Friday's random- and I do mean random - thoughts

As I am waiting for the  coffee to finish brewing, I am thinking about a lot of things, totally unfocused.  I hope the coffee will help!

Can anyone tell me why the gas prices always seem to fluctuate wildly just before a presidential election?  I don't mean to go all "Conspiracy Theory" here, but it seems to me that someone is trying to make the American people think that the President has something to do with the price of gas.  He doesn't.  The last time I looked, Oil Companies were Corporations, not Government entities.

I am surprised at the number of people who say that PBS should go and that Sesame Street isn't part of public education?  Huh?  One person railed about how her kids learned from her and her husband, and they didn't "plunk their kids down in front of the television to have them learn".  Well bully for you!    Children learn in a variety of ways.  Sesame Street ,the Electric Company and Reading Rainbow were all pretty terrific programs .  I no longer have a small child in my household, so I am out of the PBS loop on that, but I would MUCH rather have kids watching Elmo than Snookie.  Before you get on me about that- yes I know Snookie was NOT on PBS  and Yes I know that they cancelled the show she was on but you get my point.  PBS provides quality programing.  Some days I think television is quickly becoming like that movie "the Running Man" with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Richard Dawson.  The plot, as I recall, was they let a convict out of prison and if he could escape the area they dropped him in and make it out of the gates he was free.  they sent all kinds of mayhem after him , including a pack of wild dogs.  It was all filmed and the host of the show was gleefully detailing the terror for the breathless viewers.  I think we are only a few years away from THAT becoming part of "Reality TV", which is scripted anyway.  Back to PBS, remember the first "reality" show The Louds?  TV went into their home and filmed everything.  It destroyed their lives.  Well maybe destroyed is  too strong, but things broke apart badly during the year in their lives.  I often wonder what would have possessed them to allow this 'experiment" to happen to them.    I will have to look back and see, as I was a kid when it was on and my perception might be skewed.