I was right!  This article breaks down high oil prices and calls out the media for their role in promoting the nonsense that we are having an oil shortage.  We're just paying for the subprime mortgage mess through high oil prices, that's all.  Read it, and talk amongst yourselves...

economictimes.indiatimes.com/Features/Special_Pages/The_reason_behind_high_oil_prices/articleshow/msid-3039762,curpg-2.cms

Like most people over the age of 30, I don't feel my age.  Mentally, I really don't feel my age, but physically, I'm 100.  I digress.  Today I had one of those moments that makes me know that I have crossed some invisible threshold into adulthood without even realizing it.  It went like this:  I needed to remove a tag from something.  I picked up the shoes in question, and walked over the kitchen drawer and got my scissors and cut the tag off.  And at that moment, every time I had tried to rip off a tag with my teeth, break it off while hurting my finger or damaging the item by ripping/tearing/snapping it off the wrong way flashed through my mind.  I realized that I had merely done all that because I couldn't/wouldn't find a pair scissors.  But today, I knew exactly where the scissors were because that's where scissors GO.  I am now a responsible adult who not only has a place for scissors but also remembers where that place is. 

I realized the other day while driving that being steeped in the news like I am has made me more serious than I used to be.  Don't get me wrong, I really love it.  I love knowing what's going on.  But watching the daily grind of death, lies, corruption, starvation, idiocy, and evil takes it out of a person.  That's why sometimes on the show we talk about the stupidest stuff imaginable.  It's not because I'm not capable of capable of taking on the hard hitting news of the day, it just means I need a break.  

I had a massive computer issue when I got home yesterday and by the time I got it straightened out I forgot to post this column.  I don't have a link, so I'll just post the whole thing. 

545 People

 by Charlie Reese

 Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and then campaign against them.
 Have you ever wondered why, if both the Democrats and the Republicans are against deficits, we        have deficits?
 Have you ever wondered why, if all the politicians are against inflation and high taxes, we have inflation and high taxes?
 You and I don't propose a federal budget. The president does.
 You and I don't have the Constitutional authority to vote on appropriations. The House of Representatives does.
You and I don't write the tax code, Congress does.
You and I don't set fiscal policy, Congress does.
You and I don't control monetary policy, The Federal Reserve Bank does.
One hundred senators, 435 congressmen, one president and nine Supreme Court justices - 545 human beings out of 300+ million - are directly, legally, morally and individually responsible for the domestic problems that plague this country.
I excluded the members of the Federal Reserve Board because that problem was created by the Congress. In 1913, Congress delegated its Constitutional duty to provide a sound currency to a federally chartered but private central bank.
I excluded all the special interests and lobbyists for a sound reason.
They have no legal authority.
They have no ability to coerce a senator, a congressman or a president to do one cotton-picking thing.
 I don't care if they offer a politician $1 million dollars in cash. The politician has the power to accept or reject it. No matter what the lobbyist promises, it is the legislator's responsibility to determine how he votes.
Those 545 human beings spend much of their energy convincing you that what they did is not their fault. They cooperate in this common con regardless of party.
What separates a politician from a normal human being is an excessive amount of gall.
No normal human being would have the gall of a Speaker, who stood up and criticized the President for creating deficits.
The president can only propose a budget. He cannot force the Congress to accept it.
The Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land, gives sole responsibility to the House of Representatives for originating and approving appropriations and taxes.
Who is the speaker of the House? She is the leader of the majority party.  She and fellow House members, not the president, can approve any budget they want. If the president vetoes it, they can pass it over his veto if they agree to.
It seems inconceivable to me that a nation of 300+ million cannot replace 545 people who stand convicted -- by present facts - of incompetence and irresponsibility.
I can't think of a single domestic problem that is not traceable directly to those 545 people.
When you fully grasp the plain truth that 545 people exercise the power of the federal government, then it must follow that what exists is what they want to exist.
If the tax code is unfair, it's because they want it unfair.
If the budget is in the red, it's because they want it in the red.
If the Marines are in IRAQ , it's because they want them in IRAQ .
If they do not receive social security but are on an elite retirement plan not available to the people, it's because they want it that way.
There are no insoluble government problems.
Do not let these 545 people shift the blame to bureaucrats, whom they hire and whose jobs they can abolish; to lobbyists, whose gifts and advice they can reject; to regulators, to whom they give the power to regulate and from whom they can take this power.
Above all, do not let them con you into the belief that there exists disembodied mystical forces like 'the economy,' 'inflation' or 'politics' that prevent them from doing what they take an oath to do.
Those 545 people and they alone, are responsible. They and they alone, have the power.
They, and they alone, should be held accountable by the people who are their bosses - provided the voters have the gumption to manage their own employees.

