lanny...I might be a right wing radical, Republican or a woman crazed by the male species, possibly an alien from the planet of "who gives a flying jinney"....whatever. Yes, please do continue to irritate me (don't preen your feathers yet) as when I am sparring with you my husband gets a little peace and quiet. He thanks you for your sacrifice. lol

Floyd i have dug ditched in frozen ground , worked in pouring rain and snow. But I was not alone. There were many others right beside me

BERT, That is one of the things I respect about you. You are upbeat after a life of hard, miserable work and have tried to stay on the "hard, narrow road that leads to Glory." You have not complained and had to run home to "mama" like so many of the posters seem to thrive on.As I said about my moving to squalor in Okla. in the 40s and my Dad's high paying union job in Wisconsin, "I have been very blessed." Just being born in the U.S. is a blessing in itself that too many fail to realize.

I hate it when all some people can do is whine about their life. do they not know how low they show themselves to be?

J, The industry that has help to raspe our ecomomy? NO ONE HAS FORCED YOU TO USE THE GASOLINE NOR THE NATURAL GAS NOR THE ELECTRICTY THAT YOU ARE USING WHEN YOU POST. And no i have not been laid off for months at a time but I did have to go several places to work All I get from you is you are whining. And please tell me how anyone in the petroleum industry has stymied any body to put investment and resourses that would make petroleum unnecessary? Posts such as yours mean absolutly nothing to me.

Bert, I am glad that you have never needed public assistance in your life. However, I am not so sure that your pride in that fact is warranted. You attribute your never using public assistance because of your hard work, your wisdom, your faith, etc. However, what you fail to recognize is that you have been LUCKY. You never had a special needs child that costed tens of thousands a year in medical care, personal attention, physical therapy, and medication. You never had a spouse with a chronic disease demanding many hours of your personal attention. You never got laid off for months at a time, not being able to find work even at wal-mart or a convienence store. You have worked all of your life in the industry that, although providing for our energy needs, has also stymied investment and research into resources that would make petroleum unnecessary except for certain chemical needs. Your career has literally profited off of the industry that has helped rape our economy and our planet. However, this career has been profitable to your and kept you gainfully employed for 45 years. My question to you is "what would you have done had your luck not been so good?". Would you have abandoned your special needs child? How would you have handled a chronically ill wife? Stayed home and taken care of her, or put her in a nursing home? Your postings over the last months have time and time again bragged that you NEVER needed help of any kind. However, you fail to recognize that the playing field is NOT LEVEL. That life can and does throw insurmountable obstacles into peoples lives. Autism, mental illness, developmental disabilities, debilitating illnesses, accidents. All of these things can and do make life challenges that can and do take all of familie's resources, money, and time and still do not handle the problem. So, don't be so soon to brag about you never used public programs. You were lucky, not good.

Lanny, i worked for 45 years and paid taxes for all those years. i never drew one penny of unemployment insurance nor onw penny of welfare. i supported my family and I paid for health insurance for my family. I do today draw SS and I use Medicare, both of which I paid into for many years, I also pay for a supplemental health insurance policy that pays what medicare does not pay. I do not need medicaid nor use medicaid. i pay every month for a long term care insurance poicy in case I will need it later on. So I will not need for the state to pay for that care. as for roads i pay gas tax at the pump both state and federal as everyone does. Si i feel I gobble up nothing as the item you mentioned are item MY TAX DOLLARS HAVE PAID FOR.

Floyd, We all have our view about society through our own experiences and you should continue to express your opinions which are very valuable for "us" to hear. Bantering about ideas is a great privilege here in our country. We can agree to disagree!

I'm being quite sarcastic when I did the "Poor,poor, pitiful me bit." I get so tired of hearing how people think the world owes them a living. I did not asked to be born either, but I worked harder than just about any one I know for what only figured 80 cents an hour for 120 hours per week. But MY ancestors were degraded in WW1 because of German ancestry in Iowa and my brother was taken from our home in the middle of the night at 6 years old in WW2 because he had Downs Syndrome. As I have often said,"I kill everyone I hate." So far I have never considered killing anyone. I guess I don't hate anyone.

