– Quote of the week: "Every time a human being reacts violently toward another being instead of communicating, that person is hurting him or herself. The essence of intelligence is simply this: it is always to your advantage to cooperate rather than to retaliate." Return of the Bird Tribes, Ken Carey

– 9/11: Action born out of fear is becoming less effective every day.

– Labor Day should be renamed, "Boy-did-we-ever-get-screwed Day."

– Bush’s days in the Texas Air National Guard were not what they appear to be: It appears he took whatever orders he wanted. And on top of that, he flunked his aviation test. Makes his little flight-suit photo op stunt on the aircraft carrier laughable. Remember, that’s when he declared an end to the combat mission in Iraq. The guy who got him in the Guard, then Texas House Speaker Ben Barnes, now wishes he hadn’t. Instead of Commander-in-Chief, Bush might have been The-Chief-Target. I can feel Barnes’ regret.

– FDA acts as lackey for pharmaceutical industry: The FDA Commissioner has been waging a one-man war on individuals and states who want to buy drugs in other countries. He repeatedly states how unsafe it is, but he neglects to mention that many of the American drug companies have their drugs made in foreign countries. Pfizer, for instance, has 60 manufacturing sites in 32 countries. Most of the hot selling drug, Lipitor, is made in Ireland. So as it works out, many of the drugs sold in foreign countries are made in exactly the same place as many of the American-sold drugs. They are cheaper because most foreign governments do not allow the drug industry to exploit their citizens like the U.S. does. Drug companies allow their products to be sold cheaper in, say, Canada, because they still make a profit, even at those lower prices. Americans pay more for prescription drugs than citizens of any place on Earth. The industry’s cry is, "But we do all the expensive research to come up with these miracle drugs." The fact is, there are few miracle drugs and they spend more on marketing and lobbying than they do on research and development. The simple truth is, They gouge us! We should stamp on the Statue of Liberty, "Welcome to America, where gouging is encouraged by the government."

– The city council can’t even run a golf course, much less a city.

– Current Peever boycott list:

• Wal-Mart: Callous disregard for communities where they build super-stores. Threatens employees about unionization. Poor track record as employer. They sell cheap, but it costs us a whole lot.

• McDonald’s: A majority of workers are part-time and lack benefits. They take advantage of the welfare-to-work system. McDonald’s closes restaurants rather than allow them to unionize. Poor nutritional value. The largest pusher of Coke.

• Maytag: This is an obvious one.

• Right-wing churches: These places usually have a flag, recite the Pledge of Allegiance, have a plaque of the Ten Commandments hanging somewhere near a picture of George W. Bush, proudly sing "Onward Christian Soldiers," and invariably insist that humans are a product of the plant world, having first appeared in a garden somewhere in Oz. I break out in hives.

• Frankly, I’m beginning to think boycotting reality might not be such a bad idea.

• you think people are after your money, in spite of you not having any.

• you think joining the military is presently a good deal.

• the guy or gal next to you, who’s not really there, is starting to look pretty good to you.

• you think all that plastic surgery is really going to make you younger.

• while driving, you have a sudden attack of courtesy.

• you think the Cubs are anything but bad.