When will the mainstream media begin covering this? 

This article recounts an interview on ABC Radio's Counterpoint.  Where is the headline on ABC News?

www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23411799-7583,00.html

Read this column by David Mamet and then send it to all of your friends.

www.villagevoice.com/news/0811,374064,374064,1.html

So today, I'm at the Faith and Family Expo (which was delightful, btw) and I happen to be sitting near the "backstage" area.  There also happened to be a line of children waiting to see Funky the Clown (Freddie the Clown?  Farkus the Clown?  My memory fails me).   All of sudden, the curtain pulls back, and lo and behold, the Chik-Fil-A Cow walks out (you know, he wears the sandwich board with Eat More Chikin on it...stupid cows don't spell well...that's why they're food).  To say the crowd went wild is an understatement.  Kids were rushing about in near ecstasy, trying to high hoof the bovine superstar and otherwise treating this large, solemn faced puppet like a god (small "g").  What is it, exactly, with kids and people in animal costumes?  I remember being mildly freaked out as a small child at Chip N' Dale, those rascally chipmunks at Disney.  Even as a wee ankle biter, I recognized how totally weird it was that someone not only dressed up like a giant Chipmunk, but I was supposed to believe he/she/it was the little cartoon character.  Except everyone knew that Chip N' Dale were really small or they couldn't constantly escape up trees and rain spouts, etc.  Duh. 

So as I watched the frenzy today over a sweaty young man dressed like a cow, I really tried to figure it out.  Then it dawned on me.  The look on the kids' faces said it all.  They WANTED to believe.  They wanted to be transported to a place where giant cows wearing sandwich boards happily took pictures and handed out coupons for free CHIKIN sandwiches.  And who could blame them?  It beats the snot out of reality.   And then I had a completely unrelated realization (my mind is incredibly random sometimes).  That same look can be seen on the rapturous faces of the kind folks waxing poetic about Barak Obama.  They WANT to believe.  The message of hope, change, and YES WE CAN is far more pleasant than taxes, Islamic Extremists, Social Security, personal responsibility and all the other unpleasantries that will have to be dealt with by the next leader of the free world.  And by casting their lot with Obama, he of the magniloquent speeches and Dr. Suess-like clarity, they are free to believe that they are making a difference, igniting profound change and all that.  Without all that "heavy thinking" (snoozefest).  When pressed for details, I would imagine they get the same look on their faces as the four year old staring starry-eyed at the aforementioned cow did when I leaned over and said, "you know that's just a sweaty guy in a suit, right?"

Perhaps they wouldn't cry quite as hard.  As is now happening with Bill Clinton (two years ago, the greatest President EVER to the left, now a blithering, angry man who won't shut up to the same left), they will at some point have the wool (or fake fur, in the case of the cow) ripped from their eyes only to realize they got duped again.   And at that point, they will decide that politicians are all the same, and that their vote can't make a difference, and they will go back to American Idol and endless sitcoms and Perez Hilton.  And at that point, those of us who have been paying attention all along can go about the business of trying to repair the damage done by the masses who just wanted to BELIEVE.  Somebody get the free chicken sandwich coupons ready. 

Of all the things flying around the internet, this one cracked me up the most.  I'm SpongeBob SquarePants by the way.

Everyone has a personality of a cartoon character.  Have you ever asked yourself what cartoon character you most resemble?

A group of investigators got together and analyzed the personalities of well known and modern cartoon characters.  The information that was gathered was made into this test.

Answer all the questions (only 10) with what describes you best, add up all your points (which are next to the answer you choose) at the end and look for your results.

Don't Cheat by looking ahead!

1.  Which one of the following describes the perfect date?
.a)  Candlelight dinner (4 pts.)
.b) Fun/Theme Park (2 pts.)
.c)  Painting in the park (5 pts)
.d) Rock concert (1 pt.)
.e) Going to  the movies (3 pts.)

