Nicholsclan.com : a dimension of mind...

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My son now has his stories on the web site. Find them from the home page link to the right.

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And you think your day presented you with a few challenges??

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So to be fair, I'm posting a link to a FOX News story about the 9/11 Commission's findings on the Al Qaeda/Iraq link. The "liberal news media" has been saying that the commission directly contradicted one of President Bush's justifications for going to war against Iraq. But FOX (motto: "Bringing AM Talk Radio to a TV near you") is insisting this is biased reporting. This assertion is based on a commission member who said there were links, just not a working relationship and no evidence of any Iraqi involvement in September 11.

So to recap. There were no WMDs. Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11. Iraq had no working relationship with Al Qaeda. We are spending tens of billions of dollars and sacrificing thousands of lives (only fair to count the Iraqis) because there were "links". Oh, and Saddam was a baaaaad man.

Lest we forget, Clinton was impeached for covering up his private extramarital activities with Paula Jones and Monica Lewinsky. Now Ms. Jones may have been the victim of a crude sexual advance (and abysmally poor judgment - ladies, if a man invites you to his hotel room and you go, then you should not be shocked when he hits on you). But Ms Lewinsky was never an alleged victim of anything (other than betrayal by her "friend"). And if Hillary was emotionally wounded by Clinton, then it was more by the media exposure than his actions.

So to recap. We have a President impeached for being seriously rude to one woman and lying about his sex life.

Now, to recap the recaps. Bush, in his official capacity as President, spends billions and kills hundreds with no substantiated evidence justifying his actions. Clinton, in his personal life, lies and emotionally scars one person. One of these men is running for President. One has been impeached.

Geeeesh...

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Wow... talk about people with unfortunate names. Do you suppose there's any chance her students can keep a straight face?

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Let's give the SUV drivers a break, shall we? I know, it's more economical and less polluting to buy small econo-cars, but this is America and we do pride ourselves on personal freedoms and a marketplace with a grotesque number of choices in it. Besides, most of the SUV backlash over the last couple of months seems to stem from an ill-founded belief that SUVs are somehow directly related to the dramatic rise in gas prices. I don't think so. This doesn't even make rational sense. Has the percentage or number of SUVs on the road changed much in the last year? Certainly not in any significant enough way to have driven gas prices well over $2/gallon.

There are two driving factors for the rise in gas prices. One is the political instability in the Middle East. For obvious reasons, if that place falls to anarchy, radical extremists, or any force that would rather deprive the U.S. of gas than have our money, we are in a world of hurt. And keep in mind that we are the ones that are stirring that pot. We may ultimately foster a more stable and U.S. friendly region in the Middle East, but that writing is far from on the wall. In the short term, we are absolutely the ones who have militarily destabilized the region. So to that end, we (the U.S.) are responsible for sending our own gas prices up.

The other driving factor in rising gas prices is the simple fact that world demand has increased. Note, that's world demand, not U.S. demand. Increased demand without increased supply equals higher prices. That's basic economics. But why is demand up? The major new markets for oil are China, India, and Brazil. These are all emerging economies, and let's not forget that they are all emerging based heavily on U.S. investments. We are sending our business there in an effort (ironically) to keep our prices down. This means that these countries need industrial infrastructure, and that means power for electricity, transportation networks, and manufacturing - and that means oil. Further, by increasing the standard of living of the people in these countries, they can now afford more power consuming devices, including cars (and probably SUVs, but that's not the point). So in a very direct way, we are driving the economic growth which is increasing the oil demand. That in turn translates directly to higher gas prices for us.

So to recap, we are the major cause of market fears based on potential disruption of supply. We are also the driving cause of industrial growth which is increasing global demand. And we sit here blaming our neighbor's Hummer?

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WARNING TO MEN!!! If you must follow this link be forewarned that this is a very scary innovation which may leave permanent scars on the male psyche. Women should just get their credit cards out before clicking.

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...And if your neighbors don't talk about you enough already, may I suggest this?

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Well, my inspiration to write has been waning lately. I won't bore you with all the excuses, but I do have a bit of a rant to get off my chest. What with the Bush administration doing a good job self-destructing, I'm not so inclined to be on that bandwagon, but the Boy Scouts are always fair game.

So... I get an e-mail from the Troop Chaplin (yes, there is one) of the troop my son has been occasionally attending, but hasn't yet officially joined. The note is asking me to complete the "parent's guide exercises" at the from of the scout guidebook as that is a requirement for all new scouts. Sounds harmless.

So... I dig up the book and find the section and discover that it is entirely focused on child abuse. Talk to your son, make him aware of what abuse is, how to handle it, how to guard against it, etc. Okay, always a reasonable precaution for a child. But it still strikes me as odd that this is a prerequisite to scouting.

So... I read on and discover that while neglect, physical, and emotional abuse get a quick once-over, sexual abuse garners most of the attention. I can't help but think it's odd that this wholesome Christian organization which is all about honor and trust and clean living is fixated on sexual child abuse.

So... I get to the exercises. They are all focused on scouts being sexually abused by older scouts or scout leaders. Ahhh... the light goes on. This wholesome Christian organization is simply girding itself against the pedophiles it expects to find in its ranks with enough frequency to make this prerequisite learning.

So to recap... the Boy Scouts exclude atheists and homosexuals because they cannot grow into the best kind of citizen. But pedophiles... they can join and they'll just put out a pamphlet.