Where have I been?

Apologies to my avid reader(s). I have been engaging in a controlled experiment with my neurologist in trying to reduce what may be neuropathic pain (don't worry, it isn't bad, but I do need to deal with it) by taking medicine that turns my mind into mush in the evenings. This is why I haven't been posting much lately.

That and the prolonged feeding ritual for our 14.5 year old German Shorthaired Pointer, Pongo, who, contrary to all expectations, is still alive and doing reasonably well. In the meantime, his 9 year old girlfriend, Nessa, our Great Dane, has developed laryngeal paralysis, and has difficulty breathing whenever she gets hot, excited, or anxious. Basically, we are doing hospice care for our two geriatric dogs.

And there is so much to think about. Barack Obama and his choice of Joe Biden, a smart guy no doubt, but he can come across as an arrogant a--hole when his dander and his mouth get motored up. John McCain and his choice of Sarah Palin, perhaps a ploy to simultaneously make a bid for the farther right and the disappointed Hillaryites, but also - win, lose, or draw - a move to tee her up to run for President in 2012 or 2016 against HRC herself. The upcoming test of FEMA as hurricane Gustav nears New Orleans. Heck, the upcoming test of whether Ray Nagin has learned anything from Katrina.

But, you know, the two biggest things are money and oil. Our national debt is so huge that whoever wins the presidential election is likely to have their hands tied unless they inflate the dollar to gain some wiggle room. And we really need to develop and export the technologies necessary to get the entire world off burning petroleum products for energy. It's not just good stewardship of the planet - it's a strategic necessity for disempowering regimes that live on unearned wealth. Governments that subsist off taxes have to create and maintain the conditions that enable their citizens to make the money to be taxed. Governments propped up by petrodollars do not. Hence they can be totalitarian, and can foster uncivil societies in which many of the citizens feel the urge to take their frustrations out on the safest target available - us.

Let me give you a hint as to whom I might be referring to. Will all the happy people in Saudi Arabia please stand up?

And the Russian government... Let's see, just as soon as they got back on their economic feet using mostly petrodollars, here they come, right back in our faces. Not because they're Communist (they're not), but because they're Russian. Realistically, we have two ways to confront them - our nuclear deterrent (always a bad idea), or trying to invent the technology that makes oil and natural gas uninteresting as sources of energy (a better idea, which will ultimately make the whole world, including Russia, richer).

Oh well. I expect that the next week or two will consist largely of the press trying to decide how closely Sarah Palin can be compared to Betty Bowers. (Yawn.)