com/2008/08/12/the-rabbit-hole-goes-deeper/

And according to the folks over at dontgomovement.com, a big meeting is scheduled for August 19. It's supposed to be nonpartisan. So let me see who might be partnering with Pickens and the Center for American Progress Action Fund for this National Clean Energy Summit. Such characters are President Clinton, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Gov. Janet Napolitano of Arizona, Gov. Bill Ritter of Colorado, and, of course, Mr. Pickens. And flying around overhead looking for piles of cash buried in the landscape will be none other than Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid.

Not one of these notables would have any interest whatsoever in this little confab were it not for the possibility, or rather, assurances of future cash landing on their doorsteps.

And for crying out loud, what does Bill Clinton know about energy? Just because he can fool everybody and sell ice to eskimos does not mean he knows anything about anything. Except charminess. Victims are easily charmed. It's what keeps predators in the business of outmaneuvering their victims. Works every time. As long as victims are naive and gullible and think they need to be rescued from their plight.

So Pickens is going to outfit this new clean energy summit goers with his Big Plan. All they have to do is give him money. And more money.

I have an idea. And it has nothing to do with Pickens' farms of wind turbines. It's about a local school district here in Illinois. I wish I'd saved the article from our local newspaper.

Anyway, this one school district put up one wind turbine that they use just for electricity needs in their district buildings. Cost savings? $100,000 a year.

So if one lonely little school district can put up a wind turbine and free themselves from the fuel they otherwise would use, why can't municipalities do it? And why can't other school districts do it?

Why are we all sitting around waiting for the bureaucratically choked up federal government sitting up there under The Dome to do something. One wind turbine = $100,000 savings a year!

Now that's fiscal responsibility!

Term limits. We need term limits. We the Peoples can have term limits this very election. All we have to do is de-elect incumbents who are not representing the interests and concerns of the American taxpayers/voters.

You still have time to do your homework. Find out how your congressionmen/women and senators are voting.

It's just sooooo easy. Go to www.congress.org and type your zip code into the search box. Then click on the "votes" tab and you'll be able to see how your congressionals are voting.

August 13 --

In case you haven't heard, some 55% of Americans believe that media bias is a big problem, maybe the biggest problem, in this year's election. More of a problem than big campaign contributions, according to a Rasmussen poll.

And get this, 49% of Americans say that the media is helping Obama more in his campaign while only 14% believe that McCain is getting more favorable media coverage. So says Rasmussen in its poll released on August 11. (http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/2008_presidential_election/55_say_media_bias_bigger_problem_than_campaign_cash)

Okay, so everybody knows that the newspaper articles are slanted toward the left. I mean, way slanted. And TV too. And why is that a problem for news coverage? Well, it speaks to credibility. When the newspapers and news programs start losing their credibility, it costs them readers and viewers. When that happens, they start losing ad revenue.

But if a company is in the business of delivering news and people get the idea that what the article says isn't true, they go elsewhere for the news. That's what's happening now. The internet is the great news delivery medium. Why? Because people are going to sources they can trust.

The liberal left can have its media bias. It doesn't matter because no one believes them anyway.

So my point is this: now comes an assortment of articles accusing John McCain of plagiarism when he made a statement of fact that was also published in Wikipedia. (see this blog article: http://wwwwakeupamericans-spree.blogspot.com/2008/08/mccain-accused-of-plagiarism-campaign.html)

The problem is, in the Wikipedia for instance, McCain said something about a country being one of the first to embrace Christianity as its official religion. Supposedly, McCain made the statement without attributing Wikipedia. And besides all that, the information about Georgia embracing Christianity first is a fact. Facts are not copyrightable. And even if it were, there's still a little thing called "fair use" which allows quotes of copyrighted material if the intent is to provide context or spur discussion. This ability to quote material lies at the very heart of freedom of expression. And then, there's that little thing known as "orphan works." That's material that's been around, been known, been searched out and scoped out but no one can say where a thought or idea got started. It just depends on what the purpose of the quote is.

