Who's to blame for this Oil Spike!

It is interesting to watch as the press seemingly does not want anything to do with the current oil price spike.  As oil and gasoline prices have risen dramatically over the past couple weeks, the silence has been deafening with regards to the press and its lack of criticism of President Obama and his administration.  A few years back, however the liberal media could not get to their computers fast enough to blame the Bush administration for the oil spike.  Liberal writers like Thomas Friedman lobbed massive amounts of criticism toward the Bush Administration for its "failed" energy policy.  Was some of this criticism warranted?  Possibly.  But if one is going to criticize President Bush, for his policies, one would have to also criticize pretty much every President's that preceded him going back several generations.

But there has been no criticism from the mainstream press about President Obama's equally short sited and horribly flawed energy policy (if there is in fact any energy policy) since he has been in office.  In fact President Obama's foreign, economic, and energy policies can easily be blamed for the spike in oil and gas prices.

The fact is that our country is years away from a viable alternative solution to oil, that is both somewhat cheap and efficient.  When the last spike happened, it became clear that the US is extremely vulnerable to such a spike.  The answers then were clear.  Intellegent thinking people said the US should 1) explore and develop its own sources of oil and energy, that are all over the US (places like ANWR, the Gulf of Mexico) and 2) use tax breaks and incentives to spur research and development into alternative sources of energy.

Bush tried in his last few months to open up oil exploration, but as soon as Obama became president he stopped that stuff cold.  Furthermore, when the spill happened in the gulf last summer, Obama used that excuse to place a six month moratorium on oil drilling.  Many of those off shore rigs have now been moved to other parts of the world and are being used there.  So even though the moratorium has been lifted, drilling is not going on.  There are also massive amounts of oil under a tiny portion of ANWR and the northern US that have yet to be tapped.  Some estimates put these reserves at as much as what is underneath the Middle East.  Obama refuses to allow more exploration and drilling, and has told everyone to not worry about the rising oil prices.  Its easy for him to say, as he lives in the White House with his secret service detail, fleet of limousines, helicopters and Air Force One, but people like me that are struggling to make ends meet in a teetering economy, are worried that any of what little extra we have, will soon go toward putting gasoline in our cars.

Remember, Mr. President, the last time such a spike happened, the party in power lost both houses in congress and the White House.  Good luck on that "Don't worry" strategy.

Visit my blog for more frequent posts.

I am going to start posting daily.  Most of the posts on this blog will be political in nature.  Remember, however, these are the Random Rumblings that bound through my head, so they will be somewhat personal in nature.  Please stop by and visit as often as you like. Feel free to leave a comment.

Burning the Qaran

Let me start by saying that the burning of the Qur'an that is being planned by some minister in Florida, while protected by the Constitution, is insensitive, ill-advised, inflammatory, and just plain stupid. The vast vast majority of Americans on both sides of the political spectrum are opposed to this act.

Therefore, if the "Muslim World" ignites over this, and the ranks of terrorist organizations increase as a direct result of this, these people already hate America and simply are looking for an excuse to engage in jihad against the infidel.

If a Muslim cleric decided to do this same thing in an arab country, would the vast majority of the Muslims in that country implore that Muslim cleric to exercise some restraint and to respect the beliefs of Christians? I seriously doubt it.

My Review of Inception

I had the pleasure of seeing Inception last night. All I have to say is Christopher Nolan is a master film maker(and he has a crazy imagination). This is now the 4th Nolan film I have seen (Memento, The Prestige, The Dark Knight), and I have liked every one of them. I loved TDK, but that is because I am a Batman fanatic and loved his reinvention of the franchise. Of the other films mentioned, this is by far his best work and in some ways, dare I say, exceeds TDK.

The movie is original, engrossing and visually stunning. But what is great is that the visual effects are driven by the story, not the other way around (as in movies like Transformers). I am sure that this film will be put into the class of great science fiction films like Blade Runner, The Matrix, Gattaca, and 2001 (not my favorite). I was entertained, because I bought into the premise which actually is simple enough. Cobb (Leo Decaprio) is a person who leads a team into other peoples minds through a process called dream sharing. Once in, his team steals the secrets of their mark. Saito (Ken Wantanbe) hires Cobb and his team to sneak into the mind of Robert Fischer Jr. (Cillian Murphy) to plant in him an idea that will ultimately cause him to dismantle his father's multinational corporation. The problem is that this type of dream manipulation is not only dangerous, but has never been done because to plant a foreign idea in someone else's dream is more difficult than having a person walk into a room filled with motion detectors and not be detected.

What intrigued me as much as plot were the insights into the mind and dreams. For me at least the premise was totally believable, even if it is in reality impossible. But of course that is what great science fiction does. The great science fiction films and books take premises that are probably impossible, but through great writing and directing, make them POSSIBLE and believable.

Rotten Tomatoes gives it a combined 84% on its tomato meter. Personally I think those that did not give the film positive reviews just did not get it. Whether it was to complicated or they did not like the ending, which does bake ones noodle a bit, I could not disagree more. This is one of those films like The Usual Suspects, and The Matrix where I would love to have my memory wiped and to be able to see it for the first time all over again. This movie was simply fantastic.

***** out of ***** stars.

Illegal immigration is not a racial issue

It is amazing how the left has come out and tried to paint the new Illegal immigration law in Arizona as a racial issue, painting those who support it as a bunch of knee-jerk, red neck, cross burning klansmen. However the truth is always such a horrible thing when talking about this issue. The fact is is that the US Government, which has the constitutional mandate to protect US borders, has utterly failed, and furthermore seems to be turning a blind eye to what has become a serious problem in border states like Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Texas. Illegal immigrants make up 15% of the total prison population in the United States. And to top it off, it is estimated that educating illegal immigrants is costing the US 78 billion dollars, most of this burden is put on the states.

In Arizona, according to an article I found, in 2005, illegal immigration costs account for more than 1.3 billion dollars. Considering the fact that the State has a 1.4 billion dollar shortfall, one can see how getting illegals out of this state will help to balance the budget.

No one is arguing the fact that many illegal immigrants come here to seek a better life. But the fact is is that they drain the economy of capital resources without paying their fair share of taxes. Many of these illegals commit identity theft so that they can work here in the US, by using stolen social security numbers and forged ID documents. Many other illegals come here and simply break the law.

The law was and is the right thing to do. If the federal government ever becomes concerned with protecting our borders, then maybe AZ police forces can stand down, but until then. This step must be taken.

Desert News

SLOOF LIRPA is April Fools backwards. GOTCHA!

Tea Partiers....Its time for a March on Washington

It is time we showed these buffoons what a tea party activist is. I am one. We need to March on Washington. We need to show Obama and his band of minions what it means to peaceably assemble. We need to go to Washington this summer and show these people that we mean business...That we love this country and the founding principals that this republic was built on. This is not a social democracy.

Its time. Who's with me.