ENERGY PRICES ARE MERELY THE SYMPTOM: What Has Congress Done For (Or To) Americans Lately?

1. Out-of-Hand Energy Prices: Oh, they are so coy, explaining away the reasons for the high energy prices as being environmentalism, rising demand, lack of refinery capacity, and too few dead dinosaurs. “But,” they glibly offer, “we can do away with the gas tax for the summer and that’ll save everyone $2.00 a tank of gas.” You know, most Americans were paying $25.00 for a tank of gas in 2006, and now they’re paying $50.00 for the same tank. What in hell is the difference between $48.00 for a tank of gas and $50.00 for a tank of gas? Did my earnings double in the same time? Why don’t you take your damned $2.00 savings for a tank of gas and stick it? Nice and tight. Just, stick it!

Get a smaller car? I’m sorry, my car is as small as I can go. I don’t know how to drive a motor scooter. Drive less? I don’t know about you, but I started driving less when the cost for a tank of gas went from $15.00 a tank to $25.00 a tank. What about the fixed income people, those on retirement and social security? What about farmers and truck drivers? What advice do you nice Congress people have for them?

Here’s a refreshing idea….. Let’s have a “windfall profits tax.” Who in the snot hell do you think pays all of the taxes in this country? That’ll just drive the price of gas higher!

This problem is not a new problem. It’s been going on seemingly forever! Just consider the billions of dollars the oil barons are making. How much money is this country spending looking for a viable, new alternative energy source to permanently replace fossil fuels? Is it even a simple one billion? So, what is Congress really doing about it? Nothing. Not a damned thing.

2. Rising Cost of Prescription Medicines: As a rule, those using the greatest amount of prescription medications to deal with chronic issues are the retired and elderly. These are the people least prepared to deal with medications that are skyrocketing in cost. The profits for drug manufacturing companies in America are also soaring. It is far less expensive for Americans to obtain their required medications in Mexico or Canada; yet, rather than dealing with the real problem, our friends in Congress have chosen to prevent us from buying our medications in Mexico or Canada. In other words, Congress is telling you and me that they don’t give a flying foo foo bird about our personal finances. They’re not doing a damned thing about it.

3. Shameful Treatment of America’s Poor: I don’t need to elaborate on this. You know fully well that Congress is not doing a damned thing about it.

4. Crime: Rape, drug use, murder… You know the list. The plain fact is that more and more crimes are being committed with the use of firearms and, of those firearms used in the commission of crimes, the vast majority are not registered and were obtained illegally. So, the proposed answer is to ban firearms in the whole country? That only means that you are disarming the honest and law abiding citizens while the crime committers will continue to use illegal firearms. Aside from that issue, the majority of America’s law enforcement departments are vastly under funded, meaning that training is often insufficient and manpower is stretched to its limits. What is Congress doing about this problem? Nothing. Not a frickin’ thing.

5. Illegal Aliens: Here is another issue that has been around for a very long time. It’s been a front-page concern for most of Bush’s administration, through a Republican dominated Congress and on into a Democrat dominated Congress. None of the issues mentioned on this page are party issues. They’re Congressional issues. And, obviously, this is another issue that Congress hasn’t really done a damned thing about, although we did allow some border patrol agents and sheriff’s deputies to go to jail for doing their jobs on the border.

6. Oink Oink: This list is endless….. The list of money that has been totally misued, abused and wasted by Congress over the years. They keep talking about it, but what have they done about it? Again, the answer is nothing. Maybe the answer to this problem is that Congressional delegates are all out of the country on taxpayer paid fact-finding junkets when the vote comes up to curtail pork.

The list of things that Congress has not addressed, or attempted to resolve, or dealt with in a steadfast and proactive manner is also endless. And, having addressed a paltry six of the issues that need to be addressed, those that are all symptoms of the problem, I think we see the common thread.

Congress isn’t doing a damned thing.

You know what we have to do about it, and so do I. November, thankfully, is just around the corner.

That’s MY AMERICAN OPINION, respectfully submitted.

STICKER SHOCK: Is Everything Really All That Hunky Dory in Lala Land?

Have you by any chance noticed that the price of gas has risen over the last three or four years? If you haven’t, I’d really like to know what brand of scotch you have been drinking. Speaking of which, have you noticed that the price of scotch has risen over the last three or four years? Maybe you noticed that, at the same time commodities have been subtly increasing in costs at the register, housing values have peaked and begun to nosedive? Well, to cap this opening paragraph off, how many people out there honestly feel that property taxes are going down as housing values have been decreasing? No show of hands?

With unemployment figures on the upswing, housing values heading for the basement, property taxes staying the same or going up, and the price of everyday goods such as groceries, clothing and condoms skyrocketing, how long will it take for the consumer to yell and scream bloody murder?

There IS money to be made in this market. If you go and buy gas at $3.50 a gallon, instead of selling it at $3.65 a gallon you stick 50,000 gallons into your underground tanks and sit on it for 30 days, you will be able to sell it for $4.15 a gallon. Or, if you buy 100 tons of rice at $100 a ton and sit on it for 30 days, you may be able to sell it as high as $200 a ton.

This is called a “run up market,” otherwise known as inflation.

Here’s what feeds that mentality. With prices going up and with the retailer who sells gas for a living purchasing gas at $3.50 a gallon and selling 10,000 gallons at $3.65, there is a $1,500 gross profit. But, at the same time, he will need to replenish the 10,000 gallons at a cost of $3.75 a gallon, and he has just LOST $1,000 from a cash position. So, the logical answer is to buy quantity and keep the cost per unit down, sit on it until the resale value goes way up, then sell. That’s called, “maximizing your yield in an inflationary market.” And, of course, that inevitably feeds inflation like a roaring fire and may cause spot shortages.

