Flight 93

I'll be in a theater Friday with a box of Kleenex on my lap. I would like to say something to those folks who think the subject matter is too "depressing" or that it is "too soon" for this movie. Even if you believe that this flight was shot down by US forces, a theory for which there is no evidence, we have enough proof from calls and cockpit recordings to confirm that these brave people banded together and were the first to fight back against the terrorists. The flight 93 passengers may have failed to save their own lives but undoubtedly, they were fighting to save the lives of unknown others who were the targets of this terrorist attack.

Now with that said I have heard that the audio tapes released in the Moussai trial have revealed a clearer picture of exactly what happened on flight 93. Since the movie makers had no access to this information some aspects of their depiction are now proven incorrect.

Happy Easter

We really had a very happy Easter. Jack's daughter, Jenny and youngest son, Tim came to visit along with Jenny's soon to be fiance, Tobin. The young people arrived before 7pm on Good Friday and we dyed eggs while we waited for our chinese food to arrive, well some of us did (not Jack). Saturday afternoon we went to the Willow Community Church for a very nice Easter service and Jack made Bar-B-Qued chicken on the grill for our dinner.

Sunday, thanks to the sleeping habits of my guests, I had time to go to the 7am mass, buy candy, assemble a large Easter basket and hide the eggs for our egg hunt. Jack hid most of the small plastic eggs I had filed with candy or cash. It was so funny watching three 20+ year olds frantically trying to find all of the eggs we had hidden. We had a nice brunch with french toast, ham, bagels, strawberries and cantaloupe and of course champagne. The young folks hit the road shortly after noon and Jack and I relaxed and nibbled on leftover the rest of the day.

I was still chuckling over Jack trying to deviously hide the eggs, Jenny crying fowl when Tobin reached around her to grab an egg, and all the fun we had had over the weekend when I went to bed Sunday night. It was a very nice Easter weekend.

Before You Fight a GAS WAR Identify the Enemy

I recently received an email titled "Gas War an Idea that WILL Work" suggesting that I should, after forwarding the email to 10 people, not purchase any gas from Exxon/Mobile, forcing them to lower their prices. My husband and I have those cute little "fast pay" tokens which we both use to buy gas from Mobile. Since I like the convenience provided to me by Exxon/Mobile I'll pass on this boycott. I replied to the message that I won't buy gas from BP as they are French owned and make commercials that make me change the channel.

The following was my husband's response when he received the same email from another source ..............................................

We have decided we don't want oil refineries built, to save the environment.
We have decided we don't want nuclear power plants built, same reason.
We have decided there will be no off shore drilling, same reason.
We have decided the Alaskan caribou is sacred, same reason.
We have decided to add expensive anti-smog chemicals to the gas, same reason.

At the same time, being the full of shit generation we are, we have bought bigger cars and built bigger houses.

Then, when the price of oil and gas goes up, we whine about ExxonMobil.

My suggestion: Build refineries, build nuclear plants, and drill wherever the oil is. If we don't want to do that, then buy oil company stock. As long as the leftist environmentalists control our energy policy, oil company profits will increase as will the value of their stock, then we can afford to buy gas at any price.

Boycotts are for communists. {end of husband's response}

Now, I think boycotts are perfectly fine for a democratic republic like the United States of America. I don't join the screaming mobs who blame everything on "Evil Corporations" you know, those horrible organizations who provide jobs, benefits, investment opportunities and goods and services. Communists and Socialists decry Capitalism and the profit motive as inherently evil. I know that the "profit motive" is the best encouragement to provide goods and services for the lowest price, best quality and using the least resources. Productivity has been increasing over recent years and workers benefit from this. Anti-Capitalists always point to the workers who are not needed once productivity increases ignoring the higher wages paid to the now skilled workers who are producing more with less.

Here's a question, why is the amount of tax we pay when we buy gas kept hidden from us? When I buy groceries the amount of sales tax I paid is clearly listed on my receipt but the receipt for gas shows what I paid per gallon in total without mentioning the tax amount. I'm told it is illegal for gas stations to breakdown the price for us. Here in Illinois I'm told the amount of tax is not per gallon but per dollar of gas purchased. This way when the price goes up the tax goes up too, increasing the burden on the consumer and providing a windfall in tax revenue.

Throughout history and all over the world today dictators hold power by providing the people an enemy to blame for all their problems, that way the people don't rise up against their real oppressor, said dictator and his or her corrupt regime. Socialists, Communists and Big Government liberals use this same tactic in stoking animus against "BIG OIL". Using misdirection the media reports endlessly on the oil company profits ignoring the reasons for the increase in gas costs just like they ignore any decrease in gas costs when those occur.

Oh, and regarding the sacred caribou, when we built the Alaskan Oil Pipeline we were assured that this would kill all the caribou. Since the completion of the pipeline the caribou population has quadrupled. Apparently the caribou appreciate the small amount of heat that the pipeline generates. So the enviormentalists were WRONG AGAIN!

Final Nail in the Coffin of CBS News

The addition of Commie Katie Couric to the CBS evening news should finish off that entity for good. Sure some women may flock to CBS briefly but how many men want to get their news from the "perky one"? Remarkably, interim replacement, Bob Schieffer, has increased the number of viewers in recent weeks.

The downfall of what used to be called the "Tiffany Network" has been a long process. The organization has been on the downslide since Walter Cronkite lied to America about the effectiveness of the Tet Offensive. The top contributor to the destruction of the credibility of CBS News has got to be Dan Rather (AKA Dan Blather or Rather Biased). Dan attacked then vice President George Bush in an interview in 1988 but Bush 41 was ready for him. Bush suggested that Rather focusing on one incident during the 8 year Reagan administration was as unfair as judging Rathers career on the time he threw a hissy fit and walked off the news set. Rather had no comeback but has had a chip on his shoulder against the Bushes from that day forward, although he was never a supporter.

Dan had no such problem with President Clinton as displayed by his sickening response to a congratulatory call he took from Clinton during a newscast with Connie Chung as Co-Anchor. Rathers' eyes filled with tears as he said "Mr President, if we can be one onehundreth as great as you and Mrs Clinton have been I'll be more than satisfied". Yuck! That's the CBS version of an independent and unbiased news anchor. Check out the website, "RatherBiased" for endless examples of Rather giving Democrats a pass while attacking Republicans but the final straw has to be the Bush 43 Texas Air National Guard story. To this day Dan Rather will not admit that the documents he used to source that story were phonies and not especially good phonies at that.

The chipmunk cheeked Couric isn't any more neutral or fair minded than her predecesor. On the Today show Katie gives soft ball interviews to liberals and attacks conservatives with hammer and tong. I can't give you many examples because I do not watch the Today show. I am aware of the way she attacked Ann Coulter who had rightly pointed out that the Today show should not be calling President Reagan an "airhead".

I may be wrong but I expect Anchorwoman Couric will last about as long as the pet rock did. Time will tell.

Back of the Bus Follow Up

Earth to George Clooney. Hollywood, in all its self rightous virtue did award an oscar to Hattie McDaniel, a black woman, for her part in the 1939 film, Gone With The Wind. However, when the time came for McDaniels to receive her award she was seated in a "special" section for her and her guest in, you guesed it, the back of the theater.