One of our Forum members reports that gas prices in Altanta "went from 2.59 to 2.99 to 3.09 to 3.29 to 6.00" in one day. Late Wednesday, Governor Sonny Perdue declared ... Read More

For the first time in his Presidency, Bush disapproval ratings exceed approvals by more than the margin of error of the survey. In answer to the question: Do you approve or ... Read More

I reported Monday that Hawaii had become the first state to cap wholesale gasoline prices. Are there price controls for gasoline or natural gas -- at the wholesale or retail level ... Read More

Updated: 31 August, 6 pm Pacific So says experts interviewed by CNN Money. The impact on the economy could be the equivalent of the '70s oil embargo. In Atlanta, prices as high ... Read More

Anyone who is appalled or outraged that Congress passed the 1700 page energy bill before the ink was dry (figuratively speaking) should make haste to Downsize DC and review their ... Read More

Chris Mooney must be feeling clairvoyant. In May, his article in American Prospect outlined what might happen to New Orleans should it be hit by a Category 4 or 5 ... Read More

Demonstrating yet again how poorly media can perform in emergencies, the Louisiana Attorney General (and Governor's Office) has clarified that "martial law" has not been declared in New Orleans (or anywhere ... Read More

The news from the US Gulf Coast is not good. Martial law reported (but not confirmed) and 80 percent of New Orleans is flooded. The main artery across Lake Pontchartrain has ... Read More

I spend too much of my life "in my head." I think about this and that -- and fret about the other. But tonight, I let myself meander through a ... Read More

Hawaii is the first state to cap gasoline prices, according to a Detroit TV station. The Public Utilities Commission (PUC) has capped the wholesale price, with taxes, at $2.74. If ... Read More

The Detroit News, in an op-ed that opposes President Bush's proposed fuel mileage standards, asks "what happened when fuel economy improved?" Their answer: "Consumers bought bigger vehicles and drove them farther." ... Read More

The Bush Administration proposal for "tighter" fuel economy standards for pickup trucks, sports utility vehicles and minivans actually relaxes the current 2008 rule, which was promulgated in 2003 by this White ... Read More

Updated 25 August It seems Robertson has struck a cord across the blogosphere, especially in the religious realm. Blogging for Liberty reflects my opinion: "Any minister who condones the murder of ... Read More

Pat Robertson denies he said the US should assassinate Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, even though a transcript of his show contradicts this assertion (video). According to FOX news, televangelist Pat Robertson ... Read More

WMAL, a Washington-DC conservative AM radio station, has fired Michael Graham for saying, 25 times on one July program, that "Islam is a terrorist organization." He also reportedly said, repeatedly, ... Read More

KTVX, an ABC affiliate (and Clear Channel property) in Salt Lake City, UT, has refused to run an anti-war ad in the days before a scheduled speech by President Bush. ... Read More

Over the weekend, the journal of Science released research from Harvard showing that scientists have turned ordinary skin cells into embryonic stem cells. If this process can be replicated, and if ... Read More

In responding to a reader request regarding the 2003 "partial birth" abortion ban (HR 760, S 3), I discovered that in July the 8th circuit court in St. Louis unanimously ... Read More

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projects this year's budget deficit at $314 billion, almost $100 billion less than fiscal 2004. Last year, Bush "said his goal was to cut the ... Read More

And maybe that, too. The six-year (and two years overdue) transportation bill that President Bush signed last week has even more pork than the energy bill: 6,371 pet projects inserted ... Read More

Update: Gasoline prices in five states have topped $3 a gallon: California, Illinois, Nevada, Washington and Hawaii. It has been 60 years since President Truman proclaimed victory over Japan (15 Aug 1945), and ... Read More

The two millionaire candidates for New Jersey's Governor's mansion have released income tax documents. Warning: the numbers are boggling - each had about $12 million annual income. Median household income ... Read More

The Austin (TX) American Statesman reports that a Federal Election Commission audit found that Americans for a Republican Majority - Rep. Tom DeLay's "premier" political action committee, "used more unregulated ... Read More

Former federal prosectuor Elizabeth de la Vega explores, in TomDispatch, the Intelligence Identities Protection Act of 1982 and explains why the popular pundits have got it wrong. She walks us ... Read More

Harvard has announced a $1 million "Origins of Life in the Universe Initiative," which will explore questions "central to the debate over the theory of evolution," according to the Boston ... Read More

As predicted here after the US Supreme Court ruling in the Brand X case, the FCC has reclassified DSL as an "information service" not a "telecommunication service." Thus, like cable ... Read More

In 2003, the US and European Union (EU) signed extradition and mutual legal assistance agreements that then Attorney General Ashcroft said would provide "additional tools to combat terrorism, organized crime, ... Read More

OYEZ has details on the 14 cases that John Roberts has argued (1995-2002) before the US Supreme Court. Oral arguments for some cases are available (Real Audio format). Tip to ... Read More

Robert Novak -- a central character in the drama that is Patrick Fitzgerald's grand jury investigation into L'affaire Plame -- stormed off the CNN set last week, perhaps to avoid being ... Read More

From Juan Cole (Informed Consent): They keep talking about drafting a Constitution for Iraq. Why don't we just give them ours? It was written by a lot of really smart guys, ... Read More

US Liberals has a lovely tribute to Peter Jennings, 67, the last of the "big three" network anchors to retire. ABC's Jennings died of lung cancer at his New York city ... Read More

President Bush signed the 2005 Energy Bill on Monday, partially fulfilling a 2000 election promise; conspicuous by its absence, the bill fails to address controversial drilling in Alaska's Arctic National ... Read More

Since 1976, President Reagan clearly leads in the recess appointment race, averaging 30 recess appointments per year. President Clinton averaged only nine per year. The controversy surrounding recess appointments surfaced ... Read More

The Oil & Gas Journal reports that the Congressional Budget Office, in a letter dated 27 July (before either the House or Senate voted on HR 6, The Energy Bill), ... Read More

An American blogger in Basra, Iraq -- Steven Vincent -- was found dead alongside the road; he had been shot three times. Vincent, 49, had recently written a ... Read More

Al Jazeera reports that a military coup has seized control of the North African country Mauritania while US-supported President Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya attended the funeral of Saudia King Fahd. The group ... Read More

Saudi Arabia's Minister of Information announced that King Fahd died on Monday; his half-brother, Crown Prince Abdullah, has been named as the country's new monarch. King Fahd has ruled Saudia ... Read More