Just apply that philosophy across the board on every product you can think off that doesn’t have a prescribed shelf life. My friend, we could be in for a very tough ride that I don’t know we’re prepared for.

Here’s more.

The increase in the minimum wage has stoked the furnace. Mind you, I’m not saying that the increase should not have happened. It needed to happen. Inflation, although slowed over a number of years, was still eating away at the value of the dollar while those most impacted were minimum wage earners. Considering the escalating price of gas at the pump, I think a lot of those minimum wage earners would have been priced out of transportation to their minimum wage jobs. But, the fact still is that someone has to pay for that increase in the minimum wage, and it you know darned well who it’s going to be: you and me.

Energy prices for heating and air conditioning are on the very verge of skyrocketing. Prices at the pump, slated to be over $4.00 a gallon “sometime this summer,” have already passed the $4.00 mark in much of California, while energy czars everywhere are smiling at unparalleled increases on bottom-line profits. Shell is making $80 million plus, per day. Executives of the five biggest oil companies, Exxon - Mobil, Royal Dutch Shell, BP, Conoco - Philips and Chevron, were called to testify at a congressional hearing where lawmakers raked them over the coals for making enormous profits while investing next to nothing in the development of alternative sources of energy. They received over $18 billion in tax breaks last year while their 2007 profits hit $123 billion as they passed the blame to OPEC (and the rising cost of crude.) Horse shit! (Pardon my French). Congress, in what appears to me to be a dog and pony show, didn’t do a damned thing after hearing the testimony.

Nationally, gaming revenues are down over 5%; that fact alone is an ominous indicator of a slide in the disposable income of Americans. Layoffs have been going on for weeks, 80,000 here, 40,000 there, ad infinitum. The tax burden on Americans is already backbreaking, and yet two Presidential candidates appear ready and willing to add to it by nationalizing health care. The plain fact is that Congress has drastically screwed up the Social Security system and turned Medicare into a national nightmare; these two factors are perilously close to adding to the national per person monetary burden of all of us.

My fellow Americans, this is really going to be a long and hot summer. We’re probably looking at massive stagflation again, coupled with high unemployment and only God knows what else. We’re just now beginning to get lip service on the subject, let alone solutions. Those in the positions of being able to do something about it are either too busy running for reelection or appearing on news talk shows.

I’ll be very surprised if this magnanimous tax rebate now being rushed to the mail does anything at all for the economy. With what we are facing, most Americans will either pay down debt or save it for a rainy day.

But, November is just around the corner, and we do have the ability to vote them all out. A change of guard is most certainly long overdue. Isn’t it time to stick the sticker shock where the sun doesn’t shine?

That’s MY AMERICAN OPINION, respectfully submitted.

HAS THE POPE’S VISIT MANAGED TO STIR THE AMERICAN CONSCIENCE?

I note with interest that the media, seemingly hell-bent on drumming the 2008 Presidential campaigns into the ground, suddenly stopped dead in its tracks when the Alitalia Jet Liner landed in Washington and the Pope emerged. It appeared to me that Fox, for one, did not intend to cover the visit to the extent that it has; I think they were caught off guard when America’s television sets zeroed in on every move the Pope was making. Suddenly, the networks changed their programming and the Pope ended up being in charge of the day.

Just what is it about this guy that has jerked us out of our armchair prognostications about the election long enough to follow his path as he has made his way from Washington to New York, wowing audiences with his every nuance?

Perhaps we are entranced by the pomp and circumstance surrounding his visit? The trumpets announcing his arrivals? The choirs, like angels, singing praise to the Lord? The Popemobile? The fact that leaders from all walks of life and all countries have stopped their daily routines to pay honor and tribute to His Holiness?

To observe his demeanor as he winds his way through the crowds and to the alter, the way he displays gracious humility when in the presence of the President, the world’s ambassadors, and American public is somewhat akin to watching poetry in motion. Yet, he has no hesitation in making it clear that the message he proffers is the most urgent and important business of the week.

Surely, if he had time to catch the late night news, his stomach must have turned many times. On the one hand, the polygamy issues in Texas and Arizona have occupied a fair amount of the remaining news time. So have the teenage beating videos. I’m sure I could make the list of national shames as long as I wanted to. The only major thing missing this week was another Britney saga.

What the Pope seems to be saying is, “Stop this nonsense and get your acts together!” And, we seem to be tuning in.

Could it be that the American sway to the extreme liberal left is being jerked back toward the center spectrum of life? Is it possible that we might be rethinking our obsessions with coke, crack, pot, sex, and other hedonistic indulgences? I read recently that Americans are starting to come back to the religious flocks in droves and the fascination with the Papal visit seems to fit right into that trend.

It may well be that the propriety of our national history is about to be restored, and that we are about to regain our leadership in this world when it comes to ethics and morality. What a breath of fresh air that would be. And, if the message being delivered by the Pope happens to be the nudge that makes it all happen, his visit will most certainly have not gone in vain.

That’s MY AMERICAN OPINION, respectfully submitted.

MAO Short Shots

Please note: “MAO” is an acronym for My American Opinion and has nothing to do with either sandwiches or Chinese history.

The proposed boycott of the Chinese Olympics is a moot issue. Once the Congress repossesses all of those credit cards that have been abused, no one is going to be able to go anyway. Further, if they TRY to go, they’ll have to swim, now that all of the planes are grounded…. Except, evidently, Air Force One.