Simple. If the quote is for the purpose of providing context or to encourage discussion, it is not plagiarism, but rather, comes under the general heading of fair use. (Read more: http://www.centerforsocialmedia.org/resources/publications/fair_use_in_online_video/)

And to be truthful, blogs and articles and columns out here riding the waves of information available on the internet's superhighway bring lightning speed to sharing information. We're all guilty of restating some fact like "George Washington was the first president of the United States" without attributing a site to that fact. Which is why facts or ideas are not copyrighted.

And gee, do you think it's just possible that the accusation of McCain's plagiarizing Wikipedia might have sprung up out of the liberal left media? That would be my first place to look.

And here begins what is known as the silly season. Between now and election day, you're going to hear a whole bunch of stuff that may or may not be true. But to say the least, it will embrace hyperbole and wrap the words around a pole of ridiculousness.

I, for one, am so glad to have the Olympics to watch instead of political sideshows. I'm just about tired to death of talking head pundits. Better to watch some real achievements like Michael Phelps swimming through puddles of gold and breaking his own world records.

I am sorry for the USA women's gymnast team though. The balance beam is hard enough. But a couple of our ladies slid off. My heart winced with a big "ouch" for their embarrassment. How they were able to fight back the tears, I do not know. I would have been bawling my eyes out if I'd gotten that far, then fall off the beam for all the world to watch. Big oops. But they did a better job of recovering than I ever would. I'd have been standing there just sobbing my eyes out and that guy that stands there would have had to put me back up there, then my tears would have made the beam more slippery. And then, I'd have been doomed.

No recapture here. Just move along.

August 12 --

If you don't live in the San Francisco area, you may not be particularly interested in knowing that Cindy Sheehan had more than the required 10,198 signatures needed to take on an election battle against Nancy Pelosi. That would be one way to get Nancy off the podium under The Dome since she's not going to give up the gavel all that easily. But then, Sheehan doesn't back down from Pelosi either. Should be an interesting race out there in Shaky-Shaky Land.

And now for some good news. Michael Phelps took his 3rd gold yesterday. This guy must be part fish! Congratulations to Phelps. His goal is to get 8 gold medals, but even if he had to go home with just only three, that would be a dream come true for many athletes. But the Pink Bunny One is going and going and going. Looks like 2008 is going to be his year to shine!

And speaking of the Chinese, how about those gymnasts! In the first place, I wouldn't be able to haul myself up on the rings. Maybe I could just dangle there for a little while, but dangling is not an Olympic sport. The way the Chinese do it is nothing short of just awesome.

Well, Pelosi may have run out of Democratic precinct captains to buy her book about how she got her power, or something like that, but Jerome Corsi's new book, The Obama Nation: Leftist Politics and the Cult of Personalitywill hit the top fo the best seller list on August 17. (http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-trailcorsi12-2008aug12,0,2342201.story)

Haven't read it yet. Probably won't. By the time Corsi makes the rounds of all the talk shows, I'll have more than a gist of what he says in the book. But I'm glad he wrote the book. Only in America can we enjoy the freedom of speech that we have.

You can thank a soldier for that!

And how about that darling little girl, Lin Miake, who sang the national anthem (our national anthem, that is) at the opening ceremony at the Olympics. Too bad she was a replacement for a little girl who, they say, wasn't as cute.

Huh?

Problem is, Miake did a lip sync number on the song. And whose voice was really heard? None but the other girl, Yang Peiyi, who had actually won the competition to sing. Supposedly Peiyi wasn't cute enough.

That just plain old stinks to the high heavens.

"Can we go back now?" the little girl asked the woman who was with her. Caught on tape, actually. Now it seems a strong possibility that the little girl was none other than Madeleine McCann in Brussels with a woman who did not look like she could be her mother. She was caught on a security tape in Belgium. Don't you just love these security cameras? They're everywhere. I just pray that the little girl is, in fact, Madeleine and that she'll be coming home soon to her mummy and daddy in England. Here's the story: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,401742,00.html

August 11

You may not know a lot of people who actually enjoy going to workshops about bi-polar disorder. But Quint and I do so we headed to Charleston, West Virginia, for just that. After all, it was on the way to Chesapeake where we had a wonderful visit with cousins Butch and Alice.

