Republican or Democrat

I have never been a Democrat. Now I must wonder if I am a Republican. Both parties are behaving like idiots. Uppermost in my mind : The energy problem
( soon to be a crisis ).
There are about ten easy steps to be taken that will solve the problem. I will list a few of them (You all know them unless you are a congressman)
1) Remove all the restrictions on drilling for our oil. This includes the East Coast and the West coast as well as Alaska. The shale oil and tar sands should be developed at once. The environmental impact of this is very small. The petroleum industry has new methods for clean drilling.
2)Get started at once building more nuclear power plants. We have 108 of them at present and they are old but reliable. We could use 100 more. Modern designed plants will be more efficiet and even safer.
3)Shoot the enviromentalist. ( Just kidding ). What I really mean is, the wild eyed ones that are obstructist should be ignored.
There are many more things that need to be done but the above have a wonderful
simplicity and a huge advantage. They would cost the Government nothing. Private industry would gladly do it all at their own expense. We, the struggling public would benefit with lowered gasoline prices.
Unforunately, these measures would take time, years and years. Why didn't we get started ten years ago ? Ask your congressman.

Papayas (again)

Quasimoto was doing very well until the other day. Five well formed young ones and what looks like another fifty on the way. I discovered a group of ants crawling about and puncturing
the babies. They then oozed white stuff which the ants were harvesting and carrying away.
We have instituted a 24 hour watch but they are sneaky and slip by from time to time. Now I have sprayed Quasi ( My affectionate name for the tree ) with anti ant spray. Success for the
moment.

Of all the colonial hymenopterous insects, the formicidae are my least favorite. There are many different types, most of them swarming about our modest garden. We have enormous black ants with the annoying habit of crawling onto ones arm or leg.Nasty fire ants also like to get on ones body and they pack a nasty sting. I remember , as a child, that big red ants were prevalent. We see very few of them in this area. The ones after the papayas are black and medium sized. I don't suppose there is any way to eliminate them.

Papaya

Two years ago daughter Kathy presented me with a tiny papaya tree. She was aware of my failed efforts from previous years and so ( bless her ) she gave me this miserable specimen, root bound and bent over. I called it Quasimoto and stuck it unceremoniously into the ground.
It grew slowly and the first year produced blossoms which promptly fell off. Year two and it has gotten to about 7 feet ( a shrimp by papaya standards). Now it has produced many blossoms and they are all turning into papayas. I expect a bountiful harvest. Isn't that good news ?

The bad news-- I hate papayas. Never has a more tasteless fruit been produced by mother nature.

Next I will thrill my readers with the heart warming story about our beans and tomatoes.

Grand Opera

There are a few arias in some operas that I fund to be beautiful but they are just bits and
pieces hooked onto stupid stories. Therefore, it is safe to say that I am not an opera buff.

Jan is an opera buff. She listens to her tapes and discs while doing her chores. Not often does she have a chance to actually go to the opera and so she jumped at the chance to go last night.
Some sort of a deal allowed her to pay only $30.00 for seats that normally go for $150.00.
She came home very pleased with the experience. I was appalled at the $30.00 price
(We could have purchased a disc of the whole thing for less) and can not even imagine anyone paying the full $150.00 price.

It seems that many people have so much money that it no longer has any meaning. I often wonder what it would be like to be in that position. Thousands of dollars for a super bowl ticket.
A small fortune to hear Banana Nose (My affectionate name for Streisand), hotel rooms for thousands per night and meals costing hundreds of bucks. My worries are much simpler. $3.50 for a gallon of gas, $4.00 for a gallon of milk.

MORE RANDOM THOUGHTS

It seems to me that the media is making much to much about the Pope"s visit. I agree with the general coverage, he is a swell dude and much admired even by non -Catholics but---
That Popemobile is the worst looking vehicle ever designed by human hand, I would find it demeaning just to look at it, let alone ride in it.
That crazy hat that he seems to wear on ceremonial occasions is simply awful. He better stay awake while wearing it. If he happens to nod off it becomes horribly obvious. And how can he
not nod off while attending some of the events which he must attend ?

RANDOM THOUGHTS

I have recently noticed that many people suddenly have very white teeth. There are many shades of white but tooth color isn't that bright reflective white. Some celebrities teeth practically glow in the dark. This confirms my suspicion that many people are idiots.

Why do people riot ? Perhaps the Haitians who seem to be starving have a pretty good excuse.
Most American riots seem strange. They often take place during the week when all good people are a t work. I must assume that the rioters are all unemployed. Sometimes their causes seem a little less than pressing. Do the recent disturbances in San Francisco seem to be of pressing concern? Do you suppose that the rioters even know where Tibet is ?

Global warming seems to have stalled during the last few years. Hmm- Do you suppose that the warming theory has been exaggerated ? My theory is that it is a self correcting situation.More warmth creates more clouds which reflect the suns rays back into space and hence cool things down.

WHAT IF I WERE A MULTI-BILLIONARE ?

Those who have been reading my blog know that I like to imagine things.
I have posed as a professor of economics ( See my course in Economics 101 ),
a professor of civics ( see Civics 101 ) and as a dictator.
Now I have become an obscenely wealthy person and my problem is , what to do with all this dough. Naturally, I have a ready answer. Although I sympathise with the poor and the sick
and I see a great need to improve education, none of these appeal to my generosity.
We note, with some dismay, that Ford Motor Company finds itself in dire straits. This bothers me so much that I am willing to invest my billions in some sort of a bailout. Why would I do such a thing?
FOMOCO probably employs over 100,000 people. There may be 3000 agencies selling
Ford products. Each agency likely employs 40 people. Something like 250,000 people depend on these jobs. Including their families, we are talking about close to 1,000,000 people who would be left without support should the company go out of business.
Those of us that show any interest in automobiles know that Ford products are excellent.
They have vehicles of all types. Why aren't we buying more of them ? There is a perception that imported cars are superior. I don't believe this. US auto manufacturers have greatly improved the quality of their product.
I, of course, am now running the company and know of many management steps that must be taken. Step one: get labor and management talking to one another to set reasonable salary adjustments for both parties. That is the most important thing.
I really don't want to see this, the year of our Ford 100 to be the last one. Lets all go out and buy a Ford ASAP.