Currently, there is no shortage of oil, we are not running out, there's enough to last a few more decades yet. There is a flawed thinking within the captalist mindset that price is effected soley by supply and demand.

Unfortunatley everything is not as black and white. The price of oil being so high is not a supply and demand issue.

There is a legal loop hole in commodities that allows for oil prices to be manipulated by hedge fund investors and investment bankers to hike up oil prices. Essentially it allows these trades to operate outside your own countries regulations, which were only recently modified to counter such manipulation when they passed the 'Enron Loophole' bill.

The Enron issue was actually caused when Phil Gramm passed a bill (at the behest of Enron lobbyists) that exempted particluar energy companies from goverement trade regulation. The idea behind this was to allow them to better manage risk and bring lower prices to consumers, however in the hands of people whose only interest is profit any such noble intentions go out of the window.

So your goverment did something about it, but guess what, it's not enough. These traders and investors are still able to maniupulate the oil market through the United Kingdom and Dubai markets (refered to as Dark Markets as they are not open to transparency), including oil that is destined for the US. 

By the way Dr Guy - Obama has got invovled with the oil issue, he proposed just the other week to implement a tax on any barrel of oil over the price of $80, which will be used to improve the efficencey in domestic homes, whether that turns out to be the case or not i don't know.

Anyways it's most speculators that cause the issue we are in today, not the actual people drilling and providing energy unfortunatley, that's not to say they don't make huge profits and shouldn't be taxed to high heaven, but then again thats another discussion entirely .

I wish the same success for you and will keep you in prayer.

Hope all has been well for you, and hope things go poorly for the Dems to help keep it that way for you

You are one tough dude!

You've got it, babes.  You've got a phone call comin' too.

((MM))

Good luck.

The Declaration of Independence thing is stupid.  That is our history.  I thought that the objection was going to be the part of "endowed by our Creator" but no, it's because at the time of the Declaration those words only applied to white, wealthy landowners - rolls eyes. 

And what happens if we just pull out of Iraq?  It is in OUR national interest to have a stable democracy there.  Leaving it to chaos is not going to help our country. 

My boys aren't troubled at all about polar bears.  They just feel mistreated because they are in the dark ages of gaming on a gamecube not a new and improved game system. 

1. English is a strange hybrid langauage, in that where most languages have a single 'root language'-- like Spanish and French are latin-based-- English is based on both Latin and Germanic roots. This is why sometimes English sentence structure follows German very closely,a nd other times it does not. As for things like now/know/no and such... well, that's the nature of language. It evolves, and in doing so, develops strange rules. English, by its largely hybrid nature and English-speakers' tendencies to 'borrow' words and such, develops a lot of idicyncracies, but you'll find things like this in most languages, I'm told.

2. A semi-colon is used to link two independent phrases together when they're related to each other. It essentially takes the place of a period between two sentences to show that one thought is related to the next. Similarly, it also behaves as a conjunction like 'and' or ', but' with the context of which relationship it implies given within the sentences. A dash(--) can also be used in a semicolon's place-- though a dash can allso be used in place of a comma to form an appositive-- an interjected fragment that gives more explanation of a concept-- just like I'm using here. Colons are quite different; they're used when one phrase cannot stand on its own, or to introduce a list.(Not the semi-colon here-- I could have just as easily said "Colons are quite different. They're used when one phrase cannot stand on its own, or to introduce a list." or "Colons are quite different, because they're used when one phrase cannot stand on its own, or to introduce a list." I chose to use a colon because the relationship is implied and it's my stylistic choice.) The major thing to remember is that with a colon, the second phrase won't stand on its own as a proper sentence. A semi-colon is also sometimes used instead of a comma to delimit a list.

3. You captitalize when: it's the start of a sentence, or you have a proper noun. "I need to see the doctor, so I made an appointment with Doctor Smith"... in this case, the first time, I'm using a general noun denoting the general concept of a doctor-- in the second, I'm referencing a specific doctor, and thus I capitalize, because it is being used as a title, part of a proper noun. Sometimes in colloquial writing, you'll see people capitalize in Places That Do Not Seem Appropriate. Sometimes this is being done to put emphasis on particular words by treating them as a proper noun, but it is not correct English per se.

3b. You don't start a sentence with And, But, Because, Which, or a number of other words of the sort because they are conjunctions. They are designed to link an incomplete sentence(fragment) to a complete one. If your sentence is complete on its own, you don't need one. If it isn't, then you need to put a complete sentence on the other side of the conjunction.

4. Whom is the prepositional form of Who, if I recall correctly. "Who owns this dog?" "To whom does this dog belong?" Tha'ts a very contrived example, but it illustrates the point. A better one might be that it's actually incorrect to say "Who does this dog belong to?" as many people do. 'Whom' is the correct form to use in this case.

4b. Contractions are easy, via the following exercise: Say "It is Monday." Now say it faster. Faster. Faster. Eventually it'll sound like "It's Monday". Eventually this colloquialism becomes common, and then becomes proper. I refer you to #1-- languages evolve. Except for dead languages.

I award myself the "Answered a Humor Question Seriously" Nerd Award. Yoiks, and away!

Sure, but I think it's unfair (and easily untrue) to think that this was every Sunday or even the majority of Sundays for 20 years. In the Chicagoland area, Wright was known for his congregations community service. It has been said that the KKK does community service, but are they known for that?

I digress.  This issue is about Black and White.  I know by being Black that there is a way that Black people talk about white people around other Black people.  From what I have observed, it is no more eregious than some of the things said here about Black people.

Your first post said nothing about worship or fellowship.  You said that a person should pick a church based on what they believe.  There is nothing Biblical about that.

The Bible is not colorless. You only need to read about the church at Corinth to see that.  Christ called us not to ignore culture, but to come together regardless of it.  To ignore culture is not truly loving others more than yourself.

Sure, but was it that way outwardly?  Was it that way for all of the last twenty years?

Don't you think that's part of the problem? If we follow that, blacks and whites will never go to church together.  KFC, I assume you believe the Bible.  Isn't church for the fellowship and gathering of believers?

Good to hear you are doing better.

Hmmm...Can you remind me of what Wright said that was heresy? Are you sure it was 'hated-filled' 20 years ago?  I lived near the church for a while in Chicago and racism is not what it was known for.  What proof do you offer that the Sunday morning soundbyte heard around the world was a normal occurance for 20 years?

While I believe Wright's opinions to be wrong, I find it difficult to link it to Obama.  I doubt very seriously that he would have the congregation he does if all he spoke on is hate.  Hopefully you agree or you really do believe that Blacks hate whites pretty uniformly.