Hello again everyone, and first off let me say THANK YOU! The response to this blog has been amazing, thank you all for visiting and feel free to leave your own feed back and or thoughts and ideas on the subject, after all we are all in this mess together! (and please click a sponsor to continue this site!) Without your support I wouldn't be here today. -but, back to my rant..

Oil prices are still rolling on and on, and we all see that it is going to get a lot worse before it gets any better. I like to think that I am an open minded about things, and I am certainly for advancements in all aspects of life, but how is it that the US can spend 16+ billion dollars per year to look for water on Mars while the economy is heading to the tiolet? Don't get all riled up yet, I am all for both exploration, as well as the advancements me have made in technology due to their efforts, but at what point do you take a step back and look into the present? We are spending literally billions of dollars yearly to find the next big extra terrestrial wonder. I am all for the exploration, but doesn't that sound like a "luxury item" to you? Call me crazy but if you are unemployed, have no income, and only have X amount of money to last, do you: A)buy your moneys worth in lotto tickets B)invest it C)save it and stretch it as far as it goes? -Now, we will all have different beliefs on this one ,but I think it is safe to say that the that no one out there is picking A, unless you are an elected official possibly. How is it that the US is essentially choosing A? Our government is spending billions of dollars to solve the big what ifs. Is there no reason we can't scale back that expense to say... 1-2 billion a year for "essential" projects? That would leave literally over 10 billion dollars to research alternate energies, suspend taxes on gasoline/diesel sales, or anything for this matter. It has now been well established that our economy simply can not afford $3+ per gallon gasoline, and here we are marching ahead looking right at 4 and possibly 5 dollar per gallon fuel costs. Who is to say that we change can't focus our efforts closer to home, instead of water on Mars? We have created a solar panel that has been able to power an electric robot for years on the Martian surface, without a refuel, or "battery change". Why is it we can't run a commuter vehicle on earth in the same way? Just reallocate our spending and research to the now and here, not the then and when. All I am saying is, use the knowledge we have and the money in front of us properly! Let's face it, the oil situation is bad, but we could certainly handle it better.