Yes, that's a fine question Senator Schumer asks. But a wake-up call for what, exactly? A wake-up call to produce more domestic oil? Heaven forbid.

In fact, Mr. Schumer and most of his Democratic colleagues in the Senate--the very crowd shouting the loudest about "obscene" gas prices--have voted uniformly for nearly 20 years against allowing most domestic oil production. They have vetoed opening even a tiny portion of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska to oil and gas production. If there is as much oil as the U.S. Geological Survey estimates, this would increase America's proven domestic oil reserves by about 50%.

They have also voted against producing oil from the Outer Continental Shelf, where there are more supplies by some estimates than in Saudi Arabia. Environmental objections seem baseless given that even the high winds and waves of Hurricane Katrina didn't cause oil spills in the Gulf of Mexico. In the 1970s the environmentalists and their followers in Congress even protested building the Alaska pipeline, which today supplies nearly one million barrels of oil a day. If they've discovered some new law of economics in which a fall in output with rising demand can cause a reduction in price, we'd love to hear it.

The NOAA Fisheries Service released the final report today on the mysterious stranding event of melon-headed whales off the coast of Hawaii in July 2004. Although the exact cause of the stranding is unknown, scientists concluded that navy sonar exercises may have played a role in the stranding.

The oil company profits are not obscene.  As of September of last year the total take for local, state and federal governments for each gallon of gas sold was 46 cents.  In New York that figure is 63 cents.  At the same time gasoline retailers were making about 12 cents on the sale of a gallon of gas.  Right now the government take is approaching an average of 50 cents a gallon.  Retailers are making about 14 cents.  so ... who is making the obscene profit?  The local gasoline retailer invests in the community, buys a plot of ground, builds a gas station, hires the employees, pays the local taxes, deals with the local regulatory agencies, and makes a big screaming 14 cents on each gallon sold.  Meanwhile, the government steps in without having invested one dime in that facility and takes about 50 cents per gallon.  Some obscene profits, right?

As for profit margins ... the amount of money earned for each dollar of sales ... oil companies are nowhere near the top of the list. In 2005 pharmaceutical companies made about 17.6 cents for every dollar of revenue.  That, for those of you educated in government schools, that works out to a 17.6% profit margin for the drug makers.  How about your local bank?  They made about 19.1 cents for every dollar of revenue.  Almost a 20% profit!  Not too shabby.  And what about your household goods and cosmetics?  Those companies earned 11 cents on the dollar.  A lot of competition there.  Now, the oil companies.  What did they make?  In 2005 the average was 8.5 cents per dollar of revenue.  That works out to an 8.5% profit margin. 

The Gubbomint needs to look in the mirror, or as many people would say: "meer."Let's have an investigation into what the "Gubbomint" is doing with it's obscene profits. How many taxes are redundant? How many taxes on a gallon of gas go to funding programs that have nothing to do with transportation? That 's where the investigation should focus. Instead, grand standing idiots in the House and Senate will try to cripple an industry to puff up their re-election bids.

*Escape Goat. A Karl "Malone-ism"

Here is what one dictionary says about that word: "One who betrays another's trust or is false to an obligation or duty." The word so defined is traitor.

But the New York-based Conference Board warned that if fuel prices continue to rise, it would cast a pall on consumer spending, which accounts for two-thirds of all U.S. economic activity.

How can that be what with all the multi-chinned, florid Jabba the Hut "Big Oil" guys gouging us little guys and running away with 400 million dollar retirement packages? 3 arrested in Egyptian resort bombing. Denny Pelosi. When republicans start to sound like democrats RUN!

Few things are less becoming in a political party than desperation, as Republicans are now demonstrating as they panic over rising oil and gas prices. If blaming private industry for Congress's own energy mistakes is the best the GOP can do, no wonder its voters may sit out the November election.

Oil prices hit $75 a barrel last week, while gas has reached a national average of about $2.85 a gallon. The Republican response has been to put on Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi fright wigs (LOL, good one) and shout about corporate greed and market manipulation. House Speaker Denny Hastert and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist fired off a letter to President Bush yesterday demanding the Federal Trade Commission and Justice Department investigate "price fixing" and "gouging." Senator Arlen Specter wants to go further and impose stricter "antitrust" laws for oil companies, as well as a "windfall profits" tax. Mr. Hastert also delighted the class warriors in the press corps by lambasting recently retired Exxon CEO Lee Raymond's pay "unconscionable."

Moussaoui begging for the long walk to Ol' Sparky:



With a mocking round of applause, Zacarias Moussaoui delivered his own sarcastic verdict on US justice, America, and Americans.

The latest example of the Al-Qaeda plotter's savage wit came as he was led from court to the cells Monday after jurors were sent out to decide whether he should die by lethal injection, or spend the rest of his life in prison.

Ooh! I was wrong. I guess lethal injection is on the table. He may get a boo-boo from the injection site (or whatever the latest Human Rights bitch is) so it's best to have several boxes of  those Flintstone's bandages on hand to avoid lawsuits from the ACLUseless and other morons. We must see to it that he doesn't feel any pain. His comfort is paramount....Mike Farell to the rescue.