Then we went over to the USS Wisconsin where it was parked. Uh, excuse me, docked. It's been decommissioned for a while now so we were able to roam around the boat. I sure wish our Navy had had that boat during the Revolutionary War. There wouldn't have been any need to wait for the French to arrive. We'd have scared the skeletons out of the Brits if they could have had a look at any one of the Iowa class ships.

We did have a little minor traffic tie-up coming out of Charleston though. A couple of semis got tangled up so we sat in traffic for a good 5 or 6 hours. And since there was a fatality, the whole thing was a crime scene until the coroner came and went. We were about seven miles north of the accident. And we sat there. I mean like "turn the ignition off sat there." But we finally got started up again and noticed that the traffic coming toward us was snarled for twelve miles.

Prayers lifted for the family and loved ones of the semi drive who lost his life. Check out the details here if you like:

http://www.dailymail.com/News/200808080180

And then there was another snarl of a mess on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. A semi went off the bridge. No word on how he's doing. Photos and article here:

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2008/08/10/von.md.chesapeake.bridge.accident.wbal

Then there was the most famous, photographed arch in Utah that collapsed. Here's a photo:

http://www.nps.gov/arch/parknews/news080808.htm

I think we'll stay home for a while. We have to catch up on slow living. And relaxing. And top speeds of 40 mph.

Our big excitement now is watching the Olympics. How about that swimmer, Mr. Michael Phelps!! The French said they were going to beat the Americans. Yeah, right! So what did our coach do? Well, he just posted the French boastabout on Team USA's bulletin board. Not only did the US win the 400 meter relay, but the team beat its own world record set the night before by the USA B Team!

Au revoir!

Well, I see that the politicians are still at it. And Nancy Pelosi hasn't called Her House back into session yet. She's not going to either. It's just not in keeping with her stubbornness. I mean, why in the world would she want to do anything that 71% of the American taxpayers favor? After all, that's a big part of how congress got to its 9% disapproval rating. Maybe they think, in some convoluted way, that they're supposed to get to zero. Do you suppose?

Could they really be that misinformed?

Sure. You betcha! Oil closed at under $113 today. That's down $34 from the time that Bush signed his Executive Order to rescind the ban on drilling offshore. Can you imagine what the price of oil would be if congress did its part and rescinded the congressional ban. I'd be willing to bet that it would go down at least another $30! Doesn't matter that oil wouldn't be delivered through the rigs for a few years. We have to start sometime! If congress keeps using that old excuse then it will be seven or ten years because of their staying stuck beating that old drum.

Incidentally, there are quite a few Republicans who stayed in the Capitol while the rest of the House went on vacation with Her Nancyness for five weeks, while Americans suffered the high prices of gasoline -- even if the pump price is starting to come down a bit. We paid $3.58 a gallon in Kentucky before we crossed the Ohio River into Indiana and prices went back up, owing to state taxes, I'm guessing.

The senate never did adjourn. Harry Reid is not going to take any chances of Bush making any interim appointments.

There is only one piece of legislation right now that the taxpayers are interested in. It's called DRILL HERE, DRILL NOW! But that's not going to happen. I wish I could put my hands on the link where Reid said there wasn't going to be any such legislation until the Democrats defeat the Republicans. How's that for working together, in a bipartisan way, for the good of America. At least the 71% of us who want congress to give up their stubborn streak and allow drilling offshore.

On our way home, by way of the Louisville area, we stopped and visited all the Reinheimer nephews and their spouses, friends and kiddos. What a hoot! Good friends, loving family, good wine, let's laugh! Quint's late brother Roger had four wonderful sons. Judy (Richard's wife) rounded everybody up and we had a great time at Ruby Tuesdays. Just happens to be one of our favorite restaurants too. Thank you a million zillion times, Judy.

And with that, I'll close for now. I promised Quint I'd make him Beef Wellington for dinner to celebrate our safe arrival back home. Then we're going to watch more Olympics and movies. We got three new Netflix films in the mail. One of them is the remake of the Zodiac killer. Another one is the story of Mary Magdalene and I don't know what the third one is.

August 4 --

About this time every year, I start getting really diligent about finding seminars for continuing education credits to maintain my mental health counselor license. So here we are in beautiful Charleston, West Virginia, waiting to go to a workshop tomorrow regarding new information about Bi-Polar Disorders.

