Best Advice

You can always find people but you can't always find soletude.

Help some refugee children

Toni, my bride of 30 years, has been knitting sweaters lately. When she completes one she sends it off to an organization that distributes them to refugee children.

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Libertarian 2007 Resolutions

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Art Buchwald's last column

from the Washington Post . . . here it is.

Several of my friends have persuaded me to write this final column, which is something they claim I shouldn't leave without doing.

There comes a time when you start adding up all the pluses and minuses of your life. In my case I'd like to add up all the great tennis games I played and all of the great players I overcame with my now famous "lob." I will always believe that my tennis game was one of the greatest of all time. Even Kay Graham, who couldn't stand being on the other side of the net from me, in the end forgave me.

I can't cover all the subjects I want to in one final column, but I would just like to say what a great pleasure it has been knowing all of you and being a part of your lives. Each of you has, in your own way, contributed to my life.

Now, to get down to the business at hand, I have had many choices concerning how I wanted to go. Most of them are very civilized, particularly hospice care. A hospice makes it very easy for you when you decide to go.

What's interesting is that everybody has his or her own opinion as to how you should go out. All my loved ones became very upset because they thought I should brave it out -- which meant more dialysis.

But here is the most important thing: This has been my decision. And it's a healthy one.

The person who was the most supportive at the end was my doctor, Mike Newman. Members of my family, while they didn't want me to go, were supportive, too.

But I'm putting it down on paper, so there should be no question the decision was mine.

I chose to spend my final days in a hospice because it sounded like the most painless way to go, and you don't have to take a lot of stuff with you.

For some reason my mind keeps turning to food. I know I have not eaten all the eclairs I always wanted. In recent months, I have found it hard to go past the Cheesecake Factory without at least having one profiterole and a banana split.

I know it's a rather silly thing at this stage of the game to spend so much time on food. But then again, as life went on and there were fewer and fewer things I could eat, I am now punishing myself for having passed up so many good things earlier in the trip.

I think of a song lyric, "What's it all about, Alfie?" I don't know how well I've done while I was here, but I'd like to think some of my printed works will persevere -- at least for three years.

I know it's very egocentric to believe that someone is put on Earth for a reason. In my case, I like to think I was. And after this column appears in the paper following my passing, I would like to think it will either wind up on a cereal box top or be repeated every Thanksgiving Day.

So, "What's it all about, Alfie?" is my way of saying goodbye.

Teen Sleeping

Do you know a teen that has difficulty waking up early?

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Denying pensions to convicted legislators

The Senate passed a bill this last week that will strip away pension from any future legislators who are convicted of "white collar crimes" such as bribery, perjury and fraud. The vote was a whopping 87-0, sounds like they mean business. Let's hope President Bush signs the bill. Luckily for Randy "The Dukster" Cunningham, this isn't a retroactive law . . . . BUT IT SHOULD BE, SHOULDN'T IT?

Crude oil's relationship to gasoline . . .

There doesn't seem to be one . . . . . .
Even though Oil has fallen 33% from its Summer peaks, gasoline is selling at only a penny less than it was in December (according to AAA).

Why is the price of crude oil falling ???

Well, the conventional story is that it's a nice warm winter but . . . . . here's the real reason : from the NY Post . . .


"It might be a better idea to thank Goldman Sachs, not the weather, for the recent plunge in oil prices. While recent balmy temperatures have certainly played a role in last week's dip in oil prices, a lesser known, but equally powerful, move by Goldman at the start of the year might bear some responsibility as well.

Goldman cut the energy portion by as much as 50 percent in some of the sub-indexes that comprise the widely followed Goldman Sachs Commodity Index, tamping down moves to buy them by large investment funds who mimic Goldman's index.

The changes took effect this month and apply for all of 2007, a Goldman spokesman said. Crude oil futures plunged 9 percent Wednesday and Thursday to $55 a barrel, before settling Friday at $56.31. The two-day decline was the sharpest since December 2004.

The GSCI is influential because large institutional investors like pension funds and endowments invest according to its allocation model."

Goodies in Google-land for California employees

In a recent report, 16 Google insiders cashed in 9 million shares last year to the tune of $3.7 billion with a state tax liability approaching $380 million (can you see the legislature angling how to spend it?). This amount will pay the salaries for more than 3,000 state workers. New governor Arnold is also happy to be the recipient of the windfall (well, he doesn't get it but he gets to spend it).