"It depends on what the definition of 'is' is."

That was then; this is now. That was Bill; this is Oil:
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Profits at Exxon Mobil surged 36 percent to a near record $10.4 billion in the second quarter as surging oil prices helped the world's largest publicly traded company soundly beat Wall Street forecasts.

When I learned basic economics, before the Flood, profit for a period was what was left of revenue after all expenses were paid: P=R-E. Now, I would expect revenue to increase for oil companies, as they pass increasing prices on to consumers. But if the increase in revenue (or price charged, say, at the gas pump) is just a reflection of increased cost of oil, wouldn't you expect profits to remain about the same? The only way I can get an increase in profit is if the increase in revenue exceeds the increase in expense. Hmmm ... isn't that the definition of price gouging?

Will some one please set me straight here? Will someone explain the finer points of post-Reaganomics to me? I have a 401-K to manage, after all. If it fails, I get to work until I die in the traces. (19th century horse imagery -- oh, dear.)

Gifts to Lebanese Chiildren

David W. has graciously permitted me to post this photo . Thank you, David.

Photos of Israeli children signing bombs before they are "received" by the children of of Lebanon.

Notice a couple of things: the signers are girls, and some of the messages are in English. Click on the photo to see more like it, if you have the stomach for it.

This reminds me of a song from South Pacific, which ends:

You've got to be taught

Before it's too late

Before you are 6 or 7 or 8
To hate all the people
your relatives hate
You've got to be carefully taught

And now, today's question, which we could probably ask of ourselves, as well:
Do the parents of these children have any freakin' idea what they're teaching their little darlings?

The Economy is Booming!

Heard on Morning Edition: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5582912

Booming economy? Booming for whom? Will someone please explain it to me?

Maybe it's just time for me to spring for XM Radio. If only I could afford it!

Innocent Life

Condoleezza Rice, another Administration "Critical Parent," talked about the loss of "innocent life" on her trip to the Mideast. So, "innocent life" now includes the post-born as well as frozen fetuses. This summary derived from Morning Edition (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5580340). What struck me is the recurrence of the mantra "innocent life" wherever convenient.

I wonder, does "innocent life"include the subset of the post-born comprised of soldiers doing the bidding of balding ideologues? Or are soldiers complicit and, therefore, non-innocent life?

Thank you, Father President+

"This bill would support the taking of innocent human life in the hope of finding medical benefits for others. It crosses a moral boundary that our decent society needs to respect. So I vetoed it," Bush said in remarks at the White House. (Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060719/pl_afp/usbushpolitics)

Since when do presidents have the privilege of imposing their morals on us? And when did this president acquire these morals? Think: capital punishment; Texas, 1994-2000.