The urging by Clinton and Obama to boycott the Olympics demonstrates just how very shallow their understanding of Chinese-American relations really is. We can’t we just rice to the occasion? They probably also think that the Chinese invented checkers. Get a life.

Since my dad was born in Scranton, PA, I am a tad miffed at Obama’s recent put-down of Pennsylvanians. Those remarks weren’t fit for minors or miners. They also open the door a crack about who the real Obama is. I wonder whether he was talking about white Pennsylvanians or black Pennsylvanians. Oh? They were gray? More later.

The fact that Uncle Sam is going to bail people out of their mortgage problems that they themselves got into, underscores the sad fact that Americans are no longer responsible for their own actions. I heard somewhere that Americans spend less time reading the fine print and understanding the terms of a house purchase than they do in buying a computer game. I would be willing to bet that the average American male does not know the R factor of his attic insulation and what that means, or whether or not his studs are 4 inch or 6 inch, or even where his main water shutoff valve is. But, you can bet your sweet buns that he knows how many USB ports his laptop has and what the clock speed of his processor is. Why I should bail him out is beyond me; isn’t this… Communism?

Who’s in charge of port operations at major U.S. cities these days? Sorry, I guess that’s still a sore subject.

Speaking of global warming, did you see the look on Hillary’s face while Petraeus was testifying on the hot seat the other day? Or, did you notice Lieberman riding McCain’s coattails into the meeting room and hanging at his very elbow almost until the meeting started? One thing you surely didn’t see was Kennedy giving Hillary a nice, big fat kiss of fond and loving affection. Maybe he was going to take her for a ride later?

Hillary says she knows how to end the war in Iraq. Okay, babe. Jump on a plane and head right on over there and let us know when it’s over. Don’t forget to sit on your flack jacket on the final approach and to duck under the flack on the tarmac at the Baghdad Airport!

Jimmy Carter’s going to talk with Hamas? Now ain’t THAT sweet! Maybe he’s going to sell them some peanuts?

Now, doesn’t that Iranian hot shot Mahmoud Ahmadinejad have a radioactive personality? Maybe Big Al would like to talk with him about global warming! I hear the guy will shoot any one dead on the spot if they can’t pronounce his name.

When’s the last time you heard of a gas price war in this country? Except for the three stations in Lee Vining, California who have a race going on to see who can raise prices the fastest…

Jesse Ventura is sounding more and more like a Presidential candidate every day. I totally agree with his statement that he can’t stomach the building of a wall between us and Mexico, because we’d need one between us and Canada, too. Then, we’d be in East Berlin. There has to be a better way to solve that illegal immigration issue. On the other hand, it’ll go away pretty soon on its own, because they’ll all be here anyway… Frankly, I think he could wrestle with a lot of our nation’s problems better than any of the other three major potentials at this point.

I wonder how many Americans, knowing now who their Presidential candidates are, would give their left ear lobe for a rerun of the primaries?

Hey! If you think I’m playing on words in this piece, just get over it.

Things got so bad during the Writer’s strike that I even caught some reruns of old Lassie segments on the tube. Actually, once you get used to them, they’re better than sex. Really. You bet.

That’s a great lead in to my next tidbit. Did you know that roughly 97.389% of the married people in San Francisco are either male or female? (Well, I don’t know either; maybe the rest are lawyers.)

When I was a kid, “spring break” was what caused you to throw your watch into the trash can. These days, what with the drinking, drugs and sex parties, it seems to me that Spring Break is a lame excuse to act like Congress.

Don’t you really love the idea of having your medical records on the Internet? When they find out where I’ve got some of MY warts, they’ll probably reconsider the idea.

Katie Couric will probably end up on Airhead America. She has no where else left to go.

Considering the prejudice that American women have survived, and considering the discrimination that people of any color have faced over our history, I think that the flap about Michelle Obama’s statement of being proud for the first time to be an American is much ado about nothing. I think I know where she is coming from, having risen as a black woman to the level of being married to a black man who might become President… that being the metamorphosis that has transformed her feelings about America. I’m much more concerned about Obama’s feelings about America; to me, he’s got one helluva lot of explaining to do, and he really should get rid of the Clintonesque way of worming his way off the hook. It’s just not Wright. (Oh, darn! There I go again!)

Lots of fuss about a vodka maker’s redrawing of the Mexican border. Considering the number of Mexicans, illegal and otherwise, now living in California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas, it appears to me that the map’s depiction of those states belonging to Mexico is already and Absolut-ly correct. Those raising the ruckus want something done about it? I have a fishy feeling that pulling the ads won’t change the demographics.

Have run across a great site for you to visit. This’ll be my first recommendation in over two years of producing these blogs, so you must know that I value my opinion highly and reserve recommendations for only the best. Please, no emails to tell me how you value my opinion….. Take a look at www.michellemalkin.com The site is refreshing and pretty much hits things right on target. Never mind the cute pictures; her husband took them.

That’s a wrap until next week.

A REAL Solution For Rising Fuel Prices?

How do we whack America’s politicians across the head hard enough to get them to pay attention to the toll the rising cost of fuel is taking on our economy? How do we force them off their portentous posteriors long enough to become interested in solving the problem?

The economic emergency staring us in the face has been simmering for months and is on the very verge of boiling over. Just this week, we’ve witnessed the shut down of three major airlines and the loss of over 80,000 jobs in the month of March. The already outrageous cost of fuel is forcing truckers to park their rigs because they are actually losing more money when they drive than when they don’t. Suddenly, the public is shocked into a bigger reality when the cost of goods at the grocery store takes a sudden and major jump; the fuel costs mean higher transportation costs, and the trickle-down reaches the tomato bins.