Then on to Chesapeake, Virginia, for a visit with my cousin Al and his wife, Alice Stubbe. Al retired from the US Navy after 27 years of active duty. Since retiring he has put together an incredible telescope, then put it in its own building.

And here's yet another reason not to watch ABC News: the big brass at ABC has issued an edict telling its reports to not wear lapel flag pins.

Yeah, no kidding. Scopes checked it out and confirms this nonsense. Read it here: http://www.snopes.com/rumors/noflags.asp. And thanks Bill S. from Paducah for sending me an e-mail tipping me off.

ABC says it doesn't want its reporters to engage in causes. Huh? Like patriotism is a cause not acceptable to ABC!

I urge you to send a note protesting this outrageous position to ABC News, 125 West End Ave., New York, NY 10023.

See, I was gone just one day and look what happened!

Oh, and the White House has said that it will not call a special session of congress for the purpose of energizing the energy needs of We the Peoples. The White House said "it won't do any good." Okay, then. So we just are supposed to cave in and let Nancy Her Selfness and Harry the Everstubborn have their way since they think they know what's best for the American people.

Don't know if you listened to Rush Limbaugh today but he was commenting on some of the points that Barry O. was making in a speech about the energy crisis. Barry keeps saying that we have to get away from using oil in our lifetime. And as far as a plan to reduce our consumption on oil, he says we should make sure out tires are all inflated. So, when he heard that, the McCain camp got the idea of handing out tire gauges to people at the Democratic convention.

Harry Reid, the guru over in the Senate, says there isn't going to be any consideration for offshore drilling until the Democrats beat the Republicans.

Speaker Pelosi says her Ship of State -- the 110th Congress -- is not going to get an up or down vote on the question of offshore drilling as long as she has the gavel. To which Quint says her ship of state is more like the Titantic and this refusal to listen to the people of the United States (We the Peoples) is a very iceberg.

Recall that we are a Republic -- and as such, we have a representative form of government. Do you feel like you are being represented by either the Speaker of the House or the President of the Senate? Or, for that matter, your representatives in Washington. I don't. The responses I get to my e-mails are very condescending. Their e-mails start off with something like, "Thank you for writing, but here's why we're doing what we doing..."

So when November gets here, if they ask, I'll say to them, "Thanks for nothing but here's why I didn't vote for you."

John McCain says he favors "Drill here, drill now!" It sounds like he's listening to me and the rest of the 71% of the peoples/voters who want to drill for oil offshore.

Any voter getting ready for election day in 2008 needs to look at both Democratic candidates -- Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama -- and where they fit into Saul Alinsky's mindset.

Read this for some info: http://fromtheduke.blogspot.com/2008/05/saul-alinsky-another-obama-mentor-from.html

And just exactly who is Saul Alinsky? Here's a link that relates Hillary's being enamored with him. Very telling indeed: http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=19735

In my opinion, it seems that the radicalness of the 60s by way of Alinsky's ghost comes back to haunt American politics in 2008 through either Hillary or Barry or any of the politicians who think that people in power must make all decisions for us poor folks down here at the bottom of the food chain because we just can't figure these things our for ourselves.

August 1 -- addendum at high noon

This hasn't even hit the web news pages yet, but Fox News is reporting that new Gallup Poll figures show McCain and Obama are tied in their presidential race at 44%! Shepard Smith broke the news about five minutes ago. And Obama actually got booed at a town hall type meeting. He doesn't handle challenges very well, as you may have heard. He told the supporters to sit down and be courteous and let him make his point.

And check this out! Both the House and the Senate recessed for five weeks and headed back to their districts, or golf outings, or off on vacation or God only knows where. They didn't pass any energy bills. They didn't exhibit any concern with legislation that would show they have the least tiny little bit of synchronization with American taxpayers, 71% of whom say they want offshore drilling and they want it started now. Instead, they just locked their office doors and left town. House Speaker Pelosi ordered the House chamber lights dimmed, even though Republicans were still in there and had stayed behind to discuss energy matters. Not much they can do without a quorum though except perhaps strategize. If I were any of the politicos, I'd be afraid to come back to my district and face voters. But not these politicos. After all, they think they know everything about everything and just can't seem to be bothered about what We the Peoples think.

