If only we had listened to Jimmy Carter.

Flash back to 1973. Motorists were lined up for blocks at gas stations thanks to an oil embargo in the Middle East. Americans were frustrated and angry. The crisis passed, but the problem did not go away.

In April 1977, newly elected President Carter told the nation, "The energy crisis has not yet overwhelmed us, but it will if we do not act quickly."

Carter ordered a government-wide review to determine how best to marshal the tools of the government to hasten the day when solar and renewable sources of energy would become our primary energy sources.

In 1979 he issued a Presidential Message to the Congress, charting a path to increased reliance on solar energy, renewable resources and conservation, and setting a goal: 20 percent of our energy needs were to be met by solar and renewable resources by the year 2000.

The message envisioned a broad range of measures to reduce the nation's oil dependency. Among them were developing and applying technologies to reduce energy consumption in industry and in the home; wind-generated electricity; biomass fuel sources; and environmentally safe ways to burn and use coal.

If we let cheap oil lull us into inactivity, Carter warned, "we could endanger our freedom as a sovereign nation to act in foreign affairs." He saw our oil addiction as a threat to our national security, and he urged the nation to break free of it.

Carter saw solar power as a key to America's energy independence. Energy from the sun would be clean and safe, and would provide a non-polluting insurance policy against the rising cost of imported oil.

As a demonstration of his commitment, Carter directed that solar collectors be installed on the roof of the White House.

He proposed the creation of a Solar Bank to provide capital at subsidized rates for the development and application of solar technologies.

Congress responded by passing legislation to create the bank.

In 1981, Ronald Reagan moved into the White House. The solar collectors were removed. The Solar Bank was abandoned; when asked when its board of directors would meet, a high administration official said, "Never."

Say what you will about Jimmy Carter but what he had to say then paints a picture of what is happening today in our society.

The saddest part of all of this is that we will be entering into our fifth administration since Carter was in office and now you are seeing the presidential candidates pushing to re-implement what measures Jimmy Carter had already established.

Imagine how much better off we could be today had Reagan continued Carter's plan on energy independence.

John McCain's campaign accused Barack Obama on Thursday of playing racial politics a day after the Democratic candidate predicted Republicans would try to scare voters by pointing out "he doesn't look like all those other presidents on the dollar bills."

Obama "played the race card, and he played it from the bottom of the deck," McCain campaign manager Rick Davis said in a statement. He called Obama's remarks "divisive, negative, shameful and wrong."

While Obama was meeting with victims of this summer's flooding here, his aides were initially dismissive of the McCain broadside. "We're not in the habit of reacting every time they put out a statement," spokesman Robert Gibbs said.

The first black candidate with a shot at winning the White House, Obama argued while stumping in Missouri on Wednesday that President Bush and McCain will resort to scare tactics to maintain their hold on the White House because they have little else to offer voters.

In response to these accusations of Senator Obama playing racial politics, John McCain has launched his own ad campaign to show voters how much street cred the 71 year old Arizona Senator possesses.



This is just another sad and pathetic attempt for John McCain to try and take the spotlight away from Senator Obama. I find it interesting that none of the attacks by the McCain camp are sticking and Obama never seems to be phased by the ignorant statements that McCain is making.

Leave it to the "Fair & Balanced" folks at Faux News to switch a politicians political affiliation when troubles arise.



You mean Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska isn't a registered Democrat.

Hmmm...NO. Not at all.

You can learn more about "Bridge to Nowhere" Teddy on his own website.

Did I read that correctly? Did that last paragraph say "the longest-serving Senator in the history of the Republican Party."

Wow…and Faux News has the nerve to call themselves the most "Trusted Name in News."

Once again another piece of evidence supporting that Global Warming is happening has surfaced, or better yet is currently floating away, as we speak. Dare we say anymore that this is some Liberal conspiracy.

A four-square-kilometre chunk has broken off Ward Hunt Ice Shelf - the largest remaining ice shelf in the Arctic - threatening the future of the giant frozen mass that northern explorers have used for years as the starting point for their treks.

Scientists say the break, the largest on record since 2005, is the latest indication that climate change is forcing the drastic reshaping of the Arctic coastline, where 9,000 square kilometres of ice have been whittled down to less than 1,000 over the past century, and are only showing signs of decreasing further.

"Once you unleash this process by cracking the ice shelf in multiple spots, of course we're going to see this continuing," said Derek Mueller, a leading expert on the North who discovered the ice shelf's first major crack in 2002.

This is what cracks me up. How many facts and figures do leading scientists from around the world have to provide before people wake up and realize that our climate is on the rise due to the increased release of carbon dioxide and other air pollution that is collecting in the atmosphere like a thickening blanket, trapping the sun's heat and causing the planet to warm up.

Influential former Pentagon official Richard Perle has been exploring going into the oil business in Iraq and Kazakhstan, according to people with knowledge of the matter and documents outlining possible deals. A neoconservative architect of President Bush's Iraq occupation could be preparing to personally reap the spoils of war, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Documents suggest that Richard Perle, top aide to former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, has been in talks with government officials and its Washington envoy, and Turkish AG Group International, over a plan to drill for oil near the Kurdish city of Erbil. Perle is also in talks with the oil-rich nation of Kazakhstan, whose ruler, Nursultan Nazarbayev, has been involved in a US oil bribery investigation.

"Mr. Perle has publicly lauded President Nazarbayev as a 'visionary and wise,'" the Journal added.

Mr. Perle, one of a group of security experts who began pushing the case for toppling Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein about a decade ago, has been discussing a possible deal with officials of northern Iraq's Kurdistan regional government, including its Washington envoy, according to these people and the documents.

The Christopher and Dana Reeve Act, named for the actor who was made famous by his portrayal of Superman and later became a champion of the disabled, along with his late wife, is part of a broad package created by Democrats which lumps together 36 bills.

It would have allocated $25 million for research on spinal cord injuries, rehabilitation and measures to improve the quality of life for paralyzed Americans. The effort is backed by the Paralyzed Veterans of America, which claims 19,000 members. Some 200,000 Americans suffer spinal cord-related injuries.

“We have a war with many veterans who suffer some from spinal cord injuries or paralysis,” said Lee Page, associate advocacy director for Paralyzed Veterans for America told the Navy Times Tuesday.

The overall bill, dubbed the Advancing America’s Priorities Act, was blocked by a 50-42 vote, short of the 60 votes need to overcome a filibuster. It was created in an effort to draw attention to Sen. Tom Coburn, a stalwart crusader for tightening the pursestrings of government.

You would have to be a very cold person to vote against a bill that would allocate more funding to improving the quality of life for both Americans and veterans who suffer from spinal cord injuries. Here's to hoping that none of the Senators who voted against the bill never suffer a serious spinal injury themselves.

Would anyone like to comment on why they voted against the bill?

"They're using every trick to get us away from dealing with high gas prices," said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY).

That is intellectual superiority at it's finest! With sharp thinkers like that running our country is it any wonder why our economy is in the shape it is.

This is one of the funniest cartoons I have ever seen!

Increases in ticket prices...
Paying for each piece of luggage...
Paying for water and soft drinks...
Flight delays and cancellations...
Turbulance...
Security lines…
Fear of falling out of the sky at 30,000 feet....

As if I didn't already have a laundry list of reasons I don't like to fly, there is another reason I am adding to my growing list:

July 18 (Bloomberg) -- AMR Corp.'s American Airlines, the world's largest carrier, will cut 1,300 mechanic and maintenance jobs, accounting for almost 20 percent of the positions it plans to eliminate this year.

An additional 200 management and support jobs in those operations also will be dropped, spokeswoman Tami McLallen said today in an interview. The hourly employees are among 25,000 at Fort Worth, Texas-based American in the Transport Workers Union, the airline's biggest labor group.

American disclosed the numbers after AMR posted a second- quarter net loss of $1.45 billion this week as it reduced the value of its jet fleet. American has said it will slash about 6,840 jobs and ground 103 planes to blunt record fuel bills.

Yeah…that makes me feel a whole heck of a lot more secure about flying. Let me get this straight, you are going to keep flying airplanes and instead of cutting big, fat, overinflated executive corporate salaries, you are going to cut the jobs of the people who make sure the aircraft functions properly.

FREAKING BRILLIANT IDEA!!!!!

The last time I checked if your engines go out at 30,000 feet you can’t exactly pull over and call AAA for a tow.

Well if you are a flyer like me who sits with sweaty palms and white knuckles you may want to consider alternative means of transportation.

And if you are puffing your chest up and saying that this is only American Airlines that is doing this you may want to take a look around because I can almost guarantee EVERY other airline is following suite.

Yes folks the Reverend hath spoken, and again.... his message is, well, less than admirable.

The one man wrecking crew, who is an active advocate of improving civil rights for African-Americans, has found himself in hot water for making even more disparaging remarks against Senator Barack Obama.

Last week the Reverend made a comment while still on the air that he (Jesse Jackson) wanted to… (well to keep it clean) castrate Senator Obama.

Nice work Jesse!

Well there was even more fallout from this interview in which Jesse said that Obama was "talking down to black people," and referred to blacks with the N-word when he said Obama was telling them "how to behave" in an interview with the Faux News Channel.

So here I am pondering the question of how do we as a society, move forward with equality and separate ourselves from racism if the people who are leading the charge are doing nothing more than advocating racism.

Sorry Jesse but racism is racism regardless of whom it is against. And this isn’t Burger King; you can’t have it your way!

Hello trusted bloggers,
After a little hiatus to let my brain recoup, I have decided that it is time to dust off the old keyboard, grab my trusty notepad and break in a new Bic pen as I get back to the grind of hitting up the blog circuit. A lot has happened since my last entry but now it is time to get back to business. Thanks for all your hits and I hope to see you on the comment page.