The Dimpled Chad

Well we may feel helpless... but only because we are too (American) idle to get up, go out and protest!
Which, if I recall - is the (latest) reason we also spend billions of dollars in Iraq - so they can get up, go out and protest - one of the key privileges of democracy. Even if the war really was a run at the oil over there - that strategy apparently did not work out either - yikes!

Now it seems we just outsource democracy... as wars in other countries.
The French riot in the streets when job benefits change, yet here we enjoy struggling things and just complaining... sounds pathetic and kind of puny coming from a "super power" like America. We may have lost our Mojo but be reminded it is OUR hard earned money that’s being spent abroad with little left over to cure or soothe America's issues. Sadder still, we spread democracy so selectively - there are other nations that have far worse conditions such as Africa - the need there is endless as we well know, or should know - what have you done for Africa lately?

I guess it is what it is. I am saddened because it seems we have lost our power and sense of outrage as human beings and Americans - now days we just sit down. It feels we can't or won't stand up for issues that are in our faces every day and affect our futures and those of our children and families, and the earth as a whole. (I'm folding my soapbox up now).

So Happy Trails...
{Roy Rodgers said that - but he rode a horse}
For your next road trip or commute ($$ out of your paycheck), here's what it looks like for car travel in the land of opportunity: Clicking for gas... how unfortunate for US.

CLICK HERE ---> Gas Prices - MSN Autos

NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - Multibillion-dollar hurricane recovery efforts on the U.S. Gulf Coast are plagued by bloated costs and waste with too many contractors getting a piece of the action, lawmakers said at a hearing on Monday. (4-10-06)

Louisiana legislators frustrated by the slow pace of recovery accused the Federal Emergency Management Agency and Army Corps of Engineers of spearheading a flawed rebuilding process with little transparency and contractor oversight.

U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn, an Oklahoma Republican and chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management, held the field hearing as part of efforts to avoid the mistakes made after Hurricane Katrina in future crises.

Read on: Politics-Reuters.com
We didn't need a psychic for that one. It was pretty easy to predict. Most of the folks that I know saw that just days after the crisis. Pray tell: what have those officials been working on for the last 6 months?
I dunno...

ABC News: From Cash to Yachts: Congressman's Bribe Menu