You think that’s bad? Just wait until the new minimum wage kicks in on July 24^th. The rise in gas prices has put the lower income earners in this country behind the same 8-ball that everyone else faces; they need to make more money to pay for fuel. So, the minimum wage goes up, and there will be another hike in the price of sauerkraut and eggs, (imagine THAT combination!)

With these rising prices, people will cut back on travel, on purchases, and we’ll have more layoffs. The tax-rebate isn’t even going to make a quiver in the overall economy. The fact that prices at the pump have more than doubled in the last 18-24 months while Washington has barely done more than pay lip service to big oil, is now like a flock of chickens coming home to roost.

We’re in trouble. And, it doesn’t seem to me that a President’s proclamation that we’re not in trouble is going to restore 80,000 jobs or bring back three airlines. We have to do something…. more than burying our heads in the sand and pretending the problem doesn’t exist, or that it isn’t serious and growing.

Quit shopping at Exxon and Mobile and send a message to big oil? The only thing that will accomplish is to put thousands of small-time convenience store and service station owners in the poor-house. Exxon and Mobile will either sell out to someone else, or sell their gas to independents, and the amount of oil coming out of the ground won’t change one iota.

Where’s all of the money going that big oil is charging at the pump? According to them, the Arabs and the rest of the cartel are getting it with their + $100 a barrel oil charges. If that were the real answer, it seems to me, our major oil company profits would not be UP by billions per quarter…. The money would be in some other country. So, that claim appears to me to be a big fat and blatant lie.

“Oh,” they cry, “we’re out of refinery capacity, and the environmentalists won’t let us build any more refineries, so the market is driving the prices.” If that is the case, why wouldn’t they expand production capabilities at their current facilities? Cost prohibitive, probably…. Some lame answer like that. Billions of dollars in increasing profits per quarter?

There’s no doubt that the world’s oil supply is growing smaller; at some point in time, we will run out unless we curtail our use or find another energy source. And, at the same time, demand is growing as third world countries start to motivate. So, there is some credence to the claim that the market itself is driving prices up. But, the extent of unchecked big oil profits defies any and all reason.

So, what to do?

Is grumbling about it getting anything done? What effect does our crying and occasional email or letter to our Congressional delegation having on the situation? Well, it appears that all they are doing themselves is to grumble and cry to the oil companies…. where billions of dollars of increased profits can either threaten any one’s reelection or guarantee a hefty contribution to a campaign. Talk about the tail wagging the elephants and donkeys!

Back to the opening question: How do we force them off of their big butts to DO something? First of all, of course, you have to remember that Congress has done absolutely nothing about anything for at least two decades now. So, getting their attention and getting them off of their duffs and in actual productive motion is going to be a bigger project than moving Mt. Everest.

Nevertheless, one thing that is guaranteed to get their attention is to have big money interests come pounding at their Congressional office doors. No one can argue that statement. So, how do we turn the issue from Joe Z. Public vs. Big Oil Pockets to Big Corporate America vs. Congress? How do we whack our wonderful leaders across the chops and get their attention? We need a big, solid whack; a fly swatter simply won’t do.

The idea of not buying gas for a day won’t work either, because we’ll just buy it on another day. But, the intent of that suggestion bears some consideration. The idea is to take a day’s profit out of the big oil pipelines and to get their attention that way. Let’s expound on that thought.

Take a work day, any day, say the 4^th of August, (I like that, because it’s a play on the 4^th of July, being Independence Day). On August 4^th, beginning at 12:00 AM and lasting until Midnight that night, everyone walks off the job. No one goes to work. Everyone goes home and stays there. Have a big hootin’ block barbeque party.

Think about it. There’d be no one to sell airline tickets, no one to fly planes, no one to drive 16-wheelers, no one to dig gravesites. My God, we’d even have to clean our own bellybuttons! Oh, we’d keep essential skeleton crews going in hospitals and emergency services but, outside of that, the national economy will come to a screeching halt. For just for 24 hours, imagine no domestic product being created, no services, and no sales tax revenues. Hell, if you’d take that day without pay, there’d be no income tax revenue, either!

Would that make a statement, or what? The truth be known, I think that statement would reverberate around the country and the world for years, even decades, to come.

Do you think that the big corporations, the Wal-Marts and MacDonald’s of the world, wouldn’t be madder than wet roosters? Do you think that state governors would be crying the blues over the loss of sales tax revenues? Do you envision that big oil would be standing there on the sidewalks with their jaws hanging open?

Wow! I actually think this would create enough pressure in the halls of Congress to actually move Mt. Everest!

And, now that we have their attention, why don’t we force big oil to take some of those billions of dollars in increased quarterly profits and plow them back into research for the creation of alternative sources of energy? Tax their earnings big time and use the revenues to endow universities and other research venues to tackle the problem, but give big oil a tax break if they direct some of their own revenues into internal alternative energy research.

Would I give up a day’s pay to accomplish this? Damned right! I think the dividends to us and our children would be damned well worth it. At the same time, we just might get the reminder message to our elected Gods that they don’t run this country. We do.

How about it? August 4^th? That’s a Monday, you know. Makes a nice three-day weekend……

That’s MY AMERICAN OPINION, respectfully submitted.

Are White Americans In Mortal Danger?

Let's size up the situation we are now facing in these days, in this country:

1. The country has been infiltrated by radical Muslims with hate in their hearts for our lusts and sins.

2. The country has been infiltrated by millions of illegal Mexican aliens with fear in their souls that they will be caught and punished, or caught and sent back to their poverty.

3. The country is being bombarded with hate from the likes of Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, and there are one helluva lot of Venezuelans in this country right now.

