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Wednesday, August 17, 2005

Back in the Saddle Again

Having taken a week off for a whirlwind trip to the southwestern Lower Michigan, I'm pleased to be back. One of the greatest things about being on vacation is that you are often out of touch with the inconsequential events of the day. Not until I returned was I made aware of the stir caused by Cindy Sheehan and her camp-out. I did not watch TV but I spoke with lots of people and no one, literally no one mentioned this issue. That may be telling. Perhaps the only people who care about these issues are those who are obsessively concerned with fairly trivial daily news. These are the same people who are still obsessed with the disappearance of a high school student who disappeared in Aruba.

Tragedies happen, but they are really only tragedies for the immediate family. For everyone else they are the elements of entertainment and distraction. In reality, what impacts our lives more: Camp Cindy or $3 per gallon gas?

Speaking of expensive gas, I drove through parts of Canada to reach my destination and was told by a Canadian resident that gas there costs over $4 per gallon. I did not have to buy gas in Canada, and am very grateful. Since Canada is an oil exporter, I have to assume that the price of fuel there is a function of taxes. In the US, one-third of the cost of a gallon of gas consists of taxes. So that $3 gallon of gas means that about $1 dollar goes to federal, state and local coffers.

Well, anyway, back to the daily grind. But with a more philosophical bent. Life is too short for rhetorical cheap shots.

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