We need to quit with the political rhetoric and get on with solving the real problems that face this country. And as long as we keep getting caught up in the political games, we are not going to get anywhere, fast. One thing I heard Pickens say, that I agree with…

We are paying for both sides of the war that we`re in. Source : CNN.com – Transcripts

It’s true, and it’s crazy.

It is getting crazy. Friday our local gas prices went up about 5 cents. I filled up somewhere near the top of that price range, around $3.49 a gallon. And that price was still there on Saturday.

On the way to work today, just 2 days later, that same gas station had the price at $3.61 a gallon.

Now c’mon people, what is up with that. Really, what is causing the gas prices to go up 15 cents almost overnight?

I personally think we need to start looking at drilling more in our own Country and build some refineries. Why do we have to continue to rely on the Middle East for oil? What deals have we made in the past that is locking us into this?

And do not try to tell me it is all President Bush’s fault, I don’t buy it. This has been coming for a lot longer than his administration has been around.

Ron Paul is the Peter Pan of Politics. No matter how much he wants me to believe, I still know he can not fly.

During the last debate in South Carolina Ron Paul made George W Bush look like an oratory expert. I can not recall anyone being so far off base as Paul appeared to be. At one point the person asking a question even had to ask Ron what he was responding to, because it did not sound like anything that could be connected to the question.

For me, Ron Paul is not the answer. I can understand how people could be pulled in to his camp, but just being the outsider with a fresh voice is not enough.

It is obvious that Hillary Clinton learned some things from Bill. Former President Bill Clinton understood how to work a crowd and give a speech, and now Hillary shows the rest of the candidates how to connect with the new Internet generation. Her Soprano’s Spoof video was excellent and has certainly led to a lot of attention via the Internet.

Not sure that her selection of a Celine Dion tune was the right choice though.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shKJk3Rph0E[/youtube]

I think I might vote for the first candidate that answered a yes or no question, with, a YES or NO.

Every candidate goes on and on, running over, talking on and on when it is obvious that their time is up. If a guy can not follow simple instructions, can we trust him as our Commander in Chief?

There is a new cartoon television show about our current President. Like him or not, this is not good. It is one thing to have free speech, it is entirely different to be disrespectful of your leaders and country in a manner that makes the world look at us as a democracy run amuck.

And we wonder why the rest of the world no longer respects us, we do not respect ourselves.

Each week candidates can perform anything they want, a poem, a dance, a song, or anything else they want.

Then we call in our votes and narrow it down. With a little over 500 days left before the next election, it’s the perfect time.

Once again, looks like John Kerry is the best thing for the Republicans. Kerry insulted anyone in the United States Military by saying…

“education, if you make the most of it and you study hard, you do your homework and make an effort to be smart, you can do well. If you don’t you get stuck in Iraq.” Source : John Kerry

According to some reports, Kerry just messed up a punch line. And that is believable, but, what he said was probably what he was thinking. And now it seems he has upset both Democrats and Republicans and cancelled some engagements. To know that he really messed up, even Hillary Clinton called the comments “inappropriate”. And as usual it’s a wordfest for both sides. Everyone is jumping on this one, from John McCain to President Bush there will be no escaping this in the politcal highlight reels for some time to come.

First Iran and now North Korea. I guess I am not as up on world events as I need to be, but, I am very unclear at was has changed so drastically over the last couple of years to bring Nuclear Weapons back into focus.

It is obvious there was a nuclear device exploded at Pyongyang on Monday. Now what happens? And where is the talk about our National Missile Defense? And what happened to The Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) that President Ronald Reagan proposed in 1983, called the Star Wars program?

As usual, I now realize I should keep up with the news more, or maybe not, is there anything that I can do about any of it anyway?

Pray !

Google is on a roll. More like a massive snowball rolling downhill, they have released so many excellent systems over the last 6 months it is amazing. And they have gone back and updated a lot of the older systems. Just look at the list:

• Google Reader
• Google Groups
• Google Personalized Home Page
• Google Gadgets
• Google Base
• Google Maps API v2
• Google Calendar API
• Google Web Toolkit
• Google AJAX Search API
• Google Checkout API
• Google Gadgets for Your Page

Microsoft who ? The other big movers seem to be in the video market these days. YouTube continues to be extremely popular, and that is why the rumors were bound to start about Google buying YouTube.

And lets not forget all that social software business and sites like MySpace.

Ok, forget about the Net. Is there anything good on TV, well, yes and no. Seems like we have a million choices with only a handful of shows we may want to watch. Once again, thanks to technology I can trust my DVR to capture just what I want and forget about the rest.

Of course, soon I may be able to afford to drive around again with Gas prices teetering at the $2.00 mark. Now isn’t that funny, in just over a year, we go from thinking $2 is outrageous on gas to thinking it’s a steal. Tell me we can’t be programmed!

It is a beautiful place, and it has some of the nicest people in the world, but, it is really a crazy place to live.

When Frank Melton was running for Mayor of Jackson it sounded great, a man on a mission that would take all the necessary actions to straighten out the crime. Now that agenda appears to be totally upside down. Oh there’s a surprise, a politician who did not deliver what he promised.

If you are not familiar with the area, just read this article, it is sure to make your head swirl just trying to follow who is who and what they are doing.

Did someone convince the oil companies that they had enough profits or are they just teasing us?

$2.43 is still ridiculous, but, I am glad to see a little relief. Now if gasoline prices would drop some more I could afford to go to the grocery store.

In a lot of ways it already seems that we have forgotten what tragedies struck us at the hands of terrorists on September 11, 2001 (911).

Please do not forget. As we forget how critical these events were in our history, it will certainly change the course of our future. We need to be aware that those who attacked us, are still on the loose. We must continue to be concerned for our country’s security, even if it means we are “put out” a little with procedures at our airports, railways and ports.

As I watch the news and see the Media publishing private comments by world leaders that was picked up by a microphone, I can not fathom how anyone can see that as right. No wonder we can’t win a battle anymore, we tell our enemies everything. And if that was not enough we have our own people trashing our leaders and making us look like a small fragmented society instead of a world leader.

I admit my ignorance on the critical issues, I am not 100% clear on what is going on in Lebanon, Israel, Iran or anywhere else in the Middle East. But that is what our leaders are for. And whether you agree with your country’s leaders, they are your leaders and need your support.

I try to teach my children these lessons and it is getting very hard in today’s society. We tell them to respect their parents and obey the laws, and yet we have a world full of 24/7 media trashing our own country and being disrespectful.

With all the problems in the world community today and the inability of fixing anything by anyone, I wonder what would happen if all of a sudden the United States just pulled out of every place that is not our soil and proclaimed…

“We are now going to practice Isolationsim”

Kill each other, we don’t care, go ahead, really, it’s ok. We believe we have everything we need to protect ourselves and our borders are now closed. It’s going to be a little tougher on our people than they are accustomed to, but, we can get by.

Good luck.

And yes, I know, the answer to the very first question is, Probably Not !