KikoKiwi.com

If you would have told me 20 years ago that my body would be aching this bad at 48 I’d have told you were nuts. I used to listen to my parents complain about their aches and pains but let it go in one ear and out the other. I used to think like everbody else that my body would last forever. I have done more than my share of partying over the years but have been sober for the last 15 years. My body did a pretty nice job of healing itself until the last couple of months. All of a sudden everything hurts and I don’t like it. I have been really lucky to have made it this far without any major problems. I guess what I’m trying to say is it sucks getting older.

We have finally begun to see some relief at the pumps over the last week in my area. A gallon of gas has dropped 17 cents since the middle of July and I for one am glad to see that we are finally learning how to cut our driving habits. The main reason for the drop has been the demand for oil has been on the decline and the price reaching $4 a gallon may have been the point where Americans have reached their limit on the budget. I know my family has been dining has been spending less on many  items of enjoyment in order to fill the tank. The fact that the decline in prices has started in the middle of vacation season is somewhat of a surprise to the oil companies. I think they were counting on the American people to travel throughout the summer and pay their outrageous price now matter what the cost. Many American have made their vacation plans close to home in order to cut down on the expense of their travel. I have been saying over and over that money only spends once and if you have to fill your tank there will be less for other items in the budget.

I don’t know about the rest of America but I have been watching the two candidates for president and their strategy to win them the White House. I can say theat neither candidate has impressed me so far. Obama is over in Afghanistan to learn about conditions in a country far away from where the real battle is forming. We have given Iraq and Afghanistan as much support and effort to control their borders and have left our own country fall into a real state of dissarry. Both candidates should be focused on AMERICA and our problems and how to make things right at home before any other issues around the world are given another thought. I want all the American public to follow these candidates and the issues they are addressing as we get closer to the election in November. Granted we don’t have much of a choice but one of these two will be our next leader and I want the one who will worry about us first and the rest of the world later.

Why is it that when the price of a barrel of oil rises it is reflected at the pump the very next day ? It sure doesn’t take the stations long to up the price but when there is a drop in the price of a barrel it takes 4-6 weeks to be come down. That is what happened today when it was announced a $5 drop in the oil due to a reduction in demand. People are apparently driving less because of the high cost and even though it is summer the demand has dropped considerably. I guess ths s–t has finally hit the fan. I know my budget can’t take another hit with another increase. The drop will be welcome if and when it comes but I’m not going to count on it. These oil companies are just entirely too greedy to give anything back on the prices they have worked so  hard to elevate to the rate it is today.

We as Americans will have to make a decision in November to elect a new president. The top two choices are John McCain and Barack Obama. Now I have been reading the newspapers lately and noticed that the attacks have begun even before the candidates have been formally selected by their party. McCain has been attacking Obama’s policy on the war in Iraq. It seems Obama is altering his position of bringing the troops home right after he would take office in January. The withdrawl would be a tragic mistake if the Iraq’s are not ready to maintain the peace. Obama on the other hand has been using a wise strategy of saying McCain would be just another four years of the Bush policies already in place. The American people will have to carefully sift through all of the information we will be presented with over the next few months and use our gut feelings to decide what is true and what is false. I will paying close attention to the campaigns but really do not like either candidate. The lesser of two evils will be my choice.

Over the last month I have been reading about how the stock markethas been falling pretty much on a regualr basis. The investors are getting very skidish and are turing it into a bear market. No two days have been the same but one constant remains as a contributor to the slump. The price of oil is now hovering around $147 a barrel with no end in sight. The latest rise is due to unrest over the Iranians testing missiles. It’s funny how easily unrest is created when the oil barons decide they want more money for their product. This unrest causes other businesses to have to raise their prices in order to get their producs to market or if they are in the transportation inudstry the rise will be needed to pay for the fuel to run their company. This is such a merry-go-round ride that just makes one dizzy thinking about it. The oil has and will continue to control just about every kind of business and as much as we hate to admit they have us over a barrel. We should in turn repay them for their concern for our economies. If an oil country does not lower the price of their product charge their country ten times the going rate for any product they to import. I don’t care if it is a supply & demand issue or not we should make them overpay as much as the rest of us. Maybe when their citizens are paying $200,000 for a car or $250 for a pair of pants they will feel the pain every one of us is feeling when we drive up to a gas pump. What is good for the goose is good for the gander. MAKE THEM PAY!!!!

The race is on for the White House with John McCain and Barack Obama crossing the United States and making an attempt to lure voters to their side. I can assure both of the candidates a vote if they can figure out a way to relieve the price of gasoline and what it is doing to our economy. I listen every day about the stock market dropping and the analysts trying to explain why this stock or that stock fell so drastically on any given day. The only stock to keep its value is oil stock. That is because the greedy oil barons from around the world are raping the public in every country. The answer seems pretty simple to me and that is to over charge these oil countries and the greedy oil companies in the United States for everything they ned to survive. I would up the prices so high on food, raw materials, clothing etc. since they have all that extra money from their oil profits. Our government needs to do something about this immediately because like so many Americans my budget can go no further. With each price hike for gasoline the other industries are raising their prices as well to cover the cost of getting products to market. Therefore we are not only paying at the pump but at every store we make a purchase. I still have seen no solution coming from the candidates other than to pursue alternate energy sources. That does not help me with my budget for the upcoming month. There is just nothing left to cut.

A local infant died last week during a heat wave when his grandfather accidently left him in the back seat of his car and ent to work. He was supposed to be dropped off at day care but the grandfather forgot he was there and the 14 month old was left in the car for 5 hours. He was rushed to the hospital and died a  few days later. The question remains should the grandgather be charge with a crime in the infants death? The mother does not want it pursued stating the grandfather will suffer enough with the memory of what pain he has caused. I agree with the mother and think the law should just let it go.

I was disappointed when Hillary Clinton did not get the Democratic nomination and have been thinking about which candidate to support for president. I really don’t care for either John McCain or Barack Obama. This country is in such turmoil right now that putting up with another four years of a Republican with George Bush policies seems light a nightmare. The other side of the coin allows you to back a man who I believe is deceiving the country with his campaign promises and his entire platform. I just can’t get behind Obama. I really believe he has a hidden agenda but his persuasiveness is pretty overwhelming to a lot of people who are hearing what they think is going to fix this country. At this point in time my vote is up for grabs and I don’t see it being swayed either way in the upcoming campaign. I have voted in elections in the past where the lesser of two evils is how I voted. This election is going to be the hardest one yet in my mind.

I was listening to the sports talk radio station today and they were discussing the possibility of how many NBA games may have been effected by the referee’s ove the last 25 years. I have watched more than my share of these games and have yelled numerous times at some of the calls that I thought were just plain ridculous. There is no doubt in my mind that over the years many referee’s have been paid a substantial amount of money to assure that a team covers a spread or a certain player does not have an effect on the outcome. It is sad to say that the NBA is oen sport where a referee can have a major influence on the score and who is in the game to a certain point. They need to reevaluate   some of the current referee’s but not all of them are questionable. The thing is now that this problem has come into view the magnifying glass will be put on every call by every referee. The sport will suffer a lot of respect from the fans and it will show in the attendance figures in the coming years.