4. Black America is beginning to rattle its sabres and get it's backs up; if the super-delegates do anything to derail Obama, there's going to be hell to pay. If Obama doesn't win in November, then watch out. And, they are now starting to point out that they have been spewing hate in their churches for ages, and we'd better get used to it.

Is there any reason to believe that, should any of these four groups start physical violence, at least one of the other groups won't jump straight into the fray?

And, presuming this might happen, who would the likely targets be?

It seems to me that the "melting pot" is very much in danger of boiling over.

That's MY AMERICAN OPINION, respectfully submitted.

UFO'S AND GOD: Hot Topics for Easter Sunday

And, indeed they ARE hot topics. Jeremiah Wright made God a hot topic and the California UFO pictures have made UFO’s a hot topic. So, where am I going with this?

Arrogance.

How do I leap to that word from “God” and “UFO’s?” Follow my line of rationale.

Let’s examine the awesome discoveries about our universe that have been made in our short lifetimes. Think of the new words, “quarks,” “black holes,” “supernovas…” The list is impressively lengthy. In the process of examining the stars, we have finally come to the realization that at least some of those billions of pinpoints of light in the sky have planets rotating around them. Further, some of those planets are at right distances from their respective suns and, at least from preliminary scientific analysis, have the right chemicals to support life. Wow. Please pass the mustard.

Yet, we persist in our self-centered arrogance to shrug our shoulders and say, “So what? I won’t believe it until I see it, and if I can’t see it, it cannot exist.” Just as a side note, that happens to be the same logic used by atheists to deny the existence of God.

Progressing further into my hypothesis, I think that we are bound to accept the probability that some intelligent, humanoid forms of life have been living “out there” for thousands of years longer than we have been around. You can extrapolate that further into the likelihood that some of that populace has the ability to travel from place to place in space. Oh, here we go again. “You can’t travel faster than the speed of light, so the hypothesis is already full of holes.”

Arrogance.

Scientists have already pushed miniscule fragments of matter faster than the speed of light under controlled laboratory conditions, and without increasing their mass to the point that they erupted into a gigantic and uncontrolled explosion, (sorry about that, Dr. Einstein). So, this wall of scientific obstinacy is about to be totally torn down. Besides, we know that, at the instant of death, the body loses a miniscule but measurable amount of weight; there are countless stories of “near death experiences” where people report traveling out of their bodies and through an amazing tunnel of light at unbelievable speeds. If a soul can travel faster than the speed of light, what else can?

The smug ones have an answer for all of this. “Simply put, why would any intelligent life that is that advanced want to travel here, of all places, more than once, anyway?” They would be quick to add, “I suppose that you would suggest that they came here thousands of years ago to plant the seeds of life, and now they’re coming back to check on us and watch over us? Oh, get a grip!”

Before I can respond, the proverbial nail in the coffin of my hypothesis is sure to follow. “If you believe in God, and you believe that God created life, how can you propose that we were created by alien beings?”

Let’s get back to the UFO thing. How’s that for artfully dodging the bullet?

There’s just too much evidence these days that something strange is going on in skies all over the world. With the advent of digital cameras that don’t use film that can be damaged by radioactivity, more and more pictures and videos are being taken and the evidence is piling up that we are being observed, if not by some one, by some thing. Having scanned the night skies myself for most of my life, both as a surveyor and as a pilot, I have to say that I have seen two UFO’s in widely separated spots over a period of 15 years; both were remarkably similar in shape.

I have also seen numerous lights in the sky that appear to me to be some kind of “star wars” technology being tested in the skies well north of Reno, Nevada. And, indeed, the most recent California pictures lead me to believe that they were of earthly manufacture. So, I categorically dismiss 90% of the “unexplained sightings.” But, about 10% of them bear a marked resemblance to what I have seen myself.

Yet, the logical question to me is, “Why would any intelligence with the ability to accomplish these things travel repeatedly to this planet?” They have certainly seen what they need to see, gathered what samples they need to gather, and they should by all reason be well on their way to other solar systems, other galaxies.

Now, let me tackle the second part of this “arrogant” equation. There is simply too much evidence for me to deny the existence of God. Who among us have been in a situation where we needed help, wisdom, money, guidance? Virtually everyone, I am sure, has at one time or another faced that need. Those of us who believe have prayed. There are too many people that I have met or read about who can say that, not only did they pray, but their prayers were answered. There are too many to be explained away by “coincidence or happenstance.”

Even if you take the scientific approach, you have to confront the unexplained mysteries of the universe. Regardless of how much we dig down into the smallest bits of matter, we always end up finding something even tinier. The more we gaze into the vastness of space and confirm theories, the more theories about the universe are proven to be untrue. There is a strange order that we cannot fathom, an order that can only be explained by acceptance of Infinite Supremacy.

Most religions teach that there is a price to pay for wrong doing, usually something along the lines of spending eternity in Hell. Could it not be that “Hell” is being trapped in a physical body, forced to toil daily for food and water, surrounded by those whose wrongs were equal to or greater than yours, for what seems like an eternity on Earth? Can anyone deny that the souls of Hitler, Stalin, Lenin, Mussolini and the likes….. must have been possessed by such evil that being trapped in skin and bones here may have been totally just?

Is it possible that God one day said to His attendants, “Hop into your UFO’s and split on down to Earth and create some life there so that I have a place to send some of these bad souls?” Is it possible that He sent his Son down here to try to convince us that, if we redeem ourselves, there is a way out? Is it possible that these UFO’s are jailers coming to check on their prisoners?

