Poor Peter Schiff. The guy was basically psychic and everyone was laughing him off.

Mike and Hunter do not believe in one-size-fits-all parenting.

That is not to say that it was an easy decision for them to let Blake leave school last September. They would have preferred that he stay in high school with his brother. But he bugged them until they let him quit.

“We couldn’t take the complaining anymore,” says Hunter. “He always told me that he thought school was a waste of time.”

Wow. A kid who gets whatever he complains enough for. That’s one kid who’s destined for a rough time in life.

Let’s do the math.

My car gets 30 miles to a gallon. Their car gets 25 miles to a gallon. An average person drives 15,000 miles a year or less. At the price of gas then, which was $3.00/gallon, they would pay $1800.00/yr in gas (15000 / 25 x 3), while I would pay $1500.00/yr (15000 / 30 x 3). They’re saving $300.00/yr. Now, they’re buying a car that costs around $18,000 minimum, $25,000 decently optioned out. They take a hit on their trade-in, so they’re probably looking at paying an additional 5 grand or more, or worse yet, taking on 5 grand of debt, bringing interest into the equation.

They’re gonna have to drive that new MINI for over 16 years to recover the 5 grand they just spent. That’s not likely. The time to take fuel economy into consideration is when you’re already looking to buy. Anyone who’s using “better gas mileage” as justification for a new car purchase is rationalizing themselves into scratching the new car itch. It’s a similar folly to the one that I know some of you women (are there women who read this blog?) succumb to when you buy something “because it was 30% off.” Guess what? Stuff you don’t buy is 100% off! What a steal!

The way we obsess over gas prices came to mind over Memorial Day weekend, when I heard on the news that fewer people were expected to be driving to family events, due to the increase in gas prices. Gas is now hovering around $4.00/gallon, where previously it was $3.00/gallon.

Now, even if you drive a car that only gets around 20 miles to the gallon, this means that for every hundred miles away those family members you would have driven to see were, you’re spending an extra 10 bucks over what you did last year. That is, assuming you plan to drive back, as well. In my case, with my car getting 30 miles to the gallon and my family living about 400 miles away, it’ll cost me $26.67 more for gas.

I don’t mean to be insensitive. I realize that there are many people to whom $26.67 is a lot of money. However, I would contend that these people, if they do have cars, would not be spending the $80.00 it would have cost them before the $1.00/gallon price hike on a trip, either. It’s highly unlikely that these people are sitting at home thinking, “man, $80.00 for the gas to make a round-trip visit home was just fine, but that extra 26 bucks is a killer!”

I guess what I’m getting at is that a lot of times the decisions we make are a reflection of our priorities, not our circumstances. It’s just more comfortable to pretend otherwise.

The Iranians have spent years working toward a nuclear program. And the idea that they now seek nuclear weapons because we refuse to engage in presidential-level talks is a serious misreading of history. In reality, a series of administrations have tried to talk to Iran, and none tried harder than the Clinton administration. In 1998, the secretary of state made a public overture to the Iranians, laid out a roadmap to normal relations, and for two years tried to engage. The Clinton administration even lifted some sanctions, and Secretary Albright apologized for American actions going back to the 1950s. But even under President Khatami – a man by all accounts less radical than the current president – Iran rejected these overtures.

Even so, we hear talk of a meeting with the Iranian leadership offered up as if it were some sudden inspiration, a bold new idea that somehow nobody has ever thought of before. Yet it’s hard to see what such a summit with President Ahmadinejad would actually gain, except an earful of anti-Semitic rants, and a worldwide audience for a man who denies one Holocaust and talks before frenzied crowds about starting another. Such a spectacle would harm Iranian moderates and dissidents, as the radicals and hardliners strengthen their position and suddenly acquire the appearance of respectability.

I must announce that the Zionist regime (Israel), with a 60-year record of genocide, plunder, invasion and betrayal is about to die and will soon be erased from the geographical scene. Today, the time for the fall of the satanic power of the United States has come and the countdown to the annihilation of the emperor of power and wealth has started.

Sounds like a great idea, B.O.