Inga Swearingen at Soho in Santa Barbara

Inga Swearingen “paints time” with her beautifully crafted voice to temporarily shift our mad dash forward, creating a safe haven to remind us how precious each moment can be. It was a rare treat to see Inga immersed in her performance Monday night at SOhO in Santa Barbara accompanied by a versatile band. She radiated sensuality as she sang, “Get your Kicks on Route 66.” Her fluid "scat" singing always stays in the moment and really swings in counterpoint, light and agile, with tones reminiscent of Ella Fitzgerald. She let us into her heart felt serenity she shares with her husband in her recent original, “Two Trees”, swimming in the currents of her music and painting time for us all to see. Sharing the moments of her brilliant capabilities was a delightful way to spend an evening.

Though modest and decidedly reticent at self aggrandizement, a new listener may be catapulted forward in acceptance, if informed that Inga won “ The Shure Jazz Voice Competition” at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 2003.

Dennis Miller To The Heart Of The Matter

I wholeheartedly agree with Dennis Miller when he said on his radio show that if you’re going to call Sarah Palin dumb, then, by the same token, you should call Caroline Kennedy dumb too. Of course neither of them is dumb; they are both quite accomplished in their own rights. But when Dennis continued by informing his listeners that Sarah Palin had been on a crab boat such as those seen in the documentary entitled, “The Deadliest Catch”, which is filmed off the coast of Alaska, I developed a solemn respect of this woman. It only adds to my confidence that she has a character and a passion for life usually overlooked in favor of style among the Washington elite and thus the fodder for derision as a means of marginalizing this true person of action.

Park Benches As Residences To Vote In Ohio?

We here at "Resourcefullness" can't pass up the opportunity to express our surprise at the tawdry and shameless creativity of a Federal Judge in Ohio. The people of Ohio deserve an award for extreme resourcefulness; that one can stake out a claim at a park bench to register to vote in Ohio! Neighboring states may see a sudden drop in their populations as a result of this ruling. The madness of this election cycle will certainly make the history books as our country teeters on a precipice.

Resources Abound, I Think.

Yes, there's an abundance of resources. The moment I get caught up in a scarcity frame of mind, then things really are limited. Life is all in perception. I'd be a little wound up if I thought the world was really running out of resources. Don't let that scarcity-think ruin your day.

Renewable resources are great, but no elitist posturing, please?

It's great that renewable energy sources are all the rage, especially on college campuses, but hold off on elitist jabs at those of us who espouse ramping up systems that already exist to ease the pressure brought about by our current scarcities. These "renewables" are all so esoteric and years away, so it just won't do to hammer the model of yesteryear that it will take 10 years to get Anwar oil cleanly online.

But, alas, the barriers of endless lawsuits are sure to shave off a good portion of profits/savings we all may feel. It is appalling to be reminded that, to some, the difficulties "Main street" is experiencing are celebrated not just by Jihadists, but also by people who know that the level of pressure brought about by high prices at the fuel pump is what is needed to further expansion of renewable energy.

I beg to differ. America has always been a proving ground for new ideas, given enough venture capital funding exists for research. My financial squeeze only helps your cause by misery loving company. All this* research in renewable energy(*can anyone get specific here?) can be just as easily tapped during times of plenty. Underground steam generators at Yellowstone could generate lots of energy, if storing were refined. So many "ifs". Many approaches have been tried that take "x" amount of energy to result in "x" returns. If x=x, what has been accomplished? The combustion engine is brilliant! Free markets in effect create a global competition whereby the best fine tuning of these engines survives. But then, bringing something to market requires politics and lots of money to keep predators at bay.

American manufacturers for years dictated what "we wanted", so it took Government intervention through mandates to get the monoliths to change course. Honda's Accord presented a whole new business model. Necessity is the mother of invention. In a global market, perhaps survival of the fittest in super efficiency of combustion will be realized by engineering rather than government mandates. Don't mind me; there's an idealist who's not completely cynical yet. Oh, and I suppose I need to get real? I think it's all about how a challenge is framed. Proper framing of challenges brings out more than we can dream!

A Natural Resource: Sarah Palin

On the campaign trail, we were well into business as usual when John McCain showed his maverick spirit by way of choosing Sarah Palin as his running mate. Like a clap of thunder and a ripple of energy, a star was born! We have seen a paradigm shift in the politically correct, intricate creation claimed to be solely the property of the democratic party, the liberated woman. How difficult it must have been for John McCain to hold back his secret surprise: An intelligent, accomplished woman effortlessly challenging stereotypes.

The politically correct mantra was rapidly putting a straight jacket on the American spirit. How refreshing that such people as Mrs. Palin are making the effort to stay on purpose using our proven and dynamic Constitution. Her endearing spirit and enthusiasm have done nothing but grow as she politely reveals more of her thoughts and ideas. She keeps her ego in check as she regularly compliments McCain, yet she is known to have been tough on righting issues that counter fairness to the people of the State she serves; Alaska. How refreshing, as Obama's Chicago thug methodology is incrementally exposed...(more on that later).

Who's winning? Begley or Gore?

Ed Begley may be inching ahead of Al Gore in saving the planet! He's upped the bar repeatedly showing what's possible with a huge disposable income. This, my friends, is leadership; acting on one's convictions. He's offering healthy guidance to those interested in his viewpoint. He may be a little insistent, but it's a free country and he's entitled to his own choices.

Anyone can jet around on money made from daddy's tobacco farm subsidies and claim to have the best snake oil known to man. Has there ever been anyone so obviously compensating for a guilty conscience? Has anyone ever calculated the surface area of tobacco that burns every day around the planet? Let's see; that's three eights of an inch times pi R squared times all the tobacco burned in a day equals alot of guilt. Certainly too much to take the risk of recalculating the whole global warming fear by having an open debate. Planet Earth evolves. If things are never supposed to change, maybe we should get these pesky humans off the planet. All this hair splitting becomes insignificant when real threats arise and we lose the luxury of worrying about the ozone hole. Perspective is what we lack in a country so full of self absorption.