Humpday Happenings...
The late Art Linkletter once had a show on the earlier days of television called: Kids Say the Darnedest Things (later Bill Cosby revived it for a time), and my folks and I always laughed at the the wonderful innocence the children displayed when they did say something cute or funny.
To hear the way kids believe something and how they came to know something is unique.
It's also how we all LEARN things.
Beliefs we once held are overturned when we are exposed to the facts.
And facts produce KNOWLEDGE...and, as we all have heard time and again:
KNOWLEDGE IS POWER ("Scientia est Potentia" for you Latin scholars out there).
Moreover, HOW we apply this knowledge leads to something called WISDOM.
And, if you want to know the relationship of knowledge and wisdom, grab a copy of the Bible and check out Proverbs (for a start).
Immanuel Kant once said that:
"Science is organized knowledge; WISDOM is organized life".
*** Now, with that in mind, you can imagine my astonishment when I heard our very own President basically make the following "claim":
"Oil is the energy of the PAST".
(can YOU say Whiskey-Tango-Foxtrot???)
He all; but said it word for word during a press conference yesterday.
(*ahem*)
To say I was more than a tad "flabbergasted" is an understatement!
And it takes a LOT to flabbergast me THESE days, trust me.
I know TWO men who are rolling in their graves at THIS very moment:
Samuel Martin Kier
Edwin Drake
Both were Pennsylvania men, both credited with being the first ones to drill for CRUDE OIL...AND then refine it for lamps (kerosene) in the entire USofA!
Now, Mr. Obama DID go to to HARVARD, right?
I guess the standards of upper level education HAVE "slipped" since I went to school...and the proof IS obvious.
I say that because an "educated" and erudite person would ALREADY KNOW that OIL is an energy source of the PRESENT, as well as the FUTURE.
Let's find out WHY, shall we?
Well, we DO have electric cars now...but since they run on electricity that comes from FOSSIL FUEL plants, they're not "totally" electric, are they?
And just HOW MUCH PLASTIC goes into those cars?
Gee, I recall that PLASTICS are a direct result of the PETROCHEMICAL industries.
Funny how that works out.
And what about the TIRES on that electric car?
The synthetic rubber is composed of components coming directly from OIL and it's many refining processes.
All the LUBRICANTS that manage to keep all the parts sliding off of one another in those electric cars are PETROLEUM-BASED, too...who knew?
Let's not also forget that all the HIGHWAYS those electric cars will travel have OIL somewhere in the mix (of tar used to pave them).
The synthetic FABRICS covering the INTERIORS of those electric cars...yepper, ALSO oil-based.
Well, that just wants to make me rest a spell before my head explodes...and have a bottle of soda.
Oh, wait...the BOTTLE is PLASTIC, too...another oil-based product!
I'd best run back home on those shoes with synthetic soles that have OIL as a component in THEM!
And when I get home, I can walk across my carpet (which is made from used plastic bottles, hence PETROLEUM PRODUCTS)!
See...there's just No getting away from a myriad uses that come from OIL these days...and that applies to our FUTURE as well as our PRESENT.
We will ALWAYS need oil in some capacity...for something.
It is the energy source of NOW and the foreseeable future...until or unless something BETTER and CHEAPER comes the hell along.
(anybody got any ideas along those lines?)
Now, I certainly didn't go to Harvard, and after hearing Obama make that claim, I don't think I'd WANT to go there...even on a full, 4 year paid scholarship!
As gaffs go, he beat out Biden hands down!
That's why it's ALWAYS better to GET YOUR FACTS, and get them STRAIGHT...FIRST, before you open that pie hole and blurt them out.
I would love to have been a fly on the wall of ANY petroleum company's walls yesterday when our President MADE that remark...LOL
You could probably FEEL the executives blood drain from their faces over that one.
Makes a real good case though when you think about our "fearless leader" being OUT OF TOUCH with what's really going on.
Maybe, next time out in the Presidential LIMO, he might want to inquire as to HOW MUCH OIL goes into making that vehicle ROLL.
Just a thought.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch...
