I Don't Get This

When oil-producing nations cut production, or there is some other scarcity condition, gasoline prices rise in the U.S. It would stand to reason, therefore, that when oil-producing nations commit to increasing production, gas prices should back off. Doesn't this make sense? Apparently it doesn't, and the Bush administration is claiming that although Saudi Arabia and other nations have committed to increased production, its the lack of oil refineries that is standing in the way of decreased gasoline prices.

Am I paranoid to suspect that there's another agenda at work here, like hooking up Bush's oil buddies by keeping gasoline prices high while calling for incentives for those who would add to the number of oil refineries? Do I smell another tax break for oil companies coming?

CIA: No WMD in Iraq

Well, looks like the CIA just joined the ranks of organizations professing that there are no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Tell us something we don't know... Coincidentally, I just finished reading the section of Seymour Hersh's book in which he describes how Rumsfeld, Cheney, Wolfowitz, etc. subverted the intelligence gathering and processing flow, such that raw reports were flowing directly to the administration without any of the usual filtering. The administration applied its own filter, getting rid of any intelligence that didn't support going to war in Iraq and stovepiping everything that did support it. In essence, the entire intelligence capability was made to serve the case for war.

The CIA's announcement is almost silly - we already know there are no WMDs in Iraq, and we already know that Saddam didn't send everything to Syria under the cover of darkness. The entire picture is complete. There was no attempt to buy uranium from Niger, there was nothing to suggest a nuclear weapons program had been reconstituted after the first Gulf War. There was nothing to suggest chemical or biological weapons programs either.

The details concerning how our intelligence agencies were prevented from doing their jobs are out there as well. My biggest question is why Rumsfeld, Cheney and others responsible haven't resigned.

For Rumsfeld especially, this is only one of the huge black marks on his record brought about by his "Father Knows Best" attitude toward those reporting to him. Not only did he believe he knew better than our intelligence officials with regard to how to gather information on the Iraqi threat, but he also thought he knew better than many of his military commanders in terms of how to deploy forces during the actual fighting of the war. In both cases, he was proved wrong.

So why is he still around?

Where Did My Weekend Go?

We all hate it when there's gorgeous weather during the week and crummy weather during the subsequent weekend. Somehow, I managed to be productive on Saturday. It was raining cats and dogs, but I set myself up in the garage so I could saw some plywood. We needed some additional storage space up in the attic, so I resolved to cut some plywood to cover some of the rafters up there. The only access to the attic is a 2.5' X 2.5' hatch in the top of my mom's closet, so I had to cut 4' X 8' sheets of plywood in half lengthwise to get them up there. Once I had about 8 pieces up there, I took down an ancient TV antenna we had suspended from the rafters on one side of the attic - It hadn't been used since the pre-cable TV days. Then I hammered down some of the sheets to create a floor up there we can put some boxes and plastic bags on.

The crummy weather continued into Sunday morning, which affected our plans for the usual Sunday morning skeet shoot. But the rain stopped around 10:30 AM, so Craig, Dan, Jeff and I went to the Yankee game.

It was a terrific game, with the Yankees beating Texas by a score of 11-1. Afterward, we went to Frank's Steaks in Jericho for some eats.

It was a great weekend considering the crummy weather. But every Monday morning, I find myself back in the office wondering where my weekend went.

Interactive Paintball League Hosts First Event

Tuesday night, Larissa and I represented Underscore at the Interactive Paintball League event over in Queens. Jason Burnham and the folks at Mass Transit did a great job of organizing the event. Underscore didn't have enough people to field a team of 10, but we did represent. Jason stuck me on the Mass Transit team to fill in for a player who didn't show. My first game, I had three confirmed kills, including a headshot on the last guy on the other team. I was less successful in the second game, though, getting pegged in the hand about 10 seconds after the game started.

The funny thing, though, was that I came up against Larissa's husband in the final match. I was the last guy left and he shot me. I don't feel too bad about it, though, because he's an experienced player and spends all sorts of money on equipment and stuff.

All in all, a good time was had. Thanks to the organizers and sponsors.