WE HAVE MET THE ENEMY......

..........AND HE IS US. That old expression came from the comic strip known as Pogo which was a popular satire piece over 30 years ago. Never has it been more appropriate than in our current energy and political environment. Part of the reason for the Middle East crisis is our addiction to foreign oil. In importing so much high cost oil from the middle east, we are providing the funds for our enemies to continue to attack us. Not only do we have to bear the cost of our own military action, we are paying for that of the terrorists as well. What else could we do? We could certainly exploit our own sources of petroleum by drilling in locations presently forbidden. While this will have some environmental consequences, these could be managed. We do things every day that have environmental consequences and total elimination of these is impossible. All of those unsightly windmills supposed to be a clean source of electricity take a huge toll on the bird population. We view the use of nuclear generated electricity with disdain because of the environmental consequences but some European countries derive as much as 40% of their electricity from nuclear power. One of the biggest culprits in the whole picture are speculators who drive up futures prices, increasing the cost of raw material to refiners who pass those costs to the consumer. The bottom line is that we have plenty of options for generating energy that are less ambitious than converting our entire fleet of automobiles to ethanol. If you are upset about the ups and downs of gasoline prices, don't blame those "evil oil companies" or the president. Its much more complex than that and you might just take a look in the bathroom mirror. There are a number of things we can do as consumers and investors to keep energy prices from getting out of hand. By looking to blame others for our plight, we ignore the possibilities that are within our own control.

Its been a busy week for us since our return to Texas for the winter. My "fishin' buddy" from across the lake died, the rain sank my boat and overwhelmed our septic system, and I am inundated with leaves which are just now starting to fall. The one bit of good news is that the defendant in the jury trial I served on received 508 years for molesting 20 boys. That is one less person able to run free and harm our children.