2.  What is your favorite type of music?
.a) Rock  and Roll (2 pts.)
.b) Alternative (1 pt.)
.c) Soft Rock (4  pts.)
.d) Country (5 pts.)
.e) Pop (3 pts.)

3.  What type of movies do you prefer?
.a)  Comedy (2 pts.)
.b)  Horror (1 pt.)
.c) Musical (3 pts.)
.d) Romance (4 pts.)
.e)  Documentary (5 pts.)

4.  Which one of these occupations would you choose if you only could choose one of these?
.a)  Waiter (4 pts.)
.b) Professional Sports Player (5 pts.)
.c)  Teacher (3 pts.)
d) Police (2 pts.)
.e) Cashier (1  pt)

5.  What do you do with your spare time?
.a)  Exercise (5 pts.)
.b) Read (4 pts.)
.c) Watch television (2  pts.)
.d) Listen to music (1 pt.)
.e) Sleep (3  pts.)

6.  Which one of the following colors do you like best?
.a)  Yellow (1 pt.)
.b) White (5 pts.)
.c) Sky Blue (3 pts.)
.d)  Dark Blue (2 pts.)
.e) Red (4 pts.)

7.  What do you prefer to eat?
.a) Snow  (3 pts.)
.b)  Pizza (2 pts.)
.c) Sushi (1 pt.)
.d)  Pasta (4 pts.)
.e) Salad (5 pts.)

8  What is your favorite holiday?
.a)  Halloween (1 pt.)
.b) Christmas (3 pts.)
.c) New Year (2  pts.)
.d) Valentine's Day (4 pts.)
.e) Thanksgiving (5  pts.)

9.  If you could go to one of these places which one would it  be?
.a)   Paris (4  pts)
.b) Spain (5 pts)
.c)  Las  Vegas (1 pt)
.d) Hawaii (4  pts)
.e) Hollywood </ st1:City> (3  pts)

10.  With which of the following would you prefer to spend time  with?
.a)  Someone Smart (5 pts.)
.b) Someone attractive (2 pts.)
.c) Someone  who likes to Party (1 pt.)
.d) Someone who always has fun (3  pts.)
.e) Someone very sentimental (4 pts.)

Now  add up your points and find out the answer you have been waiting  for!


(10-16 points) You are   Garfield  :
You are  very comfortable, easy going, and you definitely know how to have fun  but sometimes you take it to an extreme. You always know what you are  doing and you are always in control of your life. Other s may not see  things as you do, but that doesn't me an that you always have to do what  is right. Try to remember, your happy spirit may hurt you or  others.

(17-23  points) You are Snoopy:
You are  fun, you are very cool and popular. You always know what's in and you  are never are out of style You are good at knowing how to satisfy  everyone else. You have probably disappeared for a few days more than  once but you always come home with the family values that you learned  Bei ng married and having children are important to you, but only after  you have had your share of fun times

(24-28  points) You are Elmo:
You have  lots of friends and you are also popular, always willing to give advice  and help out a person in need. You are very optimistic and you always  see the bright side of things. Some good advice: try not to be too much  of a dreamer. Dreaming too big could cause many conflicts in your  life.

(29-35  points) You are Sponge Bob Square Pants:
You are  the classic person that everyone loves. You are the best friend that  anyone could ever have and never wants to lose. You never cause harm to  anyone and they would never not understand your feelings. Life is a  journey, it's funny and calm for the most part. Stay away from traitors  and jealous people, and you will be stress free.

(36-43  points) You are Charlie Brown:
You are  tender, you fall in love quickly but you are also very  serious about all  relationships. You are a family person. You call your Mom every Sunday.  You have many friends and may occasionally forget a few Birthdays. Don't  let your passion confuse you with reality.

(44-50  points) You are Dexter:
You are  smart and definitely a thinker... Every situation is fronted with a  plan. You have a brilliant mind. You demonstrate very strong family  principles. You maintain a stable routine but never ignore a bad  situation when it comes. Try to do less over thinking every once in a  while to spice things up a bit with spontaneity!