It's called, "Living With War," and includes songs such as "Shock and Awe" and "Let's Impeach the President." (A fucking brilliant title! How long did it take you to come up with that one?) Young, a Canadian, recorded the album in just three days and calls its musical style, "Metal Folk Protest."

Young, you may remember, said in a 2002 biography that while he draws the line at doing drugs he considers life-threatening, he remains addicted to marijuana, but tries not to smoke too much so as not to "set a bad example for the kids"

Sing it with me now: "I want a cake with a cinnamon swirl, I could be happy the rest of my life with a cinnamon swirl." I've hated him ever since I could remember. He sucks, he's boring, talentless and totally incapable of tuning his guitar... The United States economy is roaring:

By any measure, the economy of the United States of America is booming. Unfortunately, if you watch television news or read the newspaper (remember those?,) everyone thinks we've fallen on hard times. That's too bad.  All that government schooling sure comes in handy for the liberal elites running the press when they want to push the big lie.

Right now, unemployment is at 4.7%.  By any measure, that's very low...approaching full employment.  In fact, in 1996 when Bill Clinton was running for re-election, the media bragged about the unemployment at the time of around 6%.  Why brag?  Because they wanted the public to think things were oh-so-swell so they would keep Clinton in office. So you get the idea...when there's a Democrat in the Oval Office, low unemployment is low, but if it's a Republican, all unemployment is high.  And so the media template goes.

The economy roaring, unemployment at 4.7%, we haven't been attacked since 9/11, fledgling democracies have sprung up in Iraq and Afghanistan inspiring other countries in the region to follow suit, car bombings and US casulties have dropped significantly in Iraq (knock on wood) and Saddam will hang. Any democrat with that track record would have an 80% approval rating. Perception is reality... 

John Forbes Kerry, (who in the late '90s was foaming at the mouth and falling over backwards to depose Saddam Hussein because of the threat posed by his chemical, biological and nuclear weapons stockpiles) is contemplating another White House run.

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Former Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry said on Thursday he was seriously thinking about another White House bid in 2008 and will decide before the year is out.

From Boortz.com:

Charles Krauthammer has an interesting point.  In the 1960's, the left hated generals. In fact, they hated the entire military.  But now that a Republican is in the Oval Office and Donald Rumsfeld is the defense secretary, generals are sainted individuals that deserve our undivided attention!

In the "No Shit" Department: Global Warming not as hideous, dramatic and devastating as previously thought:

Global warming may not be as dramatic as some scientists have predicted.
    U sing temperature readings from the past 100 years, 1,000 computer simulations and the evidence left in ancient tree rings, Duke University scientists announced yesterday that "the magnitude of future global warming will likely fall well short of current highest predictions."
    S upported by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation, the Duke researchers noted that some observational studies predicted that the Earth's temperature could rise as much as 16 degrees in this century because of an increase in carbon dioxide or other so-called greenhouse gases.

Have another bong hit Al, write another book while you're at it. Most of the controversy is peddled by hysterical senators in need of a cause, over zealous regulators and eco-groups whose coffers swell with fear based donations that would make most televangelists green with envy. In fact in LA and other large metropolitan areas they are referred to as "Club Sierra" by the service industries (hotels, convention centers etc.) because of their lavish spending habits, the finest cutlery, caviar, baked Alaska etc...

Today's Blame Bush... Madeline Stoutbright... Michael Moore denied another cinematic opprotunity to exploit death.

The Mission: Impossible star's pledge is another weird twist in the birth planned for his girlfriend Katie Holmes.

Cruise, 43, said: "I'm gonna eat the placenta. I thought that would be good. Very nutritious. I'm gonna eat the cord and the placenta."

Cruise, whose latest movie, Mission: Impossible III, is out soon, also insisted the silent birth dictated by his Scientology beliefs is for Katie's own good.

He said: "It is really about respecting the woman. It's not about her not screaming.

"Ron Hubbard (the founder of Scientology) discovered 50 years ago that during operations when someone's in pain, making noise has a negative spiritual effect on them. 

 Here are some recipes for him.

This is a tasty dish that the whole family will love. It might go well served with rice, especially if the rice is loose and firm.

1. Wash the placenta well, in a colander, then shake it to drain. (it will still leak juices)
2. Stir the egg whites with a fork until they are without lumps.
3. Mix all ingredients well, squishing them by hand.
4. Add a decent amount of oil to a suitable frying pan.
5. Set a burner to high heat, and put the pan on it.
6. Start frying, stiring as if stir-frying or scrambling an egg.
7. The small amount of liquid (seeping from the placenta, plus the egg whites) will come to a boil. You might turn down the heat slightly at this point.
8. Let the liquid boil away and/or solidify onto the broccoli and placenta.
9. When it looks yummy, serve it.
   
