The National Debt

How many trillions of dollars is the USA in debt? About 7 trillion I think. Gas prices is causing a lot of problems associated with the debt. A Dutch company is trying to bring algae based biodisel into reality. This is a great idea because some biofuels are based on corn, soy, and so on and those crops are better left for human food production.

http://www.algaelink.com/

Listen, the only way gas prices will fall is if demand for fuel goes down. That's the basic fact. Oh sure, OPEC will increase production but if we are the world's greatest technology based nation can't we start looking at more alternative energy alternatives? Until then cut back on the amount of driving to bare minimum distances.

The aircraft industry wants us to pay all of these surcharges because of the high costs of fuel. I think it's time we charge them for fees like lost baggage, delayed flights due to their errors, extremely overweight people sitting next to you when they should have two seats, etc.

Electronic goods prices are a joke in Europe

One of the things that make me laugh are the prices of electronic goods and software in Europe. Let's take for example an NVIDIA 9800 GTX which lists a Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) of about 349 dollars in the USA. The very same video card in Europe lists an MSRP for about 369 Euros. Ok that equates to 569 US dollars. Isn't it about time that the E.U. decided to investigate price gouging in Europe by some of the major companies?

The FCC says the buttocks is a sexual organ

In 2003 a brief rear buttocks scene of a woman in a shower from an episode of NYPD blue is going to draw a big fine from the FCC. The FCC basically says that the buttocks is a sex organ. Image that if you will? By the way the anus was not shown in the scene. I suppose we need to do a better job in school about teaching basic biology. I'm sorry but the buttocks is not a sexual organ. If it is then I've been ass backwards my whole life.

Overeating

Once in a while, or at least one time since we were born we have a particular meal in which we over indulge ourselves. Like the primal beast lurking within us we attack the food and eat so much we get sick to our stomachs. To make matters worse we have a habit of doing this several times even if our bodies complain about it. Yes, I've done this myself so count me in with everybody else. A friend of mine had so much Chinese food two nights ago that she vomited the day after. She has done this on at least four occasions. Eat, overeat, vomit. As human beings we still have too much to learn...and too much to eat.

The Writer's Strike

The writer's strike continues to drag on. Let me say one thing. I am a writer and fully support the strike but on the other hand I don't like all of the demands writers want to impose upon the studios. I don't understand why a completely different strategy could be used. Rather than the studios give some type of royalties from Internet and digital formats to the writers why not just give an acceptable pay raise and also make a holding pot. OK now all of you want to know, "What is a holding pot? What is that idiot Robert talking about?" OK, let's take for example that a writer works six months of a television series and has either directly or indirectly written 22 episodes. Let's say that a writer is paid $6,000 a month for those 6 months. For the remaining six months the writer isn't paid. Time for reruns remember? OK the studios make a pot or an ''account' whereby a continuing payment is made rather than a royalty payment for the six months between stop and start of a series. This payment should be about 40 percent of their gross. If the writer pays additional funds into the pot from their monthly salary the studios contribute double that amount. Is this a great idea? Maybe not. Maybe it sucks. However, sometimes people on strike don't look well enough into alternatives and that is what I am saying. There must be an acceptable alternative that will appease all parties involved.