This morning I was driving in to work and there was an update on Fox News about the sick bastard that threw his four children off an 80 foot bridge in Louisiana.  The anchor said, as he delivered the news about the fourth little body being recovered in the Gulf of Mexico, that perhaps the family could now get "closure".  What sort of closure you get when your husband throws your children off a bridge?  Is it suddenly okay to move on from the guilt that must surely be weighing on the mother right now?  Sure, she had nothing to do with it, but she chose THAT man to father her children.  I'm not blaming her, because there are many women (and men) that do a really bad job of choosing the other parent of their children, but I would bet you she is blaming herself.  For not seeing the signs, for not taking out  a restraining order, for not picking them up fast enough that day, for putting them in daycare in the first place.  For not...something that could have prevented her psycho husband from hurling innocent children into a watery grave. 

I've watched the grief a mother feels when she loses a child.  It's brutal.  I've also watched a close friend struggle with the guilt that comes with feeling like she should have been able to do something to save that child, even though she really couldn't.  It's brutal, it's ugly, and it doesn't have "closure".  The best you can hope for is for the pain to subside well enough so that you can live your life again.  Closure is a made up word for people that believe "talking things out" is all you have to do "begin the healing".  Closure implies a total end to the suffering.  Little do they realize that some gaping wounds never really heal, we just learn to dress well enough to cover them up.

That all being said, I hope this woman finds comfort when this maniac is given his just rewards.  I hope she finds comfort in a Higher Power, although it is just this sort of thing that makes one wonder if there really is a God, and if so, how this happen?  I hope she manages to go on with her life somehow, one foot in front of the other and all that.  And I honestly hope that no one in her life, for one second, thinks she will somehow get "closure".   Becauseit will never truly be over for her.

Sometimes I find stuff on the internet that is so entertaining, I immediately send out the link to all my friends and family.  It just dawned on me today that I could also do the same on my blog.*  So in the interest of entertaining you all, please check out my new favorite site (at least on Mondays when he updates) Uncle Jay Explains.  Hopefully, I will be able to interview Uncle Jay on the show, and I've asked him to be an official Daybreak pundit.  We have a shortage of show pundits, I think. 

www.unclejayexplains.com

I strongly recommend you check out his year in review from '07, it's highly entertaining.  Seeing this stuff often makes me think, hmmmm, why didn't I think of this?

*I realize I am horrible at this blogging thing, but mostly because I often think, hey, that might be interesting in a blog, but then, I start to type and think, who wants to read this useless drivel?  I'm not sure I have the ego for this blogging thing.  Stop laughing, I'm serious.

This morning while zooming around the internet I saw a headline that said, "Soldier's Final Blog Posted After His Death". So of course I had to check it out.  It seems that Major Andrew Olmsted is the first American casualty of 2008.  He was a career military man, in since 1992 who had just reupped for another tour in Iraq.  He was married to his wife for 10 years.  He was 38 years old.  He was also a blogger.  He blogged while on active duty until the DoD regs were tightened in February of last year.  He then continued to write for the Rocky Mountain News after that. 

Being a soldier in a war zone, he knew the risks.  He wrote a final blog to be posted in the event of his death.  It was posted by his friend and fellow blogger, hilzoy, the day after he died.  After reading his final blog, I wish I had known him.  And I am reminded that as i sit here with a microphone talking about the justness of the cause we are fighting, it still leaves families with no fathers, or mothers, or sisters, or brothers.  I will follow his wishes and not politicize this death.  But I will use it personally to humanize war.  And for that, I am grateful that he had the foresight to take the time to create this.  Please read it and remember to be thankful for the rough and ready men (and women) ready to do great harm so the rest of us don't have to. 

 http://www.andrewolmsted.com/

I have to say, while I was listening to the hour of Christmas music that I put together this morning, I had a realization.  I may have the coolest job in the world.  I'm not trying to rub it in, but I need to let everyone know how appreciative I am.  This morning, I got to listen to all of  my favorite Christmas songs, while they were being broadcast and shared with countless numbers of people on an actual radio station.  That is just really, really neat.  Not many people have the opportunities to meet and speak with some of the people I get to interview on a regular basis.  And I can't tell you how gratifying it is when I meet a listener that really just enjoys the show we put on every day.  Jeff, Dave and I work hard to provide what we think is interesting and fun radio every day, and I'm always grateful when something we do brings joy to some man or woman, and in some cases, a child.  Thank you for listening, I appreciate every second of every day you entrust with me and Daybreak.  So here is my list of songs, I hope you enjoyed it, and MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!  

