The Big Lie

Hi Everyone,

Well it's happening again and we all are powerless to stop it and its ravaging effects it has on all of our lives. If it continues, which all the analysts seems to predict that it will, it will have major effects on our economy. What am I talking about?............. the increases in the price of crude oil which raises the price of gasoline.

I blogged about this back in March 2009 and now we are in the same sinking boat when it comes to trying to control the price of gas. Did you know that Iran supplies the United States with 2.5% of our oil? Yes it is true. Even though we shouldn't be buying anything from them, but that is another topic for another day. Now with all the talk about Iran, nuclear weapons and their threats to shut down the Straits of Hormuz, the price of gasoline is on a very real path to top $5.00 per gallon very soon.

There is no shortage of oil, no matter what you hear. So what are the real reasons for the surge in prices? The first three reasons are: speculators, speculators and more speculators. Speculators are the main reason why oil prices are on the rise. Speculators love to hear about any bad news coming out of the middle east. The more bad news, the higher they speculate and consequently, the more money they make. As I have said numerous times, common sense dictates that speculating should be banned when it comes to energy or food. What ever happened to economics 101 and let supply and demand determine the price of oil and food and not a bunch of number crunchers thriving on betting on oil and food prices rising. Just imagine how much lower oil and food prices would be without having speculators involved?

Don't believe what you read or hear; neither political party has any real viable way of lowering oil prices. More drilling doesn't solve the problem in the short run. It takes over 5 years to bring a new off shore oil rig to production. But then shouldn't we be trying to become less dependant on oil period? BP's oil rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico in April 2010, demonstrated that oil companies and their subcontractors will take whatever shortcuts they think they can get away with. Take shortcuts and disasters will absolutely happen. Do we need any more proof than what happened in April 2010?! Off shore drilling must be done in a way that absolutely protects both people and the environment. But at the same time, we should be pushing harder and much faster for alternative fuels and energy production.

Til next week.

Peter

Why Is It?

Hi Everyone,

Have you ever had a conversation with someone and asked a question that was not answered? I don't mean that your question was ignored. I mean that your question was answered with a beating around the bush, gobbly gook of words that didn't answer your question. If you repeat your question and the answer you receive is more of the same; how would you handle it? But what if the majority of the time you asked a question to this same person and you almost always got the same beating around the bush answers? How much respect would you have for that person? I'm not sure of your answer, but my answer would be not much respect. Would you also believe everything that this person told you? Or would you begin to question what they are saying.

So here it is Sunday and like almost every Sunday, I like to watch different network's Sunday news programs to stay abreast of what is going on in this country and the world as a whole. Lately politics is a prime topic and I am never surprised by the answers given by politicians. Even if they are asked a simple yes or no question, they can't give a simple yes or no answer. Why is that? Only they know for sure. But almost every time I see a politician being interviewed, I hear spin, mistruths, exaggerations and sometimes even outright lies to promote their side and keep their constituent base happy. Nothing else seems to matter. Sometimes they will say outrageous things to keep themselves not just in the news, but as a top news story.

Again, politicians show by their own actions and words that they do not know the meaning of common sense. Hopefully, voters will sort through all of the gobbly gook and make their decisions based on facts period, no spin, just the facts. It really can be that simple.

Til next week.

Peter

Is There a Correlation?

Hi Everyone,

I am sure that every single one of you have heard about today's topic. You would think that after about 20 years people would know better, but it still keeps on happening. But today's topic has an unusual twist to it.

So there I was last week, grocery shopping, minding my own business, when I turned into the next aisle and it all started. As soon as I could see down the aisle, there was this woman, maybe 30-40 years old, my guess, having a very loud conversation on her cell phone. Anyone within ear shot, every pun intended, could hear every word the woman was saying. She held the phone with her left hand while picking items off the shelves with her right hand. I didn't really pay much attention since I see and hear this upon occasion. A few aisles later we passed again and she was still on the phone and still talking loudly. Wouldn't you know that we then both ended up at the check out at approximately the same time, although she was about 4 lines over. Again I could hear almost every word she said. My thoughts were that the woman had no common sense to talk loud enough for other people to hear. She knew other people heard her on the phone by the stares she gave back to the people who stared at her. End of story?!

Oh no way could that be the end of the story. As I waiting to turn left at the exit traffic light, which was red, a compact car raced up, on my right, to the light and hardly even stopped before turning right. That caused a car in the intersection to slam on their brakes. The driver of the compact car was the same woman that I saw in the store and she was......wait......for.....it......... still on the phone. So I ask, is there a correlation between people who talk loudly on their cell phones and poor driving habits? Both display a lack of common sense, but when they are combined, watch out. So my answer is a definitive yes!

Til next week.

Peter