Lower Gas Prices, Please

Utah’s gas prices have risen (or rather 47 other states prices have fallen) to a point where our average gas prices are now the third highest in the nation. We’re only being beaten out by Hawaii and Nevada. Yup! Californians now pay less for a gallon of gas than Utahns do.

For a few weeks now the question on many people’s lips has been “Why?” Utah has five of its own oil refineries, so transportation isn’t an issue. Some less intelligent retailers have claimed it’s because of the “high priced gas left in the tanks.” That’s clearly smoke and mirrors since gas prices will jump at a moments notice when there’s even an imaginary threat to the oil supply. Why aren’t they still selling the “cheaper priced gas left in the tanks” at the lower price?

Well, Utah’s Governor Huntsman has had enough. He’s been working with a team of investigators to figure out what’s going on. There conclusion, so far? Utah is just being gouged at the pump. That’s it. Greed is keeping the prices high. The other states rose faster than we did, and got gouged on the way up, so we’re getting gouged on the way down.

I love what KSL is doing. They’ve got two strategies. First, they openly report the lowest gas prices in town. Right now they say in Salt Lake, the cheapest gas is the 7-11 on 2100 South and State Street, for $2.58. Just thought I’d pass it on.

The other thing is that Doug Wright, one of KSL’s talk show hosts, is calling for a boycott of the gas stations.  Don’t buy gas on October 13th if the prices don't go down before then.

I’m with you Doug.

Utah Wins Nuclear Battle

It looks like the western deserts of Utah won’t be temporary hosts to tons and tons of nuclear waste after all. Whoopee! The leader of the Goshute tribe doesn’t like it, but oh, well. I know plenty of members of the tribe that do. In fact, back in May, against tribal leadership, they sued the Feds for allowing it to happen.

I really hope this is over. Of course, the BLM decision can be appealed, but let’s all hope it won’t. Having tons of radioactive waste material above ground, and in what amounts to my backyard, isn’t an idea I’m thrilled about.

Terrorists as Animals

The pundits have started punting again. I shouldn’t be surprised. By trying to lay out the case of the CIA “secret prisons” clearly, President Bush has just given his detractors all the fuel they need to get up on their high horses and pontificate about how Bush needs to be stopped and how they are sooooo much better and more civilized than he is. The rest of the world likes to get in on the Bush bashing, as well.

Now, I’m all for humane treatment of humans. I really am. I also don’t “tow the party line” when it comes to the Republicans. Of course, that’s meaningless because I’m not affiliated with any individual party. The all make me crazy. What I wish some of these people would realize, though, is that the terrorists have left the realm of human beings.

Yeah, you read that right. When these terrorists decided to act like animals and brutally destroy innocents, they quit being humans. They’ve left the path of humanity and chosen the path of the violent animal. Why shouldn’t we treat them like the dangerous animals they really are?

Heck, most animals are less destructive than some of these guys.

Hmmm. Maybe the ASPCA should get involved in dealing with terrorist “rights” instead.

Rally Day

Today in Salt Lake City, President Bush had come out to be the keynote speaker at the national American Legion convention. Yesterday V.P. Cheney and Secretary Rice came out and spoke. Condolezza Rice is just a cool woman on all counts in my book. I'd agree to have her three-headed love child, if my wife would let me.

With all large scale public figures comes large scale controversy. I'm cool with that. People should be able to express themselves in public forums. It's a basic tenet of the Constitution. But when it comes to self-expression, we also need to be careful how we do it. Rocky Anderson, Salt Lake City's bone-headed mayor, hasn't figured that out yet.

Here we have the President of the United States, his V.P. and the Secretary of State all coming to Utah to speak. This isn't something that happens every day. It's a very cool thing, no matter who is in office. They've been invited as guests, by our guests - the American Legion. Needless to say, the Legion has paid large sums of money into the Salt Lake City coffers, so far, in the form of hotel and convention space rentals, not to mention the restaurants. Instead of welcoming these people, as Salt Lake City's mayor, a representative of the citizens of Utah's capital city, Rocky has chosen to actively organize a protest against President Bush. He somehow feels that he can step aside as the mayor for the day, neglecting his mayoral responsibilities, and act as a "regular citizen."

Because of his actions, a lot of other groups have taken notice and are coming out. Some of them are coming out of the closet. There are rallies everywhere today. Some are in defense of the President, some as a show of support for our troops. There's even going to be a rock concert called "Rock Against Rumsfeld" tonight. As much as I like live music, I think I'm going to give this one a "miss." I can't stand guitar-driven pontification.

There's one group that has just got my goat, though. It's a Baptist group that's threatened to fly in from one of the southern states (I forget which) to appear at the funeral of a Salt Lake City Marine, Adam Galvez. He died while serving in Iraq, struck down by an IED. It turns out that he may also have been gay. This group is coming down to protest gays in the military, at the funeral, saying that "God struck him down."

I don't care what your feelings are about homosexuals and their inclusion in the military. This kind of behavior is vile. This Marine's poor family doesn't need you to hoist your crap over their private (and sacred) service honoring their lost son. Shame on you, you hypocritical twits. How dare you disturb this family in this way. How dare you call yourselves Christians, all the while proclaiming that God is a terrorist. You want blasphemy? Look in the mirror. I have no patience for such filth. UPDATE: This group was a no show, thank goodness. Maybe they read my blog. . . nah.

(Okay, John. Take a few deep breathes.)

Other than that, I have no strong feelings about it.

Okay. I'm going to go take a walk and calm down now.