1.  Blind Boys From Alabama      Last Month of the Year

2.  James Brown      Soulful Christmas

3.  Thurl Ravenswood      You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch

4.  Ray Charles and Nina Simone (the stereo didn't mix down well to mono on this one)   Baby it's Cold Outside

5.  Louis Armstrong      Christmas Night in Harlem

6.  TranSiberian Orchestra      Christmas Canon

7.  Dolly Parton      Hard Candy Christmas

8.  Bing Crosby      Mele Kalikimaka

9.  Vince Guraldi Trio with the Peanuts Gang      Christmastime is Here

10.  Blind Boys From Alabama with George Clinton and Robert Randolph     Away in a Manger

11.  Gayla Peavey      I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas

12.  NOT Frank!  Dean Martin      I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm

13.  James Taylor      Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

14.  John Alldis Choir      Handel's Messiah Hallejulah Chorus

I hope you enjoyed this as much I enjoyed choosing the songs for you, and Merry Christmas again!

Okay, so normally I'm really anal retentive about checking the veracity of things people send me, but when I got an email telling me to send Christmas Cards to wounded soldiers I got excited and didn't check it out.  If you already sent a card to Walter Reed on my suggestions...my bad.  HOWEVER, my listeners are on the ball and thanks to Cathy for sending me the new info. 

If you'd like to send a card to a recovering soldier, you can do through the American Red Cross.  They've set up an address:

We Support You During Your Recovery!
c/o American Red Cross
PO Box 419
Savage, MD 20763-0419

Send one out this weekend.  it truly is the very least we can do to let these men and women know their sacrifices are very much appreciated by us.  Merry Christmas!

You must get registered by NOON Thursday!!!

Call 948-7909 for tickets, or stop by the Northern Trust Bank branch at the Promenade in Bonita Springs and drop off a check for $40 per person.

The event starts at 3:30 and will last until 6ish.  You can get books signed by any of the panelists after the panel discussion.  Panelists include:

James J. Carafano, Ph.D.
Lieutenant Colonel Gordon Cucullu
Professor Jeffrey H. Norwitz
Robert Spencer

Topics covered include: How the War on Terror is Changing our Military, Coalescing Threats Against the U.S., The War on Terror: What's Happening Now, and Islam: An Overview.

This will be so informative, I urge you to participate!

Thanks to Cindy for this, it gave me a little perspective about the season.  Please share it with your family and friends!

Christmas Letter from Jesus
============================

Dear Children,

It has come to my attention that many you are upset that folks are taking My name out of the season. Maybe you've forgotten that I wasn't actually born during this time of the year and that it was some of your predecessors who decided to celebrate My birthday on what was actually a time of pagan festival. Although I do appreciate being remembered anytime.

How I personally feel about this celebration can probably be most easily understood by those of you who have been blessed with children of your own.

I don't care what you call the day. If you want to celebrate My birth, just GET ALONG AND LOVE ONE ANOTHER.

Now, having said that let Me go on. If it bothers you that the town in which you live doesn't allow a scene depicting My birth, then just get rid of a couple of Santa's and snowmen and put in a small Nativity scene on your own front lawn. If all My followers did that there wouldn't be any need for such a scene on the town square because there would be many of them all around town.

Last Friday night I went to a delightful party thrown by a friend of mine in Orlando.  A woman I worked with over ten years ago was there, and I had the chance to "catch up" with her.  This particular woman was very young when we worked together and is now about 29.  She really is quite nice and I am glad she has done so much in her life, BUT...she made me realize something important.  I hate what is happening to our language in this country.   Not the cursing.  I do too much cursing to pontificate with any credibility about how cursing damages our society.  I'm talking about "like".  The word "like" is now an integral part of the vocabulary of teenagers everywhere, and I fear it is spreading.  Imagine having a conversation with a grown woman that sounded like this:

"and then I like decided that like I really wanted to like be a teacher and since like ninth grade was like the hardest year I had and teachers like always go back to the year they had the most like problems in so they can like try to like "fix it"..."

