We've been duped! Again!

Have you noticed everybody is really happy that gas is ONLY $3.15 per gallon? I have. The oil companies suckered us again. It wasn't long ago when you thought $2 for gallon was a rip off. Look at us now. Thinking $3.15 is great deal. $3.15 is the national average now for a gallon of regular. My Mama uses premium. No way she can put regular in her beloved Mercedes. Oooohhh, a Mercedes. Those of you that know her probably think that she thinks she's big shit because she has a Benz. Don't worry I keep her ego in place here at home. I constantly remind her that it's a used C-Class. It's a starter Mercedes. Which is for people that are not rich but want people to think they have a more money than they really do. It's working out really well for her. We'll back to my rant. Back in June when the price of a barrel of oil peaked at $138 the average price per gallon topped out at $4.12 per gallon. Now the price per barrel of crude is $78. A %43 drop in price. At the same time the price per gallon only dropped from $4.12 to $3.15. That's only a %23 drop? What's the deal? If the price per gallon dropped at the same rate gas should be $2.35 a gallon now. I sure there are some complex economic factors involving price elasticity etc. that contribute to the difference but %20? This is particularly disturbing to me because I fell like I've been trained. The oil companies spike the price then bring it down just a little to make me feel like I'm getting a deal when I'm really not, but I don't really realize it because they bunch me in with every other idiot consumer. Being trained to do something is a sin for a cat. We take great pride in the fact you can't train a feline to do jack shit. We're proud to be unlike some idiot dog that will roll over or fetch something to get a treat. If you consider petrified pig asshole to be a treat. Have you seen what pet treats are made out of? I bring all this up because I went with my Dad to Costco to put gas in my Mama's car. He's trained by her to go put gas. I ride along just get out of the house. And I like Costco. Anyway, gas is usually about $.05 to $.07 per gallon cheaper there. What's funny about this is that there is usually a line and people will sit in their cars, running at idol with their AC's on to save few cents a gallon. Never realizing that any savings is being more that burned off while they sit pick their nose. This brings me to another topic. Energy independence. This seems to be a big deal now. Everybody wants this because of the National security implications. I see one flaw in it though. Let's say we are able to drill for enough oil just for our own use. Does this mean Exxon and all the other American oil are going to stop drilling/purchasing foreign oil to sell to the rest of the World? Will this really lower prices for us, when the price per barrel is tied to global demand? Does energy independence mean we stop all the other bullshit in the Middle East that pisses off the Muslim's to the point they want to kill us? Will we still have a Military base in Saudi Arabia? A big reason(not the only one)they want to kill us is because they see us as a Christians up in there Muslim business. Will this end with "energy independence"? I haven't got that answer from any politician. I'm not sure anybody has asked. Further, I've done some reading on this topic. It seems there are some pretty simple things we could all do help get us to this goal of energy independence. All of which will get us there faster and cheaper than just drilling. Things like having our tires inflated properly to maximize gas mileage. Not going through the drive thru. Get down and go inside to order your Big Mac. Allow the Government to limit horse power on vehicles to make them more fuel efficient. I like fast cars as much as anybody but do we really need to go zero to sixty in fill in the blank number of seconds on the way to work in the morning? Or any other time for that matter. We always talk about the large sacrifice our military makes to protect us. I think these would be some pretty small sacrifices on our part to make theirs a little smaller...............Here are the football picks.

Picks of the week. Last Week(as disaster)(1-4) Season(16-14-2)

GEORGIA -15 VS VANDERBILT
OKLAHOMA ST. -16.5 VS BAYLOR
BILLS +1 VS CHARGERS
STEELERS -9.5 AT BENGALS
VIKINGS +3 AT BEARS

BONO....LAST WEEK(5-8) SEASON(45-40-2)...MAMA..LAST WEEK(6-7) SEASON(41-44-2)

TITANS -7 AT CHIEFS.....B-CHIEFS.....M-CHIEFS
CHARGERS -1 AT BILLS.....B-BILLS....M-CHARGERS
STEELERS -9.5 AT BENGALS....B-STEELERS......M-BENGALS
RAVENS +3 AT DOLPHINS.....B-DOLPHINS......M-DOLPHINS
COWBOYS -7 AT RAMS......B-COWBOYS....M-RAMS
VIKINGS +3 AT BEARS.....B-VIKINGS....M-BEARS
SAINTS +3 AT PANTHERS.....B-PANTHERS.....M-PANTHERS
49ERS +12 AT GIANTS......B-GIANTS.....M-49ERS
LIONS +8.5 AT TEXANS.....B-TEXANS....M-TEXANS
JETS -3 AT RAIDERS.....B-JETS.....M-RAIDERS
BROWNS +8.5 AT REDSKINS....B-SKINS....M-SKINS
COLTS -1 AT PACKERS.....B-COLTS....M-COLTS
SEAHAWKS +10.5 AT BUCCANNEERS......B-BUCS.....M-SEAHAWKS
BRONCOS +3 AT PATRIOTS....B-PATRIOTS.....M-PATRIOTS