And speaking of Nancy Pelosi, where did she ever get the idea that writing a book would be all that well received? I mean, the approval rating of congress has plunged to 9% so what could she say to anybody that they'd be interested in hearing? Her book Know Your Power: A Message to America's Daughters sounds too much like she's got hers and she's keeping it. Keep in mind that the cost of a gallon of gas was $2.70 when she said she'd get all these glorious things done in the 110th Congress. The 110th has no success to talk about. Maybe -- just maybe if she'd let the offshore drilling go forward and drilling in Alaska go forward, she'd send a better message to the American taxpayers. As it is, she may just be in for the surprise of her life when she realizes that she doesn't have any popularity that could translate into book sales. It's clearly time for the American people to take back their power at the voting booth in November. So hows her book doing? Amazon sales have her listed as #1287. That's one big huge bomb!

August 1 -- dog days of summer are here

Actually, the dog days are nearly gone. We only have to suffer through this sultry, pouting days of Sirius, the dog star for about ten more days.

The dog days are so named because they are the hottest, most sultry days in the summer season.

The ancients believed that Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky, moved closer to the sun and added its heat. That would mean misery galore. Not that the sun needed any help heating the earth, mind you. But the myth perpetuated down through the ages.

The dog days start about 20 days before the time when Sirius is in conjunction with the sun and continue for 20 days after. That would be the time between July 3 and August 11.

And that takes care of your astronomy lesson for today. If you want to read all the details, go here: http://wilstar.com/dogdays.htm

Now, on to money subjects.

Sounds like the heartbeat of America needs a transfusion. General Motors posted a $15.5 billion loss for its second quarter. And its revenue tanked with an 18% decline. (http://www.marketwatch.com/)

Ford didn't do much better. It posted a loss for the 2nd quarter of $8.7 billion. Revenue was down for this quarter at $38.6 billion. That compares to a $44.2 billion loss a year ago.

But then, Ford just sold its Jaguar Land Rover group. Those sales data are not included in the 2008 figures, but they were in 2007. And then, what in the world will 007 do now that Ford sold its Aston Martin group? Hopefully whoever bought 007's car company will keep making those neat cars for the super spy. (http://media.ford.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=28659)

Chrysler posted a mere $2.1 billion loss. So one of the remedies it's going to put into place is to stop leasing vehicles. http://www.cnbc.com/id/25852198/for/cnbc

And then there are the oil companies. Shell for instance, posted a record profit for the second quarter of $11.55 billion. BP was right behind Shell with $9.47 billion profit.(http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080731/bs_afp/britainenergyoilcompanyearningsshell)

But the big cahuna is still Exxon. It posted a second quarter profit of $11.68 billion. (http://money.cnn.com/2008/07/31/news/companies/exxon_profits/index.htm?eref=rss_topstories)

My point with all this early morning number crunching is this: people are still buying gas. Granted, the consumption is going down but we have little other choice when we live 15 or 20 miles from where we work.

There are some good data at this site (http://www.eia.doe.gov/steo) of the Energy Information Administration (EIA). The feds have extrapolated lots of information and fed it back in a variety of ways. For your viewing pleasure. Basically, the end result is that world consumption of crude is increasing despite rising prices.

It's just too bad that all those brilliant urban planners here in the United States didn't put bike paths anywhere near the cities (except in parks). So people can't bike to work, and even if they did, where would they put their bikes during the day? And the rising great popularity of suburbia and exurbia take care of any notion of walking to work.

Otherwise, we're going to have to keep on buying gasoline. But not gas guzzlers.

Wake up Detroit! And while you're at it, make a car that people can buy without having to take out a second mortgage on their house.

Enough of all this. I'm going outside to work in my flower beds. The flowers respond to me. Politicians don't. Big business crude oil sellers don't. Detroit car makers don't. But my zinnias do.

And I don't even care about the dog days of summer. That's what makes the tomatoes plump out. Pretty soon I'll be making tomato sauce for the winter. So me and my zinnias are going to rest up for that. I hope you can find a nice distraction for yourself too.