When you take the time to analyze what she said, she raises an interesting concept, it's just incredibly difficult to wade through the "like"s to find it.   I wanted to know more, I just couldn't listen to the "like" anymore.  I should have said something.  But it is not my place to be the world's grammatical policeman.  That's what George Will's column does so well.  I'm just here to bring it to your attention, so you can like stop it!

So this morning, I go on the air and talk about John McCain saying he'd "follow Osama Bin Laden to the gates of Hell and shoot him myself".  I then remarked on the visual this created in my brain.  And listener James McCord took that image and came up with:

"Be vewy, vewy quiet, I'm hunting tewwowists"

Thanks James, you just made my day!

I've been doing talk radio for about ten years now.  I have worked in different formats in different cities and talked about a myriad of issues.  Inevitably, no matter where I am, or how carefully I choose my words, I get emails from someone infuriated by my comments.  Today, it's Nascar fan.  Note, I did not say fans I said fan.  Now, I probably made more than one fan angry when I referred to Nascar fans as rednecks.  However, only one chose to send me the "you're an idiot, you don't know what you're talking about, we make more money than you do, why don't you just shut up" email.  Luckily for me, I have seen variations on this exact email many times over the years.  I've been called a racist, stupid, uninformed, fat, ugly, angry, blabbermouth, knowitall, conceited, and far, far worse. 

I went to work on a sports station doing the morning show with two guys.  I was the first woman ever on the station.  I got the most vicious hate mail you can possibly imagine.  Subject lines were literally obscene.  I saved them all.  Every single one.  For years.  Because I figured if I could handle the slings and arrows that are inherent to any job where you offer your opinion for living, I'd be able to handle most things in life.  To a certain extent, it worked.  I won't lie and say that I don't have any reaction when I get a nasty email, but it is fleeting at best.  Not everyone will like me, I'm okay with that.  On occasion, I have zipped off a wildly vicious and inappropriate response, but I don't send them.  That would personalize a general comment to someone specific that is not in the public eye, and that's not fair.  

The point of this is not to make you feel like you can't excoriate me if I happen to make fun of your hobby, past time, horoscope, etc.  It's just to let you know that if your purpose is to hurt my feelings, without stating a viable case as to why I'm wrong (usually with supporting documents, please), you have to try really, really hard.  Most likely, I'll just delete it and go about the business of finding a new listener to replace the one I've lost forever...at least according to your email.

All this being said, I really do appreciate your feedback and learn from most of it.  I don't always answer every email (I just get too much now), but I read it all.  I may be a racist, stupid, uninformed, fat, ugly, angry, blabbermouth, knowitall, conceited so and so, but even I know I can learn something from others.

I like to think I'm a smart person.  I went to Catholic school.  I did well in high school.  I know stuff.  So why is it that when I try to set up a MySpace page, something done by 11 year olds daily, I am utterly confused.  Profile?  Sexual orientation?  WHAT?  And how, oh how, do I change my mood?  Because when I started this venture, it was good, but now?  Not so much.

That brings me to remote controls.  I now live in a house with three male people.  One grown, two teenagers.  In our house, we have enough remote controls to remotely control every television, vcr, dvd player or stereo in a third world country (assuming, of course that third world countries don't really have an abundance of such things).  I have no idea how to work most of them.  I can turn the tv on, make the cable work, and even use the DVR on my cable, but beyond that, it's all just bells and whistles.  We have a remote control that I'm not kidding you, has at least 50 buttons.  Is that necessary?  It's almost like the remote control people just keep adding stuff for no reason.  Does anyone USE all the buttons?  On, off and volume.  That's it for me.   Today when I said I don't listen to music, it's not because I don't like music, it's because the stereo remote is too heavy for me to pick up.  And forget about walking up the stupid thing and pushing the buttons on the stereo.  There are none.  Blasted thing...

I'm going home now to put a 78 on the Victrola...

Just to give you an idea of the awesome power I wield in this building...and an idea of how wildly efficient Young Jeffrey is...I am now doing my first blog.  Just minutes after I told Jeffrey I wanted to.  Now, currently, I am doing other work and don't have time to post the delightful words of knowledge that will surely spew forth.  Never fear, more coming soon...