Am I suggesting that life here was not created by God, but by some wacko scientists from the other side of the universe, armed with test tubes full of DNA? I don’t know. To me, it’s a possibility. Does that stand in the way of my belief in God?

Somewhere, some time ago, and somehow…life was created. There simply had to be a beginning. That fact alone, through an argument I don’t have time here to present, leads one to the conclusion that God must exist.

We are the center of the universe. Nothing in the universe can occur unless we either make it occur or allow it to occur. Therefore, UFO’s do not exist and cannot exist until we, ourselves, learn how to make them. We are the most advanced civilization of all time. Any life that exists “out there” must be inferior to us.

That makes us, collectively, Gods.

All of which leads us to, “arrogance.”

Happy Easter.

That's MY AMERICAN OPINION, respectfully submitted.

Dump Spitzer? How HYPOCRITCAL Can You Get?

Here you are, pious Americans, on the very precipice of choosing our next President. You have already, by your "well-considered" votes in your primaries, selected:

(1) The wife of a President who screwed a White House Intern all over the Oval Office carpet, redefined the word "is," lied to a Grand Jury and the American people, and got barred from the practice of law; the woman you selected lied for him, mishandled legal documents at the Rose Law Firm, was deeply involved in the White Water scandal, and has a mouth worse than that of a common street whore.

(2) A man who has yet to define his platform or to address the issues; known to be an associate of Louis Farrakhan, a leader of radical Islam who fosters continuing hatred and unrest in America; who refuses to place his hand over his heart during the Star Spangled Banner or the Pledge of Allegiance, and who is willing to accept the inevitable deaths of tens of thousands of Iraqi and Afghan souls by withdrawing troops from those countries and turning them over to.... radical Islam.

(3) A man who was closely associated with Jack Abramoff, former lobbyist now in jail for illegal payoffs and political bribery; who investigated Abramoff for the Senate but refused to investigate members of Congress who were "on the take;" a man who had a long, warm friendship with Charles Keating who is also in prison for his "Keating Five" savings and loan ripoffs.

You choose those three to be final candidates for holding the highest office in the world. Yet, in the midst of your frenetic rush to November, you have the audacity to stop just long enough to throw Eliot Spitzer under the bus for poking a hooker.

You judgmental, pietistic Americans make me want to puke.

That's MY AMERICAN OPINION, respectfully submitted.

This Is National Security?

Three out of four of the remaining major candidates are sniping at each other about who can do the best job at national security. Unfortunately, the fourth, Huckabee, is the only one who has the right answer.

McCain, Clinton and Obama all are quick to tout their ability to meet any security crisis the country might have, even at 3:00 in the morning. Yet, all three would leave the Mexican border wide open and grant illegal aliens at least some form of amnesty.

Now that I have made that charge, I would suppose their universal answer would be, "That's different. We're talking about acts of war, things of a military nature."

War can be waged in more than one manner. It doesn't require tanks and missiles and brigades to wage war. War can be waged economically. And, I would suggest, we are at war with Mexico and her allies.

By allowing tens of thousands of its citizens to cross our border illegally, the Mexican government is forcing us to pay for benefits, health care, education and social services for those people. The economic drain and impact on our country is so large that Americans are no longer willing, or able, to absorb the adverse impact on our economy. If this continues unabated, this country could lose its economic war while our candidates, one of which will inevitably end up in the White House, wage the different kind of war in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Something has to be done. None of of these three finalists seems to have the balls to do it.

That's MY AMERICAN OPINION, respectfully submitted.

Bloomberg Looking For Non-Partisan Candidate?

Good God, maybe there really is a saint in the woodwork!

If you examine the apparent options, Obama is on the far left. Clinton, is on the middle left claiming to be middle-of-the-road. McCain is on the middle left claiming to be conservative. Huckabee means well, but he's the middle conservative on the way out.

Nowhere in this mess is someone who is just plain standing up and saying, "Damn the political torpedoes ahead, I want to do what's best for the country!"

So, if Bloomberg is willing to put up the money to back someone who isn't owing to political interests or anchored by party agendas.... Will someone please, please stand up? Maybe even Ross Perot will kick in his 401k and Bill Gates will add a few bucks to provide us the "windows" of opportunity!

We need a President who is willing to take the political risks of telling it like it is and challenging Congress to get their act together. We need a leader who is willing to lead and let the chips fall where they may. We need a proactive leader. We need a leader, period and I mean PERIOD!

If it's going to take money to get the job done, I say "Go for it."

The fact is, we pay more for someone to carry a pigskin across the goal line than we pay to carry the burdens of Chief Executive Officer of the United States of America. That, my friends, is probably why we're stuck with four really dumb shits after the job.

And that's MY AMERICAN OPINION, respectfully submitted.

Two-Faced Hypocritcal BS

Saw some jerk from the Senate on the news this morning explaining why they did not pass a provision to allow the Bush administration to continue eavesdropping on international conversations. Evidently, the House version allows that telephone companies who have been doing this for the government shall have amnesty against any legal proceedings not only in the future, but also for past events.

This jerk goes on to say that no one should have amnesty from doing illegal things.

Yet, Congress and the President would have us give amnesty to the illegal aliens.

BULLSHIT! PURE, UNADULTERATED BULLSHIT!

And that is MY AMERICAN OPINION, respectfully submitted.

After 54 Years As A Registered Republican..... I Hereby Cancel My Registration

The "not so Grand Old Party" has shifted so far to the left that I can no longer stomach its ideologies or its dullard candidates. I am beyond disgusted.

That IS MY AMERICAN OPINION, short and final.

