World crude price shocker !!!

[DannyBanany]

BH I do agree with you that a lot of what is going on goes back to the Clinton administration. Bill Clinton had Bin Laden in his possession after the USS Cole bombing and let him go. Dumb decision. One thing I disagree with you on is that there would have been further attacks if it weren't for this war. My main reason is because we did not go after the people who attacked us!!!

We went after Hussein, not Bin Laden. Now we have no idea where Bin Laden is and we're in an unneccessary war that has no purpose other than further lining the pockets of crooked politicians and CEOs that somehow benefit from us being over there killing and being killed. I'm sure we have lost more casualties by occupying Iraq than if there was an alleged second attack on US soil. Sure, I would not want an attack to happen to innocent civilians but either way people are dying.

I was in line for a flight a few weeks ago, and like everyone else, I had to take off my shoes. I was so mad. I thought: I have to take off my shoes in public because some idiot discovered a way to make bombs out of his sneakers just because he hates my religion and my country.

We’re in real trouble if someone figures out how to make explosive pants.

[blackhillsdreams]

Point taken. I don't disagree on the fact that we still have not caught Bin Laden and I have to believe there is intel that knows exactly where he is. For God's sake, they can read a newspaper over my shoulder from a satellite in space if I'm standing outside, Somebody knows where he is...

And, actually, you and I never disagreed in the first place. I never said we went after the right people, just that something had to be done. I don't know that the right thing was done, but maybe it's a gray area and maybe what was done was less wrong than having done nothing.

I'm with ya on the flying thing too. I've flown probably 50 - 60 times in my life, maybe more. You know what is really sad, I have to admit that I was in Denver airport in June on my way to Idaho, there was a man in a turban with a long black beard, he looked very nervous. He was walking around lost and just seemed very stressed. it turns out, he was just lost. He actually walked up to me to ask me how to get to a gate or something like that. As he was walking up to me, I was freaking out inside.

The poor man was just lost, looking for directions, and I'm sure was fully aware of how his appearance was perceived by most of us. That is what is really sad.

As I'm sitting here watching the news, here is the headline "Oil Prices Soar!!! Stay tuned for what that means for you at the pump!" How freaking stupid do they think we all are??!!!!!. It's just sick and the media is just as sick!

[Jammie]

BH, did you move? I just noticed that you're from Lakeland.

Unfortunately, intelligence told us that Al Qaeuda (Spelling again???) was in Iraq. They also told us that Iraq may be able to do some nuking. The last part didn't appear to be true, BUT they claim that nasty little group really was in Iraq and that's what part of the problem was. I have no idea of knowing if they were in there or not, but there have been a lot of news reports stating so. In the meantime, the cash is rolling into Iraq and they're storing some of it in U.S. banks. Surprising after some people said we went in there just cause we were after their oil.

Something that has always amazed me~We were one of the big pushers in the U.N. to make it illegal to assassinate the ruler of any country. DUH!!! Remember when there was an attempt on the lives of leaders during the Great 8 Summit? Somebody wasn't playing fairly, yet WE always feel that we have to follow the rules~like we have to take the high road. Unfortunately, it's cost a lot of American lives and a lot of American $$. It would've been much simpler to go in and wipe out the lunatic (Hussein) and his crew.

And Bill~well, there are so many Clinton lovers in this country that it's amazing. Attack after attack he twittled his thumbs and did nothing but flash that big smile. If Bush would do that, they'd just say he's too stupid to do anything. In fact, if Bush would've done a lot of things that Clinton did, he'd have been ousted a long time ago.

And I'm with Pikie~we would be better off dealing with Brazil.

[pikie]

Danny,

As far as Texas, Texas is 8000 sq. miles larger than France. Germany is almost half the size of Texas.Texas has a population density of only 75 people/sq. mile vs France 295 people/sq. mile; Germany has 596 people/sq. mile. South Dakota has only 10.5 people/sq. mile. France along with all of Europe and China -- are very crowded countries. There's no room -- for everybody to have a car. Because of their Socialism, their gas prices are double what we pay-- because of taxes.That's why the Founding Fathers left Europe -- more freedom, more open spaces, and less taxes.

As far as people being afraid of each other? Why should rural people be forced to live like city people. Not everybody shares your view of hanging out with strangers and making new friends on a bus. Nobody is telling anyone not to take the bus -- it's a personal choice. People live in cities and rural areas for good reasons. America's larger cities have excellent public transportation systems -- NYC is the best. The entire Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, Pittsburgh, Atlanta, Chicago, Minneapolis, L.A., San Francisco, Seattle, and Portland -- all have excellent transit systems already. If people want a better transit sytem and more people--they should move to the big cities. I agree that we should have a better "cross-country" transit system; however, it will never be cost effective to have a billion dollar train system make stops in Rapid City, a metro with less than 120,000 people. Amtrak, which is already "subsidized" by the government, can take you almost anywhere, except for remote areas like Rapid City. Look at their national route map, they pretty much go everywhere. I do agree that they suck at doing it; they are slow and unreliable, but they will get you where you want.

As far as subsidizing everything, like oil -- that's what Chavez in Venezuela did. That's what China and all of Europe has done. This is a Constitutional Republic -- not a Socialist regime. This is a Capitalist society with some problems, but it's Capitalism that made us rich and free. It's Capitalism that draws entrpreneurs from all over the world despite a high corporate income tax (avg. 38% state/federal). The government just took over Wall Street, AIG, and half of America's mortgage loans -- how much more? If people love Socialism, they should consider Socialist countries. I'm not saying that Socialist countires are bad, but look how they live: most of them live in apartments and townhomes, most families only have 1 car, and their income tax rates are as high as 60%. Do you want to pay 40-60% from your pay-check, and up to 20% sales tax? That's what you pay in Socialist countries. In South Dakota,there is no corporate income tax and you don't pay any state or local income tax. An American family with a 2-4 kids making less than $60,000 (with child tax credits) barely pays 5-10% income tax -- after all deductions and credits. I know, I've been in every tax bracket ($5,000 -$100,000 annually). The bottom 50% of Americans (half the country) only pays 3% of all income tax, and families making less than $40,000 a year -- don't pay any income taxes because of the (EIC) Earned Income Credit. America is still the best. We still have a lot of problems, but so does everybody else. Be careful what you wish for.

Once again, I agree that there should be more transportation options, but I think free/or affordable college is a better goal to strive for. Millions of college kids will graduate with tens of thousands of dollars in student debt. Money should never be a barrier to a smarter country, and a brighter future. Higher taxes is never the answer -- either.

South Dakota is a much better place than Europe. Don't wish European Socialism on the beautiful Black Hills. That's why, I want to move to your great city and state -- I don't want crowds, high taxes and Socialism.You live in a great place...stay there and make it better. I hope to see you there in the future.

[blackhillsdreams]

Originally Posted by Jammie

BH, did you move? I just noticed that you're from Lakeland.

Yep, we left the house last Tuesday and moved to Lakeland. I started my new job on Thursday morning after unpacking and starting to settle in. Hopefully, my house will close by the 30th and with that behind me, I'll be on the road to recovery.

[Randolfo]

Some very good responses here. My work takes me overseas often. I have worked in Germany, France and Japan, taken the ICE, TGV, and Shinkansen (don't know if that is spelled correctly) trains in those countries. I remember meeting a friends Dad for a beer in Munich. He was a farmer from the central valley of California and was re-tracing his route while a GI. Could not believe how great the roads, trains, infrastructure were in the German countryside. He asked one of my German colleagues how they did it, and he simply answered "70% tax rate." That was in 1996.