The first one is from Madison, Wis., where they bravely passed a measure prohibiting additional drive-through restaurants. The primary reason is because the patrons wasted so much precious fuel while in the ordering and food pickup lines in their idling automobiles.

Now, I'm in the cheering section when it comes to saving fuel and getting better gas mileage on your car. And no one has ever had to tell me to check the air pressure in my tires. I didn't learn that in graduate school. I didn't learn that in college. I didn't learn that in high school.

I learned it from my father. I learned it by watching him take care of his automobile. Just like little tigers learn how to hunt from watching their parents, I gained a tremendous amount of knowledge watching my parents.

But now that we are under the influence of so many progressive forces in our society, the well-educated, well-intentioned idiots have determined parents are irrelevant to the proper rearing of children.

Are we stupid or what?

I would sincerely like the city fathers in Madison, or anywhere else in this great land to compute just how much gasoline is being wasted at drive-through restaurants. And then I would like those city fathers (and mothers) to compare that to the gasoline that is wasted because of inadequate road design. Or what is being wasted because traffic signals are not synchronized so they actually hinder the flow of traffic.

It would be of interest to know how much we could save if we designed roads and pedestrian walkways that were actually separated from one another so both could move efficiently and effectively.

Safety has always trumped the flow of traffic when it comes to installing new traffic signals. Should every traffic death involving an incompetent or impaired driver result in an inconvenience and increased cost for every other driver who uses a road or intersection? I certainly don't think so.

Are we smart or what?

In South Los Angeles, the city council has decreed there will be no more fast food restaurants because studies have revealed there is a higher percentage of obese people living in that area than in other areas of the city/state. The rationale is the high fat/high sugar content of the food is causing the residents to have the higher obesity rates. The city believes the residents should have more nutritious and lower fat/sugar content food choices.

As I understand it, there are enough supermarkets in the area that offer the full range of food choices. Secondarily, the residents aren't able to afford a high quality, high price restaurant that would offer a full range of healthier meals.

Again, somewhere along the line these people did not learn healthy eating habits. They are not likely to change their eating habits given their economic circumstances or government intervention. But, the caring city parents are going to change the transmission with a hammer and a screwdriver, when the engine control unit requires reprogramming.

Are we stupid or what?

Let's get back to another one of my favorite subjects - global climate change. We have been listening to the prophets of doom for a number of years. Our school children have been inundated with liberal propaganda from their liberally trained teachers who tell them our use of fossil fuels will eventually doom us all.

I witnessed a commercial done by Noah Wylie who was soliciting contributions to save the polar bears. It was a direct parallel of the one Sally Struthers used to do. Noah promised regular donors a photo of a polar bear. I was waiting for the promise of the monthly letter from the bear, but that was never mentioned. I was disappointed.

Chinks are developing in the global climate change armor. Scientists who were proponents of CO2 as the catalyst to global climate change, and even those who were neutral, are starting to question the conclusions and the proposed draconian measures that may well prove ineffectual.

In the Sahara Desert, they recently discovered skeletons of people who inhabited the area when it was lush and fertile. At some point, that area dried up - without there being any internal combustion engines, power plants, fossil fuel production, or refining. How can this be?

This can be because global climate change has occurred at both rapid rates and at a snail's pace since the earth was formed. There weren't enough humans around to cause the change in the Sahara. The continental United States once had a large inland sea. Where do you think all those sedimentary rocks come from? Who drained the water? Why has the weather in Minnesota been so mild this summer? Isn't it great to see the media salivate every time a tropical storm forms in or enters the Caribbean?

On climate issues, we need perspective, reasoned judgment, and understanding. What we get is propaganda, ridicule of critics, and closed mind elitists who refuse to provide comprehensive, conclusive evidence and answers to legitimate questions.

And why are there so many people investing in this predicted calamity - many of whom are going to make billions of dollars from the greatest sideshow ever seen on earth? P.T. Barnum would be truly envious.

Are we stupid or what? The correct answer is not, "or what."

Well, that's what's been on my mind.