Iran, Nukes, Gas Prices and Ice Cream

"For every human problem there is a solution that is simple, neat and wrong." - H.L. Mencken

The world is again poised on the brink of international conflict. Should push come to shove (and there is no reason to believe that it will not), this brouhaha has the potential to change our lives in more ways than one. Certain mouthpieces representing Big Oil worldwide are already using the potential conflict as the excuse du jour for why gas prices are skyrocketing again: http://money.cnn.com/2006/04/18/markets/oil.reut/index.htm?cnn=yes.

If I am reading the explanation correctly for why the price at the pump has gone up over 20%, Big Oil is putting the screws to the American people (again) because there MIGHT be a shortage of oil SHOULD the tension over Iran's nuclear program escalate. This raking of the people (again) over the coals reeks of the same b.s. excuse-making that was forced down our throats in 2005 when another POTENTIAL problem (Hurricane Rita - which had the potential to damage the refinery-rich area of Galveston, TX) was used as an excuse to drive gas prices up to $3.40 per gallon. Rita never did effect production in Galveston - and Big Oil was proud to report record profits for 2005 - at our expense.

Now, don't get me wrong... The Iran situation is downright scary (as anyone who reads the article by clicking the above-shared link can attest). Not only is Iran announcing that it is a nuclear power, the Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is on record for publicly threatening to attack Israel with any nuclear weaponry it develops! It is here that the H.L. Mencken quote at the top of this entry comes into play.

Everyone seemingly has an "easy" solution for how to handle the situation. Some say we should attack Iran - since we have already established the precedent with our "war" in Iraq. Should we NOT engage Iran it would be slightly funny and very ironic that we would attack and invade one country that did not have any WMDs and made no claims of having said weapons - while sitting idly by and allowing that country's next-door neighbor to not only develop said weapons, but to allow it to wave them in the face of our biggest ally in the region! Attacking Iran may serve to stabilize the world's security - but it would come at great cost to our economy. If the price at the pump is warp-speeding upwards due to a potential conflict and shortage - what would happen once an actual conflict erupts? Others say that we need to sit this one out and let Israel handle Iran on its own. Militarily, I have no doubt that Israel could handle the Iranians. However, it would give all of the anti-Israeli elements in the Middle East what they have been looking for - another excuse to carry on their intifadahs. We would have to deal with the same instability in the region - with the added drama of potentially losing one of our biggest allies (I will not get into the USA's responsibility to Israel for the role our government played in making Israel actually happen, at least not right now).

Time for a diet update. As many of you know, this past weekend was a feast weekend. As anyone who has been paying attention to my blog knows, the weekends have not been very good for my diet. However, I minimized the damage overall this weekend by being VERY disciplined during the day - eating healthy breakfasts and lunches. Dinners were large and evil, but oh-so-good. The dinners were not the only diet-killing intake of the weekend, however. There have been multiple runs over the weekend for...ice cream. I fully blame my wife for this. I was never much of an ice cream guy - at least not since I was a kid. However, in the last year or so (since the onset of my wife's pregnancy with The Man Zachary), we've become a serious ice cream household. For the first month of the diet we were very strong. However, the last few weeks have shown some cracks in the family dieting armor. This is somewhat disappointing since I have made so much progress of late. I have come to control my love affair with beer. I have overcome (for the most part) the pull on my soul from fast food. However, ice cream has become my arch-nemesis. But it is possible to love one's arch-nemesis so? Like Batman vs. The Joker, Mel Gibson vs. the Jews, South Park vs. the Scientologists, the Red Sox vs. the Yankees, T.O. vs. McNabb and the Muslims vs. Everyone Else - I have a a steel-cage match-worthy adversary. One can only hope I have the strength to overcome this new enemy that attacks me with such delicate sweetness. Pray for me.

Currently Listening: [Murder City Devils - "Johnny Thunders"]