We've Already Taken A Gigantic Political Step Back In Time

Prior to 1912, there was the Democratic Republican Party, which split. Now, 96 years later, we have the Democratic Republican Party, pure and simple. Everybody has the same lip syncs, the same BS.... and there are no leaders.

And that's MY AMERICAN OPINION, respectfully submitted

Urgent Message to Current Congress, President & All Wannabees

WE AMERICANS ARE SICK AND TIRED OF THE LIP SERVICE AND THE BULLSHIT!

GIVE US BACK OUR DAMNED COUNTRY!!!

That's MY AMERICAN OPINION, respectfully submitted

UFO's: Are They Real? Do We Have Anything To Fear?

Yes, I have seen a UFO. In fact, I have seen UFO's on two separate occasions spanning two decades. Were they from out of this planet? I do believe so. Based upon my knowledge and experience, I would say so.

Does that mean that all reported UFO sightings are real? No. I think about 95% of them are from people who do not know what they are looking at. They are explainable. It's the other 5% of the sightings that I will address.

There IS activity in our skies that cannot be explained... even if you account for "advanced technology."

So, what makes me an expert? I'm not. I suppose that those two sightings could be explained away.... A little spin might do it. The problem is that the first sighting was a ground sighting and involved two other people. And, it happened in 1964 in southern Idaho. All three of us were in the Air Force at the time. I was a surveyor and relied on knowledge of the stars to fix my positions. I was also a pilot. The other two were surveyors and one of them had been involved in flight operations for years. I think I have a pretty good feel for what is real, and what is not.

My second sighting was in Las Vegas, around 1975. I was standing in a parking lot at night when someone else called my attention to it. It was airborne, about 1,000 feet above ground level, circular from the bottom appearance, had different colored strobe lights around its perimeter, and was eerily silent. I would make its speed fairly slow, about 75 knots.... traveling west to east for about five minutes and then it headed straight up at a very high rate of speed.... and disappeared.

Was I afraid? I was scared to death on the first sighting. I was entranced with the second. Am I afraid now? Hell no. Any society of beings who has the technology to travel stellar distances certainly has the capacity to do whatever harm it wants to do to us. The fact that this has not happened assures me that, although we are not alone, we have nothing to fear.

When I read about the UFO sightings that others have experienced, I myself dismiss most of them. Some of them describe what I could have seen in 1975.... similar descriptions. Those reports interest me.

Now, let's presume that the US Government knows about them and they are covering up that fact. Why? Because they are afraid of mass hysteria? No, I do have enough confidence in our government, as frayed as it is, to think that they would convey to us any threat, no matter where it comes from. So, that further assures me that we have nothing to fear.

Beyond that, I can conjecture nothing. Why are they here? Who knows? Maybe they are responding to our searches for extra-terrestrial intelligence. Maybe they want a good car deal. But, the fact that there has been no overt confrontation, the fact that they seem to try and stay out of our way... These things convince me that they are friends and not enemies. Those stories of abduction and experimentation don't fit with this scenario, so I dismiss them. I'm sure they know how we reproduce and what out pain tolerances are.

And that is my post for this day. What do I think about what has recently been sighted in Texas? Based on what I've seen, the videos of a light dancing around I would say is either the camera was bouncing around or the object had something to do with our national "star wars" research. On the other hand, there was a picture taken in the daylight of an object that bears resemblance to other unexplained sightings and, from the bottom, could match up with what I saw in Vegas that night.

That all having been said, we are not alone, and

That's MY AMERICAN OPINION, respectfully submitted.

28 Years Of Crappy Washington Leadership: The Bitch In The White House

George H.W. Bush was a poor performer. So was Congress. Bill Clinton was a piss poor President; so was Congress. George W. Bush is certainly a lackluster leader and THIS Congress sucks big time. That'll add up to 28 years of crappy Washington leadership when the next Congress and President take their oaths of office.

There's not a Republican who can defeat Obama or Clinton, and the Clinton camp is already targeting Obama big time. The foregone conclusion is that Hillary will be the next President and Bill will be back in charge. If you have any question about that statement, you need to study southern political history.

Unless some proverbial knight on a white steed comes thundering to the rescue on a third party ticket, which I don't see happening, we're going to have eight more years of crappy Washington leadership.

What a sad commentary on 21st Century America.

That is MY AMERICAN OPINION, despairingly submitted.

POLITICS: Why Edwards And Thompson Need To Stay In Their Races

To begin with, let's rule out those who are not players in 2008.... and let's focus on two two-person races: (1) Clinton & Obama, and (2) McCain and Romney.

Narrowing in on the Democratic party, let's examine the probabilities. Obama is riding on the "wave" right now. There is some backlash over Clinton campaign remarks and some other "dirty tricks" being played by the Clintons. At the same time, many powerful figures within the Democratic party have a genuine fear of the Clinton political machine and the potential for Hillary to win their party's nomination. That's why you see so many party leaders coming forward in these last few days to support Obama.

But, do we forget how skillfull Clinton organizers are? Do we forget how many times Bill was in serious, and I do mean serious, political trouble during his Presidency? Yet, he survived, time and time again. So, there was this "race" gaffe. Or, was it a "gaffe?" Could it have been a well-planned and well-rehearsed strategy to call out the issue of race without dirtying the hands of the candidates? (Bill and Hillary are both candidates here, whether you recognize that or not,). The Clintons are well known for their ability to have a "supporter" make a "slip of the tongue" in order to poison the atmosphere in their favor. Attorneys do this all of the time in front of juries..... then manage an apology to the Court while knowing all of the time that their "seed" has been planted in the minds of every juror in the box.

