We're all just tools

During this past summer, gas cost $4 a gallon. We were told to get use to this, because it was the new normal. Demand was up, with countries like China and India using a record amount of fuel. There was too much instability in the Middle East areas where oil is located. And now it’s six months later and gas costs $2 a gallon.

People claim that the market is run by supply and demand. But does anyone really believe that demand was twice as high before? What’s really at the heart of the matter is oil futures, and how this creates an unstable market. If a group of influential individuals (or more likely companies) decide to buy or sell futures in a certain way, everyone else, out of fear of short-term losses, buys and sells in the same way. Even worse, it is probably the case that these companies can use this influence to their advantage. They can artificially raise they price, and make money off of it.

This is bad in itself, but at least this is just oil. What if we started allowing people to buy and sell water futures the same way they do for oil now. Capitalists would argue that this is only fair in a free market. Could there be a day when you go to the supermarket, and water is suddenly $4 a galloon? That’s when things might really get scary.

Some people should not be parents

There's nothing that makes my fur stand on end more than parents being mean to their son or daughter in public. It's like some people just don't know how to talk to children. Kids aren't all retards. And at the same time, they're not adults. You should just talk to them in a direct, straightforward, but respectful way. They'll understand.

Over the weekend I overheard this parent being extremely denigrating to his son. It was just going on and on, and eventually I couldn't help but go over to the parent and say something. So I started to walk over, my hands clenched with the anger I felt. Adrenaline was rushing through my body, because I was really going to let this parent really have it. It was at that moment that I heard the kid himself speaking, and he was the foulest mouthed little $#%* I had ever heard. So I walked right past and never looked back.

That's the last time I'll hang out anywhere near St. Mary's Sunday School.

Stop drinking gatorade fat people!

You know what drives me crazy? When I see fat people drinking Gatorade with their everyday meals. Just because it's a so-called "sports drink" doesn't mean that it's healthier to drink than a coke! They have a comparable amount of sugar and carbohydrates, and Gatorade has even more salts. This is great if you've just ran a 5K and you need to replenish your body's electrolytes and fluids. It's not so good if your physical activity of choice is writing messages to your friends on Facebook. The carbohydrates are going to increase your waistline. And the salts are going to make you retain water and may even affect your blood pressure.

Stop fooling yourself people! There is only one diet that works, and that's moderation. Eat like a normal human being, exercise regularly, and take part in activities besides watching CSI reruns all day, and you'll be amazed at how quickly you transform to be a normal healthy person.

Dreams can screw with your head

Have you ever had a super-duper realistic feeling dream, where something horrible happens, or someone you know does something that really upsets you? Then you awake, and you're not quite sure if that was a dream or if it really happened. Not only is it an awful start to the morning, but this can often stick with you and bug you the rest of the day. It just keeps gnawing at you--was that real? Did that really happen? And you want to be mean to that person who wronged you in the dream, but really in all fairness you can't. It's so weird how dreams can screw with you like this.

But I guess at least we can tell the difference between dreams and reality (at least most of us). What about animals? Let's say a dog has a really bad dream where his master has been hitting him or something. When that dog wakes, does he know that it was just a dream and not reality? Or does the dog really think his master was hitting him. Next time your pet acts in an unpredictable way against you, think twice before getting upset. Maybe the pet was just reacting to some dream he or she had.

On the other hand, maybe most animals don't remember dreams the way us more intelligent species do. Maybe they have never evolved to be able to do this. That would be a good safety measure for animals that can't tell that their dreams are not real.

The only blog worth reading is now online

There are something like 200 million blogs on the Internet. And 99.9999995% of them are crap. That's right, I've decided to finally have a blog of my own. Take this as me giving back to the world by showering it with my wisdom. For much too long idiocy has gone unchecked, but no longer.

So be sure to subscribe to the RSS feed, because you're not going to want to miss an update. This is going to be sweet.

Oh, and I know I said this is the only blog to read, but can you do me a favor and check out Harold's blog every once and awhile? He's a good guy, and I'd feel bad if his blog went completely unread (and incidentally, I was the one who put him up to doing it).