*** I've chronicled the misadventures of the "locals" around here since this blog began. And I like to focus on those "problem" houses on the block or in the area..the ones the FWPD, or Neighborhood Code Enforcement, or Child Protective Services SHOULD be closing down, but don't seem to.
Well, once again, right down the street at our (current) #1 problem house come the FWFD and the TRAA...for the second time in as many months.
Now, this is the SAME house that has all the loud-ass traffic coming by from mid-morning to early morning the following day, kids playing IN THE STREET, the "lovers" swapping spit all over the street, drug use, staggering "parent" syndrome, toddlers that pee on utility poles during the day...in other words...these people are 20 miles of BAD ROAD...period.
Lord only knows HOW MANY people are actually LIVING in that place (which would probably be yet ANOTHER violation of city resident code), but you CAN rest assured they are living there on YOUR tax dollars. No one works there (unless you count all the males coming to "visit" the females inside and you can make your own determination what goes one there...I have mine), so you can conclude they're on the dole from the almighty "gub'ment".
(at least the house isn't one of those 12,000 VACANT ones...yeah, right)
So, imagine seeing someone taken from the place each month on a gurney.
I tried to hear on the radio what the person's name was, but (naturally) this was ONE call that TRAA (ambulance medic unit) decided not to put on the air...
Go figure.
I would love to run some records checks on these people IF I knew someone's name.
Wouldn't even surprise me of a LOT of the males that "stop by" have active warrants.
The police apparently don't monitor this house, even after repeated suggestions they have vice/narcotics do so, including pictures taken showing suspicious behavior (like walking down the street smoking a joint).
Well, at least it's good to know that "if" the FWPD can't properly surveil a problem (read drug) house...I sure as hell (still) can.
And I'm available if anyone from the department wants to stop on by and interview me for a position...like THAT would ever happen...LMAO!
*** In today's paper, a story that I found mildly amusing, and not in the way you might think.
It has to deal with potholes. (we ALL have to deal with those, don't we?)
Here's the link to the article:
http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20110216/LOCAL16/302169982
The story talks about (basically) the ANATOMY of a pothole.
That's what I found funny.
Anyone with a few synapses firing KNOWS what causes a pothole.
And they also know what happens when you hit one the "wrong" way....
(visit to the repair shop, or at least a new rim or tire)
The combination of freeze/thaw, road salt and water provides the recipe to cause small cracks to widen and so on and so forth...yada, yada,.yada...
Got it.
Knew that for DECADES...nice to know some things don't change, right?
*** You can't turn on the news today without hearing that FOOD PRICES have risen TWENTY-NINE PERCENT.
The "fingers" of the world point to WHEAT, CORN, and OIL (big surprise on that LAST one...the energy of the past) as the chief "culprits".
Looks like that "old" energy is still the PRESENT energy for our food sources (and the future's).
Again...who knew?
(short answer - we ALL did)
And what an impact rising costs will play on this nation's economic structure...what with a spiralling deficit and lack of revenue.
Makes 'ya wonder WHAT would happen if all these so-called budget cuts in our government were directed at the RIGHT agencies(instead of earmarks which don't add to a whole helluva lot)...like medicare, medicaid and welfare (the BIG three).
I speak to the amount of (as yet undiscovered) FRAUD perpetrated against the taxpayers here.
Might want to make some people get off their duffs and get cracking at some REAL occupation.
Might even make people a bit more RESPONSIBLE.
Or, it might cause nationwide rioting, looting, arson, and assorted breakouts of martial law.
There is that faction within our society that really would LOVE to see that happen.
Fortunately (for the good guys), I'm NOT one of them.
But I do know how such people conduct themselves when they're not constantly given their "fix" of government entitlements.
Be nice to find a way to wean such people off of this insidious (and costly) "drug" that permeates our nation.
We need some form of "alternative" to get people off of this addiction.
Because being addicted to ANYTHING (even being lazy and stupid) is NEVER a good thing...for anyone (especially those suffering from that addiction).
Basic principles...basic solutions...and basic values...that's what we need today.
Settling for less isn't really an option at this point. Not for THIS nation.
Be well, make a difference to someone, and...
Stay safe out there, America.