Look for this tactic to continue as the immediate days go on, particularly in the south. The Clintons know fully well that, when a true southerner steps to the poll to cast his vote, the thought of a black as President is going to have a profound impact. And, in the northern states, look for the Clinton supporters to slip with the "Osama rhymes with Obama," "Barack HUSSEIN Obama," and "Black Muslim," cards. Again, when the northerners cast their votes, they will have to be mentalizing the pictures of the World Trade Center coming down in flames and rubble.

So, I propose that Hillary is going to be totally in the driver's seat as their party heads off for the Convention unless..... there is another, palatable alternative. And that, my friends, has to be John Edwards.

So much for the Democrats. Now, let's look at the Republicans.

Romney is going to be toast for being a Mormon just as Obama is going to be toast for being black. This is not to say that I am a bigot; far from that. I'm just laying out the land for how it really is. Besides, Romney has flip-flopped on too many major issues. So, where's Huckabee? Huckabee is going to be toast for a different reason; he does have some appearance of being weak but, beyond that, his name is way too much like "Hickabee." He doesn't stand a chance against the 2008 political machines.

McCain appears to be the Republican hope at this point in time. However, there is an underlying conservatism in the party that is growing. Call it a desire to return to Reaganism if you want. McCain has distanced himself from most things Reagan stood for and he has alienated a lot of people along the way. One of the big reasons he lost his behind in Nevada was that he is openly against legalized sports betting and has made several runs at shutting Nevada bookies down. He points to all of the hundreds of millions of dollars being bet in Nevada and the possibilities of illegal influences on professional and college sporting contests; he fails to mention the BILLIONS of dollars being illegally bet in other states, largely through organized crime, or the fact that closing down Nevada would ultimately just add to the latter figure. McCain is also known for inviting leaders of Native American tribes to Washington to "pow wow," and then having the audacity to refuse to make an appearance himself or to listen to their concerns. These are only two examples of his arrogance.

So, the Republicans need Fred. He's conservative, he appears to be forthright and honest, and he stands a much better chance at being a successful President than anyone else currently in the running for the Republican nomination.

In closing, Americans need to have a choice when they go to the polls in November. Edwards vs. Thompson would certainly give us a choice better than we have had in any election over the last 20 plus years.

And that is MY AMERICAN OPINION, respectfully submitted.

Screw You, ACLU!

The American Civil Liberties Union has finally, really pissed me off.

We have our American young men and women, fighting to protect our country and OUR liberties who face death square in the eye every day. The ACLU now says: "They are federal employees, wearing federally owned uniforms, on 24-hour a day federal time... and they have absolutely no right to pray. When they put on the uniform and go off to serve our country, that's their choice. So, prayer is not allowed. Separation of religion and state."

Well, it's about freedom OF religion and not about freedom FROM religion. I will pray any damned time I want, where I want, when I want, to Whom I want, whether on my time or not. I am a free man and I have the right to exercise prayer, period.

How DARE you infringe upon or try to impede upon this right that I fought for and my parents fought for.

If that offends your facist, dictatorial bad ass, then get it the hell out of America, LAND OF THE FREE, ONE NATION UNDER GOD!

That MY AMERICAN OPINION, respectfully and emphatically submitted.

Hillary's Not Out

Anyone who thinks that Hillary's third place finish in Iowa, or the fact that several polls show her behind 10 points in New Hampshire, has no concept whatsoever about the capabilities of the Clinton poilitical machine.

Way back in 1997 when Bill was in deep pigeon doo, I began to predict that Hillary would run for the Presidency and that she would win. Everyone I made that prediction to poohed the idea. The prediction was made on two foundations: (1) southern governors have been successfully running their wives for decades in order to circumvent term limits, and (2) the Clinton political machine is huge and well-polished.

In the unlikely event that Hillary does not get the Democratic nomination, you still can't count her out; she could run on a Third Party platform and win big time just by detracting votes from the democrats and republicans.

Even if Hillary should happen to be 40 points behind on election eve in November, I would not count her out until the electoral college meets.

Once you have power, it becomes all-consuming.

That's MY AMERICAN OPINION, respectfully submitted.

Here I Sit... Past, Present, Future

Here I sit, plunking on a Bluetooth keyboard in front of a fully computerized entertainment system that can send digitalized sound and video into any room of my house at my mere command. It's Christmas Eve in the foothills of the Southern Cascades, and the bitter chill of the night nips at my sweatered bod, while wafts of warm wood stove heat inch their way down the hallway from living room to study.... And, as my weathered old hands slam their two principle digits upon the keys in front of me, my mind wanders back to my childhood and the cold, metal keys of a black typewriter upon which I wrote my first entry into the oblivion of time.

The mind wanders and remembers... creating my own ukulele at the local community center that was filled with those, old and young, who wanted to assemble their hearts and minds in a joint venture to fill the nights with Arthur Godfrey's music. Saturday nights were bingo nights and, sometimes, I even got to call the numbers. The key ingredient to those days, now that I look back, is that the locals all got together and did something; either it was entertaining or it was productive.

I really want to go on with this dialogue, because I feel that it has a valid point that we all need to sit back and consider. But, as I move on into the "today," I get angry. I find it difficult to express my feelings while displaying my frustrations in that we have allowed our evolution as a species to transcend our values as humans.

And, now I want to preach. About why we are who we are today, and why we are not functioning as a civilized and organized society.

Have you seen the latest iPod?

GOD BLESS AMERICA AT CHRISTMAS TIME. MAY WE RELEARN THE VALUES OF THE PAST AND RENEW OUR LIVES ON A POSITIVE PATH OF CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY STRENGTHS AND BELIEFS.

That's MY AMERICAN OPINION, respectfully submitted.