I've always disliked the idea of Black History Month. In February, and only in February, we learn about the contributions that African-Americans have made to this country. In March, forget it. Wait 'til February to learn more. I've always thought Black History Month was another example of tokenism.

My opinion isn't popular. But at least I can take heart in the fact that Morgan Freeman agrees with me.

Then Freeman said something so profound, that everyone will call him a simpleton: "I am going to stop calling you a white man and I'm going to ask you to stop calling me a black man," Freeman says. The actor says he believes the labels "black" and "white" are an obstacle to beating racism.

Think about it. When Halle Berry won her Oscar, how many news articles refrenced her race? Practically every one of them.

Holy Budget Buster, Batman!

Clint Young, of Lockwood, Montana, makes and sells Batmobile replicas for $75,000. If you are handy with tools, he sells a kit for $16,000.

Young and his partner, Austin Moore, visit a lot of car shows. And whenever they're cruising around town they are the center of attention. "I've never met anyone bad in the Batmobile," Young said.

C'mon, Lotto!

I watched a promo for "The OC" the other night. It was the funniest thing on TV that night! They proposed a new name for the holiday: Christmasukkah. I'm all for it!

Christmasukkah combines the gift giving qualities of Christmas and Hannukah. Of course, if it was "Christmasukkanza" it would include African-Americans. And if we called it "Christmasukkanzadan" business would get Muslims into the shopping frenzy of the season.

A power company in Connecticut is stretching the definition of supply and demand economics. When gas was in short supply, prices went up. Now, after counselling their customers on how to conserve, they just petitioned for a rate increase, based in part on reduced demand.

Sounds like they have discovered the printer industry's business model.

In a related note, I had to purchase an inkjet cartridge for the boss' printer. The three color cartridges held 28 ml of ink. The black cartridge held about 40 ml. Each cartridge was $30. Hewlett-Packard color ink costs $1/ml, and black costs $.50/ml at Quill. If 1 gallon contains 3,785.41 milliliters, according to Science Made Simple, that means printer ink costs $3785.41 per gallon! Yikes!

The heartless, Republicans on the Atlanta Falcons team oppressed the New Orleans Saints by. . .

Aww, who am I kidding? No one in the country is interested in justice and fairness. It's all political posturing.

There are still parts of East Texas without power from Rita. I don't see banners on blogs asking for donations to help those folks; just Rita victims. I hear plaintive appeals to assist the homeless of New Orleans on the Food Network. The homeless of Texas and Mississippi get squat.

Being strident is sooo tiring.

I can't decide whether to be happy or sad by this news story. A West Virginia woman wrote a hot check to open a car insurance policy. The insurance company cancelled her policy. When she had an accident, she discovered the policy had been cancelled, and sued the company to make them honor the policy.

Part of me is thinking, "Wow! Look how much I can save on auto insurance!" Another part of me is thinking, "My insurance rates are about to go way up!

I don't know how people north of the Red River do it. Hell, I'm not sure I know how people north of Llano River do it.

We had an artic cold front blow through this week, plunging the temperatures into the teens at night. Someone in Colorado posted the temp there proudly. Thirteen below zero, the sign read. And the person wrote, "That's why I moved here. I grew up in the South."

Well, sir, I'm happy that you're happy, but I'd rather endure a Southern winter than a Colorado winter. Anything below 40 is just too darn cold for me.