In the headlines this morning - Alaskan natives are running low on heating fuel, and Chavez from Venezuela is offering help. Well, Citgo is offering help. Some there are refusing to take what is offered because Chavez called the President names.

At first I had two thoughts. One was that Alaska pumps oil out every year, so why is it they need fuel, and why are people making such a big deal out of someone else criticizing the President, we do it all the time here ourselves.

We have US based companies that make billions in profits, and they can't spare some of that for cold residents in Alaska? Immediately after that thought, I read why one lagoon village is suffering financially; their salmon fishing industry is having trouble, they have been hit with competition from salmon farms that produce fish for less. This sounds like tobacco subsidies I heard so much about in North Carolina. People are smoking less, so tobacco farmers want the government to give them money.

So fishermen in Alaska have been hit with a dose of capitalism. I have an idea, instead of heating oil, how about our oil companies provide them with the resources to start their own fish farms? This is where Chavez gets it wrong. In his country, he looks out for his people by providing them with necessities. What he should be doing is providing them with the means to support themselves.