Of course Floyd, you of all people speak for God through your interpretion of the Holy Bible. I understand you allright.

Floyd, Get honest and call a spade a spade ! You are a person who is racist, your own crude comments verify this. You say you are a poor little mistreated White guy. Yes, I am White and I am not picked on or "unfavored" because I am Caucasian. My ancestors were never legally classified as slaves by the US Gov't either.

lanny, There are quite a few of us in Oklahoma, about 65% that hear abortion and gay WRONGS when someone says rights. We happen to take an interest in God's opinion rather than man's.

Bert, I said I BET you gobble up available Gov't assistance and guess what I know you do utilize these things. We all do from hiways,food protection, airline safety rules, gouging, overtime,prisons, and thousands of other "liberal" ideas that have come to serve protect us daily.Heck the military is a Gov't program!

Sallie OK ! You are NOT a part of the Floyd and Bert right-wing ranting are you? Yes, I irritate you on purpose some, just to see if you can defend your posts.

lanny...dolt! You know perfectly well I would not refer to you as a commie...it was a joke you little stinker and you know it. and I wish you would address me personally if you have something to say. I do not address you, Ever, in a group. That is rude of you. You are/were my sparring partener, remember?

Lanny you said I GOBBLED UP ALL THE GOV ASSISTANCE I COULD, Now tell me what have i gobbled up over my life????

lanny, I'll let you in on something a person working for a Post Office told me. "The white people do not get certain mail the other races get about Gov. programs." I didn't take that to be any more racist than the fact the U.S. census asks what race we are. I write "Human", sign my name and send it in without answers. We are only required to sign it and return it.

lanny, You obviously have missed a lot of the discussions BERT, others, and I have had about the oil business. What we have been discussing is the stripper wells making only a few barrels per day that will be shut in or even plugged if the price of workover rig work remains at the current level or the price of oil doesn't go up to at least $90 per barrel to pay for upkeep. Every barrel we produce on the stripper wells is one we don't have to import and the oil produced in Okla. helps or taxes and the Fed. taxes. So far in my lifetime I have paid over $2 million in taxes. I feel I have paid my way. I'd bet BERT has paid his share also. Yes, we white men get the blame for everything that goes wrong and don't get much credit when things are going great. Do some studying of inventions and see who did most.

What's WHITE got to do with it Floyd ? You slipped and let your racial feelings blow out of your thinker. I suppose Social Security is a Gov't program even though "W" didn't know that. You already get more Gov't assistance than you know about, we all do. I didn't mean welfare. I think welfare has been cleaned up a lot, B.Clinton did that as I understand it. Oil man huh ? Shucks, I bet you do hate to see the current White House full of disgraced Texas oilmen slither out the back door !

lanny, I doubt if old white men like BERT and I who have worked all our lives have any idea where to start to get government assistance. I MAY need it if the price of oil doesn't go up. Where do I start looking?

Oh I live for the Bert, Sallie and Floyd post-show ! Now there's a trio to match wits with. Enjoy your Sat. eve., you, you, "trio of evil."
Mission accomplished " "Bring you 3 on!" Dang it , I'm a Commie huh Sallie girl!

lanny....I get it now! You don't like Twinkies. Go ahead, admit it!

There was a study at Cal-Tech some years back that did show clear indications that liberal democrats, socialists and commies were adversely effected by Twinkies and Chocolate cupcakes. This explains everything.

Lanny There is some things about you that can easily be seen. You seem to know your limitations and you semm to be quite content to live with your limitations

Lanny I am sorry that you are not able to take care of yourself and your own But sometimes people are that way and cannot help themselves. Now please tell me what I have gobbled up