   

   Warning

   As with any meat from uncontrolled sources (such as hunting or scavanging) people should be cautious of risks involved. Certain blood borne diseases can live in blood and tissue outside the body for some time. Be sure that sensible precautions have been taken.
   
   
   Tasty looking, mouth watering indeed! Soylent Green. Soylent Green. (Courtesy of Boortz.com)

Major General Charles H. Swannack Jr., for one, was quoted last week as saying the Defense Secretary's "absolute failures in managing the war against Saddam in Iraq" mean he is not "the right person" to continue leading the Pentagon. Mr. Swannack, who commanded the 82nd Airborne in Iraq, joins other ex-uniformed Iraq War critics such as former Centcom Commander Anthony Zinni and retired Army Major General John Batiste. But there's far more behind this firefight than Mr. Rumsfeld's performance.

Lonnie Dupre and Eric Larsen plan to travel 1,100 miles by foot and canoe over the Arctic Ocean to test the depth and density of the ice in summer in a mission sponsored by Greenpeace, the environmental group said on Thursday.

According to some scientific predictions, the Arctic Ocean could become ice-free in the summer within a hundred years.

Polar bears cannot survive without sea ice and the U.S. government said in February it would consider whether the bears should be protected under the Endangered Species Act.

Last year their previous attempt hit a bit of a snag:

 Unusually heavy snow and ice last year forced Dupre and Larsen to call off a similar mission, but they now plan to launch Project Thin Ice 2006 -- Saving the Polar Bear on May 1 from Canada, traveling to the North Pole and then back to Greenland.

If Greenpeace is sponsoring the trip they better come to the right conclusions or else. Dupre and Larsen already  appear to know the answer, so why go? Bush, Neocons, PNAC Creating Flu Pandemic??

Misleading Headline: U.S. Plans for Flu Pandemic Revealed:

President Bush is expected to approve soon a national pandemic influenza response plan that identifies more than 300 specific tasks for federal agencies, including determining which frontline workers should be the first vaccinated and expanding Internet capacity to handle what would probably be a flood of people working from their home computers.

I can just imagine Mary Scott O'Connor reading only the headline and having the veins in her neck explode as she blogs furiously, torn pajamas, bloodshot eyes bulging, teeth flashing, her bright red countenance foam flecked with spittle, forgotten cigarette smoldering in the carpet...More fun with headlines: "Red" hackers behind attacks into U.S. sites:

China's information warfare expertise comes in part from a group called the “Red Hackers Alliance,” U.S. officials said.

Chinese-origin hackers are responsible for tens of thousands of computer attacks on U.S. government networks, the officials said.

Red Staters aren't smart enough to hack into computers, they voted for Bush, so most people would know it was the Communists. Iraq close to Prime Minister deal. Who's next? Kathy Lee Gifford??: Wesley "Hank" Clark: Rumsfeld should go:




Why doesn't that suprise me? What suprises me is that he is a Fox News analyst. I thought they were "Bush Central?" More horror from Kyoto non compliance. This years White House Easter Egg Hunt to feature: HUMAN HEADS!! Chernobyl 20 years on:

KIEV -- With every cough and sore throat, every ache and pain, Valentyna Stanyuk, 54, feels Chernobyl stalking her.
    & quot;It's only a matter of time," she said as she waited for a thyroid test at a mobile Red Cross clinic in Bystrichy, her village, 150 miles west of Chernobyl.
    T he tests came back clean, but that's little reassurance to Mrs. Stanyuk or millions of others who live in the parts of Ukraine, Belarus and Russia that were heavily irradiated when the nuclear reactor exploded 20 years ago, spewing radioactive clouds over Ukraine and much of Europe for 10 days.

Easter survives for another year:

Good cheer has triumphed this Easter. For the most part, Americans have ignored those who would weight the day with agenda: The "Easter" designation still rules on bonnets, eggs, bunnies, baskets, buffets and parades across the nation.
    O h, there was maybe an egg cup's worth of discord out there.
    O f the thousands of cities and towns in America, only three -- St. Paul, Minn.; Milford, Conn.; and Alpharetta, Ga. -- made minor headlines after officials banned mention of Easter in public venues. Several Asian-American groups in San Diego took issue with Target stores for selling "Easter Haiku" greeting cards depicting grinning buck-toothed bunnies in coolie hats. Sundry authors and broadcasters also used Easter week to promote cultural fare that questioned Christian beliefs.
    A n oblivious nation, however, has gone ahead with traditional Easter celebrations intact. Generic "spring" holidays are few in neighborhoods, parks, eateries and boulevards as 76 percent of Americans will celebrate Easter today, according to the official "Easter Forecast" from the National Retail Federation.

Happy Easter. 

Taking the witness stand for the second time in his death-penalty trial Thursday, Moussaoui mocked a Navy sailor who wept on the stand as she described the death of two of her subordinates.

"I think it was disgusting for a military person" to cry, Moussaoui said of the testimony of Navy Lt. Nancy McKeown. "She is military, she should expect people at war with her to want to kill her."

Asked if he was happy to hear her sobbing, he said, "Make my day."