Greenhouse Gassing By Jimmy Petrol

We have a winner. After weeks of waiting for anyone in Tucson to write to us here in the Petrol Central hot tub, we have a taker for the greenhouse we offered in this space for free. Which means that all the folks that have said to me, at one time or another, that they would like to have a "kitchen garden" and grow vegetables for the table, were just gassing.

We are coming to think that this gassing about all the things people say they would do, if only they had the opportunity, time, money, etc, is a significant component in CO-2 emissions, but that is another article. Just in case, stop gassing about it and lower your carbon footprint. On the other hand, Michael and Eric, otherwise known as "Those Feng-Shui Guys", have written in to the Observer Blog and want to pull themselves up by their bootstraps and get themselves some home-grown foodstuffs. This little effort on their part sets them apart from the general population, placing them with the group that President Obama says led this country to greatness. "The risk takers, the doers and makers of things have led this country to greatness." That's what I thought, too.

Meanwhile, the bankers continue to rake in the money, while the rest of us cut back. The boys on Wall Street, having had to "defer" bonuses, since they ran out of cash to pay them with, were happily collecting these bonuses out of the rescue funds the federal government sent them. Obama called it shameful and promised he'd be talkin' to them. Can you imagine getting a call from the President of the United States to hear him tell you that you have acted shamefully? Too bad shameful isn't considered treason. On the other hand, perhaps it is fraudulent..I don't imagine there is any shortage of people to take over for the happy bonus-crew if they get to go on a federally sponsored vacation, what?

The Americans I talk to talk of just making it through this "recession". They aren't talking about making big-bucks anymore; they just hope to hold onto jobs, houses and savings. Lots of savings gone away, devalued by the "creation" of money by the feds. See that dollar in your pocket? It is worth less today than a year ago because of the greed of the boys on Wall Street. There was a time when the nation didn't grow on credit, as it has been for the past few decades. Credit cards are a recent invention; the idea that it is smart to buy things you don't have the money for is a product of modern thinking. The idea is as bad today as it was a hundred years ago.

But while the American people sweat out the recession, few are doing anything new about it. Trucks that people don't need are selling again and everyone is still spending the bulk of their free time being entertained. Not risk-taking, doing or making things. The saddest thing that could happen is for Obama to find out that he is talking about people who are all gone...that America has too much of a sense of entitlement to even plant a vegetable garden. In that case, America will get what it earns: bankruptcy and war.

Thanks for writing, Eric and Michael. See you soon.