Friday, April 28, 2006

What is going on in America??

I walked into the office this morning to find our secretary up and dancing to Car Wash! You know, that old Rose Royce song from 1976!

You might not ever get rich, ha
Let me tell you it's better than digging a ditch
There ain't no telling who you might meet
A movie star or maybe a common thief


I can’t remember seeing Vera so happy! Her feet were moving, arms swinging. What a great way to start the day…

All that in the midst of the chaos! What is going on in this world anyway? It seems that every day things get crazier and crazier…

I keep an ongoing list in my head of things I want to discuss with God, not in a Neale Donald Walsch kind of way, but in a pull-up-a-cloud and stay kind of way. I say that because I know I probably will never get a straight answer down here. These are the latest additions to my list.

• Taylor Hicks – How is it that this guy has never even been in the bottom three?? How is it that Paris Bennett, who is by far the best vocalist of the season if not the entire history of the show, is likely going to go home next week after three weeks in the bottom three? Who is doing the voting here? The same folks who cast their support for George??

What is going on in America??

• Speaking of George (President, not the former singer from Wham), he’s looking more and more like his father, isn’t he (I've never seen George Michael's Dad)? I caught myself doing a doubletake the other day with a picture posted on the web. The News is reporting that W is at an all time low on approval ratings. He’s shaking up his Cabinet – and what in the world is Tony Snow thinking?? He gets clearance from his oncologist to serve two years max in a hissing caldron of hate. It’s clear he has been at odds publicly before he joined on – just wait until things really get going! Can’t imagine trying to spin the next couple of years! I’m betting Snow’s resulting book is going to be the best book every written from the inside!

• Why isn’t there more outrage over Exxon Mobil Corp., the world's largest oil company, reporting the fifth highest quarterly profit for any public company in history?

Why, God, why?

The average retail price of gasoline in the U.S. is now $2.91 a gallon, or 68 cents higher than a year ago. Like this is any surprise - In January, Exxon posted the highest quarterly profits of any public company in history: $10.71 billion for the fourth quarter of 2005 and $36.13 billion for the full year. The company said its average sale price for crude oil in the U.S. during the quarter was $55.99 per barrel compared to $42.70 a year ago. It sold natural gas in the U.S., on average, for $8.31 compared to $6.18 during the same period one year ago. Placed in perspective, Exxon's revenue for the three-month period was still greater than the annual gross domestic product of some major oil producing nations, including the United Arab Emirates ($74.67 billion) and Kuwait ($55.31 billion), according to statistics maintained by the Central Intelligence Agency. Exxon also said it returned $7 billion to shareholders through dividends of $2 billion and buying back $5 billion worth of shares.

ConocoPhillips, the No. 3 U.S. oil company, isn’t far behind. On Wednesday they reported their quarterly profits surged 13 percent, as oil prices continued their march upward.

And even after declaring in the State of the Union that Americans need to combat their addiction to oil, Bush has failed to do the obvious: order a meaningful raise in automobile fuel-efficiency standards. That's the most effective way to reduce the growing demand for fuel over the long term, which is the main reason oil prices are so high in the first place.

Instead of knee-jerk witch hunts into alleged price-gouging, we need to be developing long-term, viable plans.

Why, God, why are we not doing that??

Instead, we will use ink and paper to write about the Press Corps on Air Force One being forced to watch Fox News instead of CNN. Not that it isn’t interesting copy. It feeds our assumptions, anyway, doesn’t it? Why wouldn’t the White House insist on watching Fox News??

Don Williamson – oops, I mean, Patsy Lou Williamson, has announced her candidacy for the State Senate. I mean, Don announced it – well, he may not have announced it, but he responded to all the questions during her interview. She didn’t say a peep. I think he’ll win – oops, I mean, I think SHE will win. There are plenty of folks who don’t take DW seriously in this town. They oughta. His influence is growing, like his sprawling car dealership on Linden Road. Oops, I mean her sprawling car dealership on Linden Road.

What happened to Chris Machniak, anyway? After years of sniffing out corruption (and finding none) at City Hall, he gets a new, tamer beat. Doesn’t make sense to little ole me…

What about that God? What is that all about anyway???

At the car wash
Whoa whoa whoa whoa
Talkin' about the car wash, girl
Come on, ya'all and sing it for me
(Car wash)
Oooh oooh oooh
(Car wash, girl)


Come on everyone, stand up and DANCE!!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yeah, what YOU said. Plus, oil companies profit because there is a monopoly and I thought our country had laws against monopolies! Apparently there is a loophole.

I'm going to start getting more and more of my news here--I'm pretty sure we heard it here FIRST that George Michael's father is running against Patsy Lou.

Great writing! Do you like Pina Coladas?

D. Graham

Anonymous said...

Happy 27th B~day Sue !!!

Anonymous said...

What? Taylor Hicks leave him alone. Let it go. Be happy for him. I love the "Carwash" song. Gasoline! Too high.
Who would take off your comments, they must have been bad. Scary.