Giving credit where it is due

Picture courtesy of Washingtonstatewire.com

President Obama released about sixty million barrels of oil from the Strategic Reserve last week in order to push down the oil prices that are under cutting any hope of an economic recovery.

The decision came shortly after it was announced that America's economy grew at an anemic 1.8% when it could have been nearly twice that. The reason was that high gas prices were dragging the economy down. Finally, a glimmer of sense from an administration that seems as clueless as the last one but I have to give credit where credit is due.

Good job, Mr President.

Oil is down to $90 this morning which means the price of gas should be around $2.75-$2.85 but the gouging at the pump continues. The Department of Justice has been probing the situation but I really have little faith in Eric Holder. Maybe he will surprise us.

And maybe pigs will fly....

Many oil analysts are upset decrying the move as "an attempt to punish speculators by flooding the market with oil."

What is their point?

If this is punishment, be happy I am not the one meting it out. I would be looking for a sturdy tree branch at least eight feet high...

The Obama administration said they were undertaking this move to make up for the shortfall in Libyan oil. Only there was none since Saudi Arabia upped production but the speculators decided to ignore that.

You reap what you sow.....

Now, let's pull gas down to under $2 and what the economy start to rev up. It won't solve everything but it is a huge half dozen steps or so in the right direction

First day of Summer!

Summer arrives at 1:16pm today but the thermometer has announced its been around a lot longer...lots of 100 or upper 90s days over the last two weeks....

This is also the longest day of the year and Druids used to dance around sacred oaks or rocks after painting themselves blue. Now we play baseball...or if you are the Pittsburgh Pirates, you stand around in the open space of PNC Park and watch the other teams score runs. Maybe I am being too hard on them...they are 35-37 and only 2.5 games out of first so they might have a chance at their first winning season since 1992....

Tomorrow is Michelle's birthday and it is also the start date of my "favorite" war: The German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941. Apparently Napoleon attacked Russia on the same day in 1812 but I have also seen June 24 cited. But I am an historian of Ancient Greece and Rome and I must tell you that Hannibal massacred a Roman army at Lake Transimene on this day in 217 BC.

If you are a fan of the Romans, don't fret over Transimene. On June 22 in 168 BC, the Romans defeated Macedonia at Pydna

Happy Summer Solsitice

Boston wins Stanely Cup

Congrats Boston Bruins....First Stanley Cup since 1972. Pretty good decade for Beantown sports. Patriots with three Super Bowls, Red Sox win the World Series twice and even the Celtics won a championship.

I never understood why people like to riot after games. I think it started in Montreal in 1968 with the Maurice Richard suspension. Note the guy in the Habs jersey running by in Vancouver, 2011. I guess Vancouver decided to get an expert in post game rioting....LOL Yes,

Show him the door....

...then throw him through it...head first.

Anthony Weiner is not the first moron to wander through Congress and he certainly will not be the last but he still needs to go.

And why stop with just him?

Nonetheless, not only has he lied about tweeting compromising pictures of himself but he did this with a minor...forget resignation, he should be in jail!

This kind of behavior has been the hallmark of both parties and is yet another nudge towards independent political thought and the erosion of the totalitarian.....uh, two party system of perversion, corruption and utter incompetence.

Between Clinton's "I did not have sexual relations with that woman" and Roger Craig's "bathroom Olympics", it seems neither Republicans or Democrats have a monopoly on morality but both seem to be trying to outdo each other in perversion.

Meanwhile, our economy continues to sink under 9.1% unemployment, sky-high gas prices, the specter of higher taxes, the over regulation of business, and deficits that involve numbers that don't have any meaning. Along with the economy, freedom is also under assault with TSA goons strip searching airline passengers and local governments seizing private property under the guise of "eminent domain" while banks do the same without checking mortgage paperwork that they themselves do not understand or even check.

America, you deserve better.

Is it too late to petition Britain to take us back as a colony?

Just wondering.

ObamaCare is illegal.

Over and over, the same assertion and this time by a full panel of both Republicans and Democrats: you can NOT force someone to buy something! What happened to "I want to give Americans the same health care plan as Congress?" Or at the very least, leave it alone. Of course, the best option would be socialized medicine but for some reason the alleged liberals in the White House want to punish Americans buy forcing them to buy health insurance when it is clearly out of control and the country is mired in the worst economic crisis since the Depression. That $750 billion bailout for Wall Street Mr Hope and Change voted for could have been used for something a lot better....

Any ideas?

Yes, that was sarcastic....

Story courtesy of Associated Press:

http://www.fayobserver.com/articles/2011/06/08/1100242?sac=Local

Greece bankrupt, America next?

Here is a couple of frightening articles:

This is about the Moody's credit rating agency possible downgrading America's credit rating since. like Greece, we insist on spending money we don't have and we are doing at a rate ($14 trillion dollar debt) that is simply mind boggling

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Moodys-warns-US-govt-on-apf-2110375752.html?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=2&asset=&ccode=

This article is about "austerity" and what it actually means:

http://newsjunkiepost.com/2011/05/12/greece-austerity-enforced-with-brutality-coming-to-america/

This goes beyond Republican and Democat. You cannot spend money you do not have. Raising taxes is like giving money to a gambling addict. The US MUST reduce spending. We cannot keep spending money like this. Raising taxes actually results in reduced revenue because it all but destroys economic activity.

Cut spending and get commodity trading under control and things will start to get better. It will still take awhile but it is the first step.

It is time to act decisively while we have some measure of control over the situation...