ONE MORE THING...

-P.G.& E. has been found at fault for the explosion in San Bruno. They are bemoaning the cost of testing all their pipelines despite years of neglect, incompetence and no record keeping. Now, they want customers to pay the $2.2 billion price tag of a pipeline safety overhaul needed to meet new safety requirements imposed on them by the federal government. (you remember the federal government don't you? It's the thing the regressives want to get rid of, as would P.G.& E.) So, they don't spend money for years to check how safe their pipes are...they don't keep records of safety checks (meaning they weren't done)...they put the wrong kind of pipe under cities and towns in California, and now they want customers to pay for all the safety upgrades they should have been doing for years. Now that is the definition of chutzpah!!

-A number of states are passing laws allowing parents to opt out of mandatory childhood immunizations. As more parents opt out, the CDC reports rising rates of whooping cough and measles. Can someone tell me who is responsible if my child sits next to a non-immunized child and gets sick? Pediatricians are reporting increasing incidences of firing families who will not cooperate with child immunizations. Good for them.

-America supposedly has natural gas reserves which could meet our needs for the next 50-100 years. Wells are being drilled all over the country from North Dakota to Pennsylvania, despite no studies on how the chemically treated water used to free the gas will effect the environment. There are also fears deep drilling may be causing earthquakes in regions of the country where they have been rare occurrences. Now, it's reported, the gas companies want government permits to build terminals in Louisiana and other states so they can export the gas. The Wall Street Journal reports natural gas prices will rise significantly because of the export of the gas. So let me see if I understand all of this. We are supposed to let them drill wherever they want...we are supposed to be seduced by all the money they will spend...we are to ignore serious environmental issues like contaminated drinking water...ignore increased seismic activity caused by deep drilling, and at the end of the day, let these companies export the gas and drive up its cost to us? Every time I turn on the news I realize again P.T. Barnum was right.

-The question on everyone's lips is how could all the scouts and prognosticators and experts fail to predict the rise of an Asian kid from Palo Alto with a 4.0 grade point average who went to Harvard and now is a star in the NBA? Gee, there's no racism involved in that question at all.

-Google says its mission statement is, "...first do no evil." It would seem spying on their customers, gathering sensitive personal, intimate data, selling it and destroying their privacy is just them being kind and looking after us. Google has now admitted to secretly inserting a code which enabled them to track you everywhere online when using Apple's Safari web browser. This, on top of announcing in March they will consolidate all your search and browsing information to sell to advertisers. If Google thinks this isn't doing evil, what do we have to look forward to from them in the future?

-How is it in Europe, they have stronger privacy protections online than we have in the United States? They have nowhere near the explicit constitutional protections we supposedly have, and yet they are much more concerned and tougher on Google and Facebook et.al than we are. How is that possible?

-The Obama campaign has concluded spending a bunch of money on a spell from a little business in Diagon Alley to make Rick Santorum attractive to Republican voters was worth it. Santorum and Romney are in Michigan trashing the government bailout of G.M. and Chrysler. There is a possibility Santorum could beat Romney and derail his presidential aspirations. You can imagine how this will play with autoworkers, parts suppliers and the tens of thousands who have jobs now who were u unemployed before the revitalization of the auto industry. If Santorum were to get the nod, you can already see how he will play with women, whose bodies he wants government to control, gays, Hispanics, independents and swing voters. All in all, they have concluded it was money well spent.

-I have been thinking about Whitney Houston. She was blessed with movie star looks and a voice from heaven, and yet she obviously wasn't happy and stayed in a toxic marriage which ultimately destroyed her. I think I understand it a little now. If you spend your life looking for the next "thing" to make you happy, it will never come. The key to life...the key to thriving in life...is the ability to wake up each day and say "thank you". I spent so much time thinking a national show, more money, more excitement; more recognition and attention would eventually make me happy. I was wrong. It will never happen and it didn't happen for Whitney. However, if you can say thank you every day...realize how lucky you are...appreciate what you have and understand happiness comes from inside not outside...you won't end up like Whitney or me.

-Am I the only one who wishes we could say to Afghanistan and Pakistan, "...a pox on both of your houses?"