Black Gold, Texas Tea

There are many expressions that have come and gone throughout time. "E Pluribus Unum" for example. "A stitch in time saves nine," and "Every dog has its day." But it should come as no great surprise that "nip it in the bud" has become a thing of the past.

That's because very few people ever really stop and nip anything in the bud anymore unless it is for landscaping or gardening purposes. If anything, they let things grow and fester until we are in the bosom of the Amazon.

Take the recent occurrence of the (thankfully) thwarted Times Square bombing attempt. The suspect, Faisal Shahzad, wouldn't have: 1.) had the money to go to Pakistan to get trained by al Quaeda, 2.) had the $1300.00 to buy the car that he rigged and
3.) paid cash for a ticket back home to get retrained and blend in.

And how, pray tell, did he get the money? One simple, slippery slope of an answer, oil, black gold, Texas tea. Maybe we should have continued using the wind power like the Dutch, dove into waterpower or embraced solar power because we have made the Arabs rich beyond probably their own wildest dreams. In Dubai, for example where shopping is the national pastime, they drop thousands of dollars for jewelry and watches while barely batting a kohl-lined eye.

But no, the world had to put the greenbacks into those who would make bipolar disorder look like a picnic. It's enough to